Wolf Pack pounces on Aggies

The Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Aggies of New Mexico State 55-28 on Saturday, Oct. 9.

This game featured two high-powered offensive passing attacks. There was a combined 888 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns before the game was over.

New Mexico State’s quarterback, Jonah Johnson, threw for 425 passing yards and three touchdowns. Even with that many passing yards, none of his receivers went over a hundred yards because he was able to spread the ball around. Johnson’s top target was Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, who had five catches for 76 yards.

Jared Wyatt, Terrell Warner and PJ Johnson III each had at least five catches and a receiving touchdown. The Aggies weren’t able to do much in the ground game. They finished with a total of 27 rushing yards. Jonah Johnson finished with negative 32 rushing yards on his game-high 12 rushing attempts. Freshman running back Juwauh Price had a game-high 37 rushing yards on his ten carries.

Nevada’s passing attack had a combined 463 passing yards between their three quarterbacks. Carson Strong, the team’s starting quarterback, had 377 passing yards and six passing touchdowns. This was his third game of the season with over 300 passing yards.

After the Wolf Pack fell behind 7-3 in the first quarter, Strong threw four of his six touchdowns in the second quarter to help UNR jump out to a 31-7 halftime lead. Nevada didn’t let up the gas there.

After outscoring the Aggies 21-0 in the third quarter, the Wolf Pack took a 52-7 lead into the fourth quarter. This was their largest lead of the season.

With the game in hand, Nevada pulled Strong to avoid any injuries. The Wolf Pack tested out their backup quarterbacks for the fourth quarter. Second string QB, Nate Cox, went eight for 12 with 84 yards and chipped in six rushing yards on three carries. Third string QB, Clay Millen, only attempted two passes and had two yards.

With the air attack being as strong as it was, the Wolf Pack didn’t utilize the ground game much. They only had 23 rush attempts as a team, with five of those coming from the quarterbacks. Toa Taua led the team in rushing with 28 yards on just seven carries.

Nevada’s next game will be on Saturday, Oct. 16, when they host the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors are coming off back-to-back wins, including a major upset this past weekend against the 18th-ranked Fresno State Bulldogs.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com