Saturday, December 26, 2009

SMU plays Scrooge, Nevada falls 45-10 in Hawaii Bowl

HONOLULU — Vai Taua stayed home, Duke Williams was sent home and the Nevada football team apparently never left home.

And for Christmas morning there is coal in the stockings.

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The Wolf Pack, which entered Thursday’s Hawaii Bowl as a two-touchdown favorite over SMUAloha Stadium as a once-promising season ended in back-to-back holiday disasters. and was trying to end a run of three straight losses in bowl games, was out of sync on offense and often completely lost on defense in an embarrassing 45-10 loss at

“They out-played us. They out-coached us. They did an excellent job,” said coach Chris Ault, whose team spent Thanksgiving night in a Boise, Idaho hotel a day before losing what turned out to be the Western Athletic Conference championship game to Boise State, 44-33, on Nov. 27.
“We were never in the ballgame, for whatever reason,” Ault added. “… Not only is it frustrating, it’s disappointing. We didn’t even give them a game.”
Said Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick, “That game was embarrassing on a lot of different levels.”

The Mustangs dominated from the opening kickoff, scoring after a long pass just three plays into the game. After stopping the Wolf Pack on a fourth-down attempt, SMU used another long pass and needed only two plays to make it 14-0 just 6 minutes and 38 seconds into the game.
Nevada’s Pistol offense and its nation’s-best rushing attack managed just 101 total yards of offense in the first half. SMU quarterback Kyle Padron, a true freshman, threw for 303 yards in the half as the Mustangs took a 31-0 lead.

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Nevada finished with 137 rushing yards, 225 below its average. Padron finished with 460 passing yards, setting a personal record and an SMU bowl record.
The off-field distractions of the past two weeks proved to be too much to overcome for the Wolf Pack, which after an eight-game winning streak finished the season at 8-5.

Ault, though, refused to blame the loss on anything but poor football, saying simply, “No,” when asked if the distractions were a factor.
Kaepernick agreed.
“I don’t think so,” said the junior, who was 15-for-29 for 177 yards with a TD and an interception and added just 23 rushing yards, a season low. “We practiced well the whole bowl-preparation period. We’ve been doing a lot of things right. Unfortunately, we just didn’t play well today.”

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Defensive coordinator Nigel Burton left on Dec. 8 to become the head coach at Portland State. Taua, the starting running back, was ruled academically ineligible on Dec. 17, the day before the team left for Honolulu, leaving the team without its top two ball carriers. Linebacker Andre Davis was arrested for felony shoplifting and booted off the team on Tuesday, and Williams, a safety, was sent home for violating an unspecified team rule.

All three distractions seemed to play a role in Thursday’s game.
Receivers frequently found themselves behind Wolf Pack defenders for deep receptions. SMU completed four passes of 50 yards or more. It perhaps reflected both the need to scramble to replace Burton and Williams, who is among the fastest defensive backs on the team.

And the Pack was nearly automatic picking up first downs on third-and-short and fourth-and-short this year, but managed to go 1-for-5 on plays of third-and-2 or fourth-and-2 or less through the first possession of the second half.
Starter Lampford Mark led the team with 15 carries for 90, only the second time this season the Pack failed to have a 100-yard rusher.

Ault said losing Taua and second-team back Luke Lippincott (toe surgery) likely played a roll in some of the team’s struggles, but he put most of the blame on the front line.

“Short-yardage plays, (Taua) runs them better than (Mark and Ball),” Ault said. “I thought our front, we probably played, other than the Colorado State game, the worst game of the year.”
The Pack had relied on its offense to carry the team all season, but that wasn’t an option Thursday.

“The strength of our team is the offense,” Ault said. “And they did a nice job of taking away the consistency of our offense.”
The loss was especially disappointing to the seniors, many of whom had been to a bowl game in each year they played at Nevada but never did win one.

“Being a senior, this game was a culmination of the last five years here for some of us,” center Kenny Ackerman said. “It wasn’t just the work this year. It was the whole career we put in. I wanted to finish my career right. I’m heartbroken for the seniors to go out this way.”

WOLF PACK FOOTBALL
Hawaii Bowl
Thursday
Third quarter
SMU 38, NEVADA 3
Nevada 0 0 3 x — xx
SMU 17 14 7 x — xx

First quarter
SMU (13:29) – McNeal 9 run (Szymanski kick). Drive: 3 plays, 79 yards, 1:31. Key play: On their second play of the game, facing second-and-11, WR Cole Beasley got behind LB Brandon Marshall for a 71-yard gain.
SMU (8:22) – McNeal 1 run (Szymanski kick). Drive: 2 plays, 61 yards, 1:05. Key play: Much like the key play in the first drive, this time it was WR Emmanuel Sanders getting behind LB Mike Bethea for a 58-yard gain to the Pack 3.
SMU (2:49) – Szymanski 22 FG. Drive: 9 plays, 39 yards, 4:09. Key play: Sanders returned a punt 18 yards to the Wolf Pack 43 to begin the drive.

Second quarter
SMU (5:37) – Sanders 17 pass from Padron (Szymanski kick). Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 4:44. Key play: The Pack blitzed on third-and-9 at the Nevada 35, and QB Kyle Padron hit RB Shawnbrey McNeal on a shovel pass that went for 15 yards.
SMU (1:17) – Beasley 2 pass from Padron (Szymanski kick). Drive: 10 plays, 60 yards, 2:52. Key play: Facing fourth-and-1 at the Nevada 21, Padron hit a wide-open Terrance Wilkerson for a 10-yard gain.

Third quarter
SMU (7:45) – Line 3 run (Szymanski kick). Drive: 9 plays, 90 yards, 5:19. Key play: For the third time, Padron hit a receiver for a deep ball, this time to Aldrick Robinson for 53 yards to the Pack 3.
N (3:08) – Drake 21 FG. Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, 4:32. Key play: On third-and-goal from the SMU 4, QB Colin Kaepernick scrambled right and dived at the 2 but was hit and lost the ball out of bounds at the 4.

WOLF PACK FOOTBALL
Hawaii Bowl
Thursday
Halftime
SMU 31, NEVADA 0
Nevada 0 0 x x — xx
SMU 17 14 x x — xx

First quarter
SMU (13:29) – McNeal 9 run (Szymanski kick). Drive: 3 plays, 79 yards, 1:31. Key play: On their second play of the game, facing second-and-11, WR Cole Beasley got behind LB Brandon Marshall for a 71-yard gain.
SMU (8:22) – McNeal 1 run (Szymanski kick). Drive: 2 plays, 61 yards, 1:05. Key play: Much like the key play in the first drive, this time it was WR Emmanuel Sanders getting behind LB Mike Bethea for a 58-yard gain to the Pack 3.
SMU (2:49) – Szymanski 22 FG. Drive: 9 plays, 39 yards, 4:09. Key play: Sanders returned a punt 18 yards to the Wolf Pack 43 to begin the drive.

Second quarter
SMU (5:37) – Sanders 17 pass from Padron (Szymanski kick). Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 4:44. Key play: The Pack blitzed on third-and-9 at the Nevada 35, and QB Kyle Padron hit RB Shawnbrey McNeal on a shovel pass that went for 15 yards.
SMU (1:17) – Beasley 2 pass from Padron (Szymanski kick). Drive: 10 plays, 60 yards, 2:52. Key play: Facing fourth-and-1 at the Nevada 21, Padron hit a wide-open Terrance Wilkerson for a 10-yard gain.

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