Texas Tech-Nevada: Red Raiders Take on Powerful Wolfpack Rushing Attack

Introduction

Texas Tech squares off against the University of Nevada Wolfpack Saturday night at 8:05 PM.  This game features teams whose offensive philosophies differ about as much as the Allied Forces disagreed with the Nazis.

Last week, Nevada churned out 426 yards on the ground and 203 through the air, while Texas Tech threw for 536 and ran for 103.  Needless to say, something’s got to give.

Nevada Passing

6'6", 215 lb. sophomore QB Colin Kaepernick is the field general for Nevada.  Last week against Grambling State, Kaepernick was 10-17 passing (58 percent) for 122 yards with no TDs and one INT.

However, as stated above, the Wolfpack run the football, and that’s where the young QB did his damage: He ran six times for 51 yards (8.5 yards per run) with three TDs.  The two backups, Nick Graziano and Tyler Lantrip, finished the game a combined 8-13 with no TDs or INTs.

Nevada Rushing

Don’t hold your breath—it may take a while to get through all of this.  Vai Taua led the Wolfpack rushing attack with 12 touches for 103 yards (8.6 per carry) with two TDs.  Brandon Fragger wasn’t far behind with nine totes for 83 yards and one score.  Nevada’s best RB, Luke Lippincott, finished with nine carries for 69 yards and one trip to the end zone.

QB Kaepernick’s three scores round out Nevada’s rushing scores.  WR Marko Mitchell also had one carry for 31 yards, while Tray Session added a 17-yard run and Chris Wellington had a 13-yard run.

Nevada Receiving

No Nevada WR scored a receiving TD.  Mike McCoy paced the receivers with six catches for 67 yards.  Mitchell, a talented deep threat that the Red Raiders will have to keep an eye on, finished with four catches for 49 yards.  Wellington had three for 42, and Lippincott added two for 33 out of the backfield.

Virgil Green added two catches for six yards, and Session caught one for six yards to finish Nevada’s receiving totals.

Texas Tech Passing

Graham Harrell took all the snaps against Eastern Washington last week and finished 43-58 (74.1 percent) for 536 yards with two TDs and one INT—pretty incredible numbers for a game that he called “sloppy.”  If 74 percent is sloppy, I feel sorry for whoever we face when Harrell says he played well.

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