A day the Bulldogs would like to forget

Posted at 11:05 PM on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

RENO, Nev. -- They fire a cannon after scores at Nevada football games, and there is no truth to the rumor that there were delays Saturday while they went to get more gunpowder.

You can stop holding your breath now. No. 10 in blue is not handing off anymore. Or keeping it. Or throwing. Or anything else that involves artillery being fired in the Nevada foothills.

The battle of the alleged two best three-loss teams in the country turned out to be a dud. Nevada might be. Fresno State can now make a case for the best four-loss team in America. Not that the distinction comes with any sort of gifts or prizes.

As for the Wolf Pack, it has now established itself as the No. 2 program in the WAC. And if Saturday's 52-14 score wasn't proof enough, third place isn't even close. Boise State and Nevada have pulled away from the rest of the conference, leaving Fresno State back in the dust with the Idahos and Utah States.

Nevada players were asked after the game how many teams in the country are better than the Wolf Pack.

"In my opinion," said quarterback Colin Kaepernick, "I'd say none."

OK, you've got to allow him a little hyperbole, if that's what it was. The guy's team had just rushed for 461 yards. When the Bulldogs finally forced a punt at the end of the third quarter, it was Nevada's first punt since Halloween. No wonder he felt invincible.

The Wolf Pack wasn't getting a single vote in either poll, after all, but they're certainly a good team.

"I'd like to play everyone in the country and find out," said running back Luke Lippincott.

It was Fresno State's perfect storm of bad football. How could it have gone worse? Ryan Colburn fumbled on a pass, and on a run, and threw a pick. A.J. Jefferson fumbled another kickoff return. Seyi Ajirotutu turned and dropped the ball, which technically qualifies as a fumble.

Ryan Mathews got a concussion, eventually staggered off and watched the second half in a hooded sweatshirt. And if what he watched is a preview of what Fresno State will look like next season with Mathews in the NFL, it's scary.

If the Bulldogs are without him for the last two games, a season that was becoming successful suddenly looks vulnerable. You don't have to squint too hard to see a 6-6 record and a major dilemma with Pat Hill's contract extension.

Four NFL teams -- the Vikings, Giants, Falcons and Titans -- had scouts in Reno to see Mathews, in case you were hoping the pros hadn't noticed him yet.

They were probably the only four people at Mackay Stadium who didn't care what Nevada's no-name running game was doing, which was basically no-contact drills.

Four hundred sixty-one yards. Hill likes to take a stone away from the opposing stadiums when his team runs for 200. What would you take for 461? A boulder? A foothill?

"You can ask Vai [Taua] and Luke [Lippincott] about the holes they ran through," Kaepernick said. "I don't think they could have missed them."

In the past two games against Fresno State, Nevada has rushed for 933 yards. Taua, who didn't get another Division I offer other than Nevada, has 442 of those and three touchdowns.

"You could have gotten an SUV and driven through there," said Taua, piling on a little.

Nevada players talked about how they felt disrespected by Fresno State. Apparently there had been some talk about the Bulldogs having the better running backs. The truth is, Nevada has better blocking, and that's more important.

What an awful, ugly afternoon for Fresno State football. They could move the ball, but couldn't hold on to it.

The great effort Hill has talked about all year wasn't even there, highlighted by no one in red diving for the last fumble.

Athletic director Thomas Boeh patted backs as the players walked into the locker room. When Hill approached, he just put up his palms and then gave his coach a consoling handshake. What could you say?

And then the team boarded a bus and rode back to California in the dark, a fitting end to an all-around forgettable day.