Vandals fall again
Luke Lippincott rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as Nevada beat Idaho 37-21 in Western Athletic Conference football play at Reno, Nev.
“I’m not happy with it,” Idaho coach Robb Akey said. “We’re not happy we lost the game. There was a lot of battling that went on. We had an opportunity to be in a position to win the game.”
Lippincott’s 2-yard run with 10 minutes, 41 seconds left in the game capped an 18-play, 87-yard drive that put the Wolf Pack ahead 24-14.
The drive was costly in more ways than one.
“That took a lot out of us,” Akey said. “But we’re going to keep banging. We’re going to get through this wall.”
Nevada (4-4, 2-2) pulled away late after Idaho (1-8, 0-5) had pulled to within 17-14 early in the third quarter on Nathan Enderle’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Eric Greenwood. Enderle completed 10 of 21 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
Colin Kaepernick passed for 203 yards and a touchdown for the Wolf Pack. His 28-yard strike to Marko Mitchell with 4:22 left in the game sealed the victory.
Idaho pulled to within 31-21 with 2:20 left on a 1-yard run by Deonte Jackson. Nevada recovered the ensuing onside kick and Vai Taua scored on an 11-yard run with 10 seconds left for the final margin.
Idaho has struggled in second quarters this season, but the first quarter was the problem this time.
Nevada led 17-0 in the first quarter. Lippincott scored from 1 yard out to make it 7-0 and Brett Jaekle hit a 37-yard field goal with 3:55 left.
On the ensuing possession, Nevada linebacker Ezra Butler intercepted Quin Ashley’s pass and ran it in from 11 yards out.
Idaho scored on its first possession of the second quarter, a 10-yard pass from Enderle to Peter Bjorvik with 10:59 left in the half.
“It seems like we play better when we’re fighting back,” said freshman Enderle, who made his first appearance after injuring his throwing hand against Hawaii. “It lets me know the team doesn’t want to quit. We can’t let teams get up two touchdowns before we start to play.”
“They showed a lot of stunts and slants up front,” Jackson said. “It took a while for us to adjust to what they were doing differently.”
Louisiana Tech 31, Utah State 21: At Logan, Utah, Patrick Jackson and Daniel Porter each rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs past the Aggies.
Porter rushed for 129 yards on 22 carries. Jackson had 101 yards on 14 carries for the Bulldogs, who won for the first time on the road this season in four tries.
Louisiana Tech finished with 518 yards of offense, including 351 in the second half.