Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Improving Nevada hosts No. 25 Colorado State

RENO, Nev. AP) - A Nevada football team showing progress in a challenging rebuilding effort faces its biggest test yet Saturday when it tries to stop No. 25 Colorado State and running back Cecil Sapp.

Off to their best start since 1995, the Wolf Pack (2 (1)- played three tough quarters in a 31-7 loss to Washington State before notching the program's first back-to-back wins in three years, beating Brigham Young and Rice.

"It's out of the frying pan and into the fire," said Nevada Coach Chris Tormey, who rates Colorado State 3 (1)- better than BYU in every phase of the game.

He's especially worried about Cecil "The Diesel" Sapp, who ranks 15th in the country in rushing, averaging 123 yards per game and by Tormey's account, "may be the best running back in the nation this year.

"He's got that name for a reason," Tormey said.

"He runs extremely hard. He's got a low center of gravity. He's got very great leg strength. He can break the line of scrimmage and make the big play," he said.

Nevada counters with a passing tandem that ranks among the best in the NCAA in quarterback Zack Threadgill and wide receiver Nate Burleson.

Threadgill, who has passed for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns in each of his past two games, ranks fourth in the nation in total offense and passing efficiency, completing 72 percent of his attempts while averaging 332 yards per game.

Nate Burleson leads the country in catches per game, averaging 12.5 receptions and 138 yards.

"They have a receiver and quarterback as good as anyone we've seen," said Coach Sonny Lubick, whose Rams have defeated Virginia, Colorado and Louisville while losing in the final 1:30 at UCLA, 30-19.

"From the perception standpoint, it might not sound the same as UCLA, but Nevada is a pretty darn good football team," he said.

Nevada has emphasized the passing game since a season-ending injury two weeks ago to sophomore running back Chance Kretschmer, who led the NCAA in rushing last year.

Threadgill, a fifth-year senior who had started only two games before this year, has responded beyond expectations.

"He just continues to amaze me," Tormey said. "The mind-boggling stat really is the completion percentage."

Tormey said Threadgill's leadership has been critical.

Lubick said the same thing about Sapp, who was sidelined last year with a broken leg, followed by surgery to remove a benign tumor from his heel.

"He has been just about as important off the field," he said about the senior voted team captain by his teammates. "He is really inspirational to the coaches as well as the players."

The Wolf Pack hasn't started 2-1 since then-Coach Chris Ault, now UNR's athletic director, led Nevada to a 9-3 record in 1995. The last winning season in Reno was 1998.

Tormey, in his third year at Nevada after seasons of 2-10 and 3-8, said his squad has come a long way since suffering a 45-14 loss at home to Colorado State his first year on the job.

"What they did to the Wolf Pack was like lambs to the slaughter," he recalled this week.

Colorado State still "just flat knocks you off the line of scrimmage," Tormey said.

Rams quarterback Brad Van Pelt is strong on the option, which helps take pressure off Sapp, he said.

"He can throw the ball downfield when needed, but his best attribute is his running game," Tormey said. "They play really solid on both sides of the football but probably the best part of their team is special teams."

Lubick said the loss of Kretschmer "hasn't been as huge a blow as people would think because the other people have stepped up very well," including freshman running back Matt Milton, averaging 65 yards per game.

"They are on a mission. You can just see that on tape," Lubick said.

"They've got a system they believe in and now their players have taken hold and said, `This is it, this is our year. ... There was no fluke in the game with BYU."

As a coach at Montana State, Lubick tried to recruit Tormey as a prep star out of Gonzaga High School in Spokane, Wash.

"I remember going to his house to recruit him. He went to Idaho and was a good player for Idaho," he said.

"What people don't realize is that when Nevada ... is playing well, they can play with anybody."

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