Wolf Pack Lose To Toledo 63-44 In Nevada’s Final Non-Conference Game Of The Season
Stellar performances today from Toa Taua and Kaleb Fossum were not enough as defensive and special teams breakdowns doomed the Wolf Pack on Saturday.
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Wolf Pack Lose On The Road Against Toledo 63-44
The Nevada Wolf Pack put up 582 yards of total offense today including 262 yards rushing against the Toledo Rockets on Saturday.
Despite those impressive numbers from the Wolf Pack offense, they only scored 44 points in the losing effort as Nevada fell to Toledo to close out the non-conference portion of the Wolf Pack’s 2018 schedule.
The Wolf Pack got excellent performances from Toa Taua (15 carries, 170 yards, three touchdowns which included an incredible 66-yard touchdown run) Kelton Moore (nine carries, 74 yards, one touchdown) and Kaleb Fossum (14 catches, 150 yards) but it was not enough as Nevada’s defense got torched by a Rockets offense lead by quarterback Mitchell Guadagni.
Guadagni went 15 for 24 for 211 yards passing and ran for 131 yards against Nevada on Saturday in the Glass Bowl. He scored six total touchdowns as the Wolf Pack defense had no answer for the junior quarterback for the Rockets.
Nevada not only had trouble stopping the Rockets offense but also special team breakdowns doomed Nevada as well. In the first quarter, Wolf Pack punter Quinton Conaway’s punt was blocked by Toledo’s Desmond Phillips and Phillips returned it nine yards for a touchdown to give the Rockets an early 14-7 lead.
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The next Wolf Pack breakdown on special teams came after the Wolf Pack tied it at 14-14. On the kickoff, Toledo’s Dionate Johnson returned the kick-off 98 yards for a touchdown to give the Rockets the lead back at 21-14. The Wolf Pack did miss a field goal early in the fourth quarter when Ramiz Ahmed missed from 52 yards that could have cut into Toledo’s lead early in the fourth quarter.
Five plays after Ahmed’s missed field goal, the Rockets scored on a touchdown pass from halfback Desmond Phillips to wide receiver Cody Thompson from 19 yards to give Toledo a 56-38 lead. The Wolf Pack did respond with an 11 play 75-yard scoring drive in which Toa Taua scored from two yards out to cut the Toledo lead to 56-44 after Nevada’s failed two-point conversion.
But the Wolf Pack defense had no answer for Guadagni as Toledo took two plays to slam the door shut on this game for good as Guadagni scored on a 34-yard touchdown run to put Toledo up 63-44 in which that would be the final score.
The Wolf Pack wrap up non-conference play with a 2-2 record and will be on the road to open Mountain West conference play next Saturday as they face off against Air Force.