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Nevada holds off a furious comeback from Air Force but the Wolf Pack survives with a 28-25 victory.
Nevada got off to a big lead early but Air Force came charging back but the Wolf Pack were able to hold off the Falcons.
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Wolf Pack Survives Come Back Attempt From Air Force, Wins 28-25
The Wolf Pack almost saw an 18-point lead disappear as the Air Force Falcons mounted a late rally, but the Wolf Pack was able to hold on as Nevada survives to hold on to a 28-25 victory over Air Force on Saturday in Colorado Springs.
With the win today, Nevada snaps an eight-game road losing streak that dated back to November 26th of 2016. That date was the last time Nevada won a road game when they defeated UNLV in Las Vegas by a score of 45-10.
The Wolf Pack got a big game today from quarterback Ty Gangi as he completed 24 of 33 passes for 259 yards and tossed four touchdown passes. Elijah Cooks only caught two passes today, but he caught two of Gangi’s touchdown passes for 63 yards. For the Nevada rushing attack, Toa Taua led the team with 76 yards rushing on 13 carries and had some big runs to help keep the Wolf Pack offense on the field.
The Wolf Pack got off to an early 21-7 lead when Gangi connected with Cooks for a 40-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and in the second quarter, Gangi connected with McLane Mannix for a 29-yard touchdown pass. Late in the first half, Gangi connected with Brendan O’Leary Orange for a 30-yard touchdown pass to give the Wolf Pack a 21-7 lead at the half.
Half way through the third quarter, Air Force replaced Arion Worthman at quarterback with Donald Hammond III and Hammond led the Falcons to a pair of scoring drives (a two-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Bennett and a nine-yard touchdown run by Hammond) to cut Nevada’s lead to 28-23 after the Falcons missed the two-point conversion.
Air Force had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter as they were driving deep into Nevada territory. But on 4th and 8, Hammond’s pass went incomplete and Nevada got the ball back on downs.
The Wolf Pack ran off most of the clock and took an intentional safety to make it 28-25 Nevada. After the free kick, Air Force had one final chance to tie the game but both of Hammond’s passes fell incomplete and the Wolf Pack secured the victory on the road.
The Wolf Pack improves their record to 3-2 which matches the total number of wins they had last season. They now return home to Reno where they face off against Fresno State next Saturday night.
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