Game notes to follow:
FINAL: Nevada (6-3, 3-2) 30, San Diego State (4-4, 3-2) 14
SERIES HISTORY
Nevada defeated San Diego State for the first time since Oct. 19, 1946, and improved to 3-4-0 in the series history … The Wolf Pack snapped a four-game losing streak to the Aztecs while improving to 2-1 against SDSU at Mackay Stadium.
SECOND HALF RALLY
For the third straight week, Nevada scored 20 unanswered points in the second half and rallied to a victory … Trailing 14-10 at halftime, the Wolf Pack outscored SDSU 20-0 in the second half while outgaining the Aztecs, 205-91 … The Pack improves to 3-3 when trailing at halftime this season … Nevada’s fourth quarter scoring margin, which ranked third in the nation entering the week, improves to +73.
FAJARDO JOINS KAEPERNICK IN ELITE CATEGORY
Senior QB Cody Fajardo became the second player in NCAA FBS history to record 9,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in a career … The only other player to also hit that milestone is Nevada’s own Colin Kaepernick, who passed for 10,098 yards and rushed for 4,112 rushing yards … Fajardo also became just the second player in program history to reach 12,000 yards of total offense … On his career, Fajardo now has 12,111 total yards with 9,084 passing and 3,025 rushing.
WITH A WIN…
With six wins, Nevada becomes the Mountain West’s fourth team to reach bowl eligibility … The Wolf Pack are in pursuit of the program’s 14th bowl appearance … With a 3-2 conference record, Nevada and SDSU are now tied atop the MW West Division while Nevada holds the tiebreaker due to tonight’s head-to-head victory.
JACKSON, BUTLER ECLIPSE 100-YARD RUSHING MARK
The Nevada rushing attack shine for the second straight week as the Pack finished with 229 rushing yards … Junior Don Jackson broke the 100-yard mark for the third time this season with 124 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown … After coming seven yards shy of his first 100-yard rushing effort against Hawai’i, freshman James Butler broke the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career with 103 yards on 15 carries with one score.
WOLF PACK TURNOVER STREAK
Nevada’s defense has now forced a turnover in 22 straight games … Junior SS Duran Workman forced an Aztec fumble that was recovered by junior LB Matthew Lyons at the 8:12 mark in the first quarter … Senior Jonathan McNeal followed with his first career interception in the first quarter and forced a fumble that was recovered by Nigel Haikins in the third quarter … The Wolf Pack has recovered a turnover in every game in the Brian Polian era … The last time Nevada failed to recover a turnover came on Dec. 1, 2012, against Boise State … Nevada has a +11 turnover margin this season.
MISCELLANEOUS
Nevada went 5-of-5 in the red zone and improved to 39-of-41 in the red zone on the season … Senior LB Jonathan McNeal tallied 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception and forced a fumble.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sophomore Elijah Mitchell returned a kickoff 58 yards in the first half, marking Nevada’s longest kickoff return since Mike Ball’s 84-yard return in 2010 … Sophomore Brent Zuzo made field goals of 24, 25 and 37 yards, improving to 12-of-15 on the season and 26-of-32 in his career.
PARTICIPATION
Nevada’s lone change to its offensive starting lineup came from sophomore WR Jerico Richardson, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since BYU … On defense, senior LB Jonathan McNeal started in place of junior Bryan Lane Jr. … Sophomore tight end Patrick Clifford’s football career has ended due to medical reasons … In his honor, teammate and friend Jordan Dobrich wore Clifford’s #44 jersey tonight.
