Chance Gates' Blog

RUSTON, La. (AP) -Leave it to Colin Kaepernick to tie the NCAA record for touchdowns rushing by a quarterback on a designed pass play, all while leading Nevada to a conference title.

Kaepernick ran for three scores, including a dazzling 28-yard scramble on fourth-and-9, and the No. 14 Wolf Pack earned a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship with a 35-17 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

With a bowl game still to play, Kaepernick now has 59 career TDs on the ground, tying the mark held by Nebraska’s Eric Crouch.

“He is the leader of our team; there is no question about it,” Nevada coach Chris Ault said. “That last touchdown run he made when he scrambled on fourth down was unbelievable. That is what he does for us. He makes plays. That’s what his legs do for us. He has done that throughout his career here. He is a pretty special guy.”

On Kaepernick’s fourth-down score, Ault called for a screen pass to Via Taua, who tripped over a defender. Kaepernick, whose elusiveness gave the Bulldogs fits all afternoon, rolled away from pressure and sprinted into the open along the sideline. Just when it looked like he’d dart out of bounds, he cut inside and outran the pursuit to make it 28-17 in the fourth quarter.

“I had to scramble around and make a play. After scrambling around for a couple of seconds, it was amazing, the play just opened up and the hole was there,” Kaepernick said.

“I actually didn’t know that I had tied the record,” he continued. “To accomplish something like that is a great accolade but I have had great teammates and in particular great offensive lineman my entire time here at Nevada.”

Kaepernick wound up with 155 yards rushing, the 16th time he’d surpassed the 100-yard mark in his career. He also became the third QB in NCAA history to eclipse 4,000 yards rushing. He has 4,090, trailing only West Virginia’s Pat White (4,480) and Missouri’s Brad Smith (4,289).

“Coming out of high school I had only one scholarship offer and I just wanted to come in here and work hard,” Kaepernick said. “When I came in originally, I was not even a running quarterback, so a lot of the rushing stuff actually came as a surprise to me.”

Taua rushed for 162 yards and two scores in a victory that assured the Wolf Pack (12-1, 7-1) its first share of a WAC title since 2005, as well as its best regular season since moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1992.

Hawaii already had won a share of the league crown and Boise State moved into a three-way tie atop the conference with its 50-14 victory over Utah State.

Ross Jenkins threw for 188 yards and one TD and also rushed for a short score for Louisiana Tech (5-7, 4-4), which saw its hopes of a bowl bid end with the loss.

Phillip Livas had 230 all-purpose yards, including 162 yards on kickoff returns. He nearly had his ninth return for a score, which would have set a new NCAA record, but was pushed out of bounds on a 60-yard run back by Nevada kicker Ricky Drake in the fourth quarter.

“Funny how me and Phillip talked Monday about how Livas hasn’t gotten tackled by a kicker and there it happens,” Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes said.

Livas joked that he’d jinxed himself, adding “I wish I could have that one back.”

The Bulldogs never trailed in the first half, taking a 7-0 lead on the first possession of the game when Jenkins hit Eric Harper with a 20-yard scoring strike along the sideline.

Nevada needed three possessions to tie it on Taua’s 1-yard plunge in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs surged back in front on Jenkins’ keeper, set up by a 36-yard pass over the middle to Taulib Ikharo to the Nevada 2.

The Wolf Pack tied it shortly before halftime on Kaepernick’s first rushing TD of the game, and option keeper to the left side on which he scored easily from 5 yards.

Nevada then received the ball to open the second half and drove 83 plays in 12 plays to take the lead for good on Kaepernick’s second TD run, which came from a yard out.

“We did some good things in the first half but in the second half they just lined up and whipped us,” Dykes said. Kaepernick “is hard to tackle and he just made plays. He is a good football player.”

read more at www.nevadawolfpack.com

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com or  http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney. For a free copy of my blog titled  “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures.

Associated Press reports

RENO, Nev. — Colin Kaepernick passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for two others as Nevada beat Eastern Washington 49-24 on Thursday.

Kaepernick completed 26 of 37 passes and added 60 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (1-0).

Taiwan Jones rushed for 145 yards and had 92 yards receiving, including an 82-yard touchdown reception for the Eagles (0-1).

Nevada led from the opening drive and sealed the victory when Vai Taua plunged in from 3 yards out with 9:17 left in the game to make it 42-24.

Eastern Washington had pulled to within 35-24 when Darriell Beaumonte scored from a yard out with 1:21 left in the third quarter. The Eagles forced the Wolf Pack to punt on its next possession, but wide receiver Nicholas Edwards fumbled after a reception as the Eagles were driving and Nevada recovered.

Taua scored three plays later.

Nevada added another touchdown when Lampford Mark scored from a yard out with 3:38 left.

Eastern Washington quarterback Bo Mitchell completed 19 of 35 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

Nevada led 28-10 at halftime with Kaepernick running for a pair of scores and connecting with Jeremiah Green on a 48-yard strike with 17 seconds left in the half. Green finished with seven receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Kaepernick was 16 of 21 for 181 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Taua also scored for the Wolf Pack in the first half, plunging in from 1 yard out on the opening drive.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search house available in the Reno/Sparks and all Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

What a game, the kids are doing wonderful things.  Saturday’s game a couple of the defensive players(players who asked to play defense) impressed me on offense, one of the goalies was throwing the ball out of the goal with incredible accuracy.  Unfortantly due to a couple of 4th qaurter goals we lost 3-1. All seven players had to play the whole game and a few of them got tired in the fourth quarter. Two more players did get a shot on goal, that is 6 of the 8 this season. Three different players have scored.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional I encourage all questions and comment on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any article posted.  I can be reached by email at chance@ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates