NEW MEXICO BOWL
Arizona Wildcats vs. Nevada Wolfpack
49 - 48
Recap: This was your classic game of swings between 2 teams who are both decidedly unbalanced teams. Arizona came out flat, falling behind early after giving the ball away 3 times and falling behind 21-0. They answered that with a 21-0 run of their own and from there we had a shootout for the last 3 quarters. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, it took them 19:37 to scored 42 points.
After that , Nevada had a 17 point advantage built up by the 4th quarter behind their talented backfield of QB Cody Fajardo and RB Stefphon Jefferson. From there is was the Matt Scott show as he threw 3 TD's in the final quarter, including 2 in the final 46 second of the game to steal a win to seal the first year of the Rich Rodriguez era.
Players of note:
Arizona:
QB Matt Scott: The senior quarterback showed his intelligence matched his natural ability this year by picking up a brand new offense and leading a rebuilding Wildcat squad to a bowl win with a clutch performance.
RB Ka'Deem Carey: This is the best running back in the country, and he's a sophomore. You can say what you want about him being a product of the system because he is in the system, and he is producing at a nation leading rate.
WR Austin Hill: 1364 yards receiving for this 6'3" 211 lb receiver.....who is also a sophomore. RichRod was happy to find out that the cupboard was not entirely bare in the desert.
Nevada:
QB Cody Fajardo: Fajardo is perceiving to be the future of the Wolfpack program, much as Colin Kaepernick is its past. He is the engine that makes this offense go, and he dominated the Arizona defense early in this game. Again, a sophomore.
RB: Stefphon Jefferson: He tore through the Arizona defense just like he did most every other team that the Wolfpack faced this season. His 175 and 2 TD's finished up a season with 1883 yards and 25 rushing TD's, and he might be coming back.
Arizona:
QB Matt Scott: The senior quarterback showed his intelligence matched his natural ability this year by picking up a brand new offense and leading a rebuilding Wildcat squad to a bowl win with a clutch performance.
RB Ka'Deem Carey: This is the best running back in the country, and he's a sophomore. You can say what you want about him being a product of the system because he is in the system, and he is producing at a nation leading rate.
WR Austin Hill: 1364 yards receiving for this 6'3" 211 lb receiver.....who is also a sophomore. RichRod was happy to find out that the cupboard was not entirely bare in the desert.
Nevada:
QB Cody Fajardo: Fajardo is perceiving to be the future of the Wolfpack program, much as Colin Kaepernick is its past. He is the engine that makes this offense go, and he dominated the Arizona defense early in this game. Again, a sophomore.
RB: Stefphon Jefferson: He tore through the Arizona defense just like he did most every other team that the Wolfpack faced this season. His 175 and 2 TD's finished up a season with 1883 yards and 25 rushing TD's, and he might be coming back.
Interesting Notes: This was one of the best matchups of running backs we are likely to see this season and thanks to 2 explosive offenses and porous defenses was likely the best example of a shootout of the bowl season. I recommend that you keep you eye on both of these teams over the next 2 years. They are both led by young players and aren't likely to be any worse than they were this year, though both need to have drastic improvement on the defensive side of the ball to make big strides.
2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard.
2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment