Nevada runs wild in 69-24 rout of Hawaii


HALAWA - Stefphon Jefferson accounted for seven touchdowns as the Nevada Wolf Pack ran wild through the Hawaii Warriors in a 69-24 spectacle Saturday night. In the blowout loss tonight to Nevada, Hawaii gave up the most points at home in school history at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium.

"Obviously a very disappointing evening," said Warriors coach Norm Chow. "Doesn't matter if you lose by 50 or you lose by 1; this doesn't feel good."

The first score for the Wolf Pack came with about 6 minutes to go in the first quarter. Junior running back Stefphon Jefferson would get a screen pass from Nevada sophomore quarterback Cody Fajardo and take it the distance. Jefferson, following his blockers, maneuvered his way through the Hawaii defense, going 55 yards for the opening Wolf Pack score.

Hawaii lit up the score board four times in the game, three of them coming in the first half.

The first score for the Warriors came off the leg of Warriors kicker Tyler Hadden on a 22-yard field goal, and the second after a well-executed fake punt by Hawaii that set up the Warriors 26 yards outside of the end-zone. Three plays later, junior quarterback Sean Schroeder would find a wide open Ryan Hall for a 19-yard score.

Schroeder would throw another score again at the 2:26 mark of the second quarter, connecting with senior wide receiver Jeremiah Ostrowski, who burned his defender before catching the 36-yard pitch from Schroeder for the touchdown. Schroeder would finish the night with 22-of-40 passing along with 234 yards in the air and two touchdowns.

"That's what we want (Schroeder) to be like," said Chow. "(Schroeder) needs to keep playing (and) get a little more accurate. He'll learn from this."

As for Nevada, it was the Stefphon Jefferson show the entire night.

Finishing the night with video game-like numbers, the nation's second leading rusher would end with 31-carries for 170-yards along with six touchdowns (not including his one receiving score). Jefferson reached the end zone on 3-, 2-, 1-, 5-, 3- and 1-yard rushing scores, respectively.

Ending up with 259 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns, Jefferson set the record for the most touchdowns scored by an individual in school history. Averaging 5.5 yards per carry, Jefferson also gave the Wolf Pack their 13th straight 100-yard rushing performance in a row.

Despite the poor performance by Hawaii, there were a few flickers of success.

Freshman running back Will Gregory ran for a score late in the fourth quarter, giving the Warriors 24 points in the contest. Special teams also found success, as junior Mike Edwards racked up 199 yards on five kick returns, averaging 39.8 per return.

"The bright light was the fact that our special teams (kickoff return) kept giving us good field position," said Chow. "(About Mike Edwards) He's an awfully effective football player."

For as much success as the Wolf Pack had offensively, they would also find a way to put up points without the ball, when at 12:57 mark in final quarter, senior defensive back Khalid Wooten picked off a Schroeder pass and took it all the way back for a 78-yard score.

Adding more insult to the run defense of Hawaii was Nick Hale, as the senior running back charged his way for a 52-yard score in the closing minutes of the game. Nevada ended the night putting up 355 yards of rushing against a Hawaii defense that came in allowing an average of 62.5 yards rushing in previous games.

"I think we got beat by a better football team tonight," said Chow. "It doesn't feel good; (but) our day will come."