The Nevada Wolf Pack football team took the next step in their preparation for the 2010 season with a split squad scrimmage Tuesday afternoon at Mackay Stadium in front of a few eager fans. SilverandBlueSports has the latest from the gridiron.

The main question on every fan’s mind heading into this season got a positive response this afternoon, as the Nevada defense showed up and performed very well against dynamic senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Overall, the defense won most of the battles and kept Kaepernick out of the endzone until the Turlock native’s third series when it took him five plays to break through the defense. After handing off to senior Courtney Randall for 25 yards on two carries, Kaepernick then showed off his rifle arm by connecting with junior Tray Session for a 25 yard gain.  Kaepernick took it in from there scoring on a nice 15-yard run while tip-toeing the sideline ending the defensive shutout.

Randall rolled for two great runs during the first team's scoring drive (Photo by Mark Rauh)

The defense had little trouble with the second unit, as the first unit was the only offensive unit to score.  The Nevada ‘D made a couple of big red-zone stops which pleased safety Corbin Louks.

“We had a couple big stops in the red-zone but we still have to work on not letting them get down there,” Louks said following the scrimmage.

Junior linebacker DeAndre Boughton, a newcomer this past spring, did walk off the field with the training staff following a big hit, but linebacker Kevin Grimes, who has put on a ton of weight during his Nevada career after showing up on campus as a 175-pound freshman, came up huge once again this fall.  The senior from Colfax (Calif.) had a big fumble recovery in his absence.

Unofficially, Kaepernick completed 12 of 16 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown and another 31 yards on the ground with a touchdown while junior backup Tyler Lantrip, who had a great spring, was 7 of 14 for 114 yards and 12 yards rushing.

No surprise that Kaepernick was the leading rusher but it was a surprise who was behind him in the stat column as the next leading carriers were Courtney Randall who had the previously mentioned 25 yards, and sophomore running back Nick Hale who had twenty yards on four carries.

No need to worry pack fans as the ball was spread out evenly among the backs as ten different players ran for 175 yards total on the ground unofficially and the numbers were pretty even for the wideouts also.

Nevada quarterbacks hit 12 different targets on the day for a total of 337 yards unofficially.  The leading receivers were JC transfer Rishard Matthews who had 68 yards and a touchdown on three catches and Vai Taua who caught two balls for 60 yards.

Matthews continues to impress after coming to Nevada from Bakersfield CC this past spring.  The Pack plan on putting his talents right on the field, especially with Brandon Wimberly continuing to be sidelined.

Marlon Johnson and the Nevada 'D played well during today's scrimmage (Photo by Mark Rauh)

Dontay Moch, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was very impressive today.  This time it was his coverage skills that left many shaking their heads.  He lit up Moe Patterson on a crossing route on what was probably the biggest hit of the day.

With a lot of players in orange jerseys (non contact/injured) the hitting was fairly light otherwise, and with the Pack’s home opener just over two weeks away it is clear that the coaches are trying to keep everyone as healthy as possible when the Eastern Washington Eagles roll into town on September 2.

Fans can check out more action from today’s scrimmage by logging in below to the premium photo gallery (all photos by SilverandBlueSports Photographer Mark Rauh).

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