After a tremendous defensive effort that didn’t allowNevada to score an offensive touchdown, Mustang football suffered a12-9 loss Saturday night to the Nevada Wolf Pack, falling 0-1 inthe Western Athletic Conference.
Claiming an early 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal by ChrisMcMurtray on their second possession, the Mustangs then turned totheir defense. Junior safety Alvin Nnabuife and senior standoutcornerback Jonas Rutledge halted Pack offensive drives withinterceptions.
The Mustang’s offense capitalized on the opportunity,scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run from All-WAC tailback KeylonKincade.
The following two-point conversion failed, but the Mustangs heldon to a solid 9-0 lead going into halftime.
Nevada finally got on the scoreboard with 5:10 left in the thirdquarter, cutting SMU’s lead to a 9-3 margin.
The next SMU drive was cut short when screen pass by quarterbackTate Wallis was picked off and returned 40 yards for a touchdown byNevada’s Logan Carter. But Nnabuife once again came throughin the clutch by blocking the extra point attempt, which kept thescore tied at 9-9.
Fourth-quarter play was deadlocked, and with less than twominutes to go, the Mustang defense stopped the Wolf Pack, forcing apunt. The Mustang offense stood poised to drive the ball downfieldfor the game-winning score. But after fielding the punt inside theSMU 20-yard line, Nevada special teams forced scrambling return manMatt Rushbrook to fumble. Recovering the ball in the SMU red zone,Nevada turned to kicker Damon Fine to boot his second field goal ofthe night. The kick put the Wolf Pack ahead for good, ensuring a12-9 win.
Kincade rushed for 121 yards in the losing effort, putting himin ninth place all-time at SMU. The defense also had its bestperformance since Oct. 3, 1998, the last time an opponent was heldwithout an offensive touchdown.
The Mustangs look to get back in the WAC picture with a winSaturday against the visiting UTEP Miners. The Miners (1-4), comingoff their first win of the season against Sam Houston StateUniversity, will open their WAC season against the Mustangs.
Family Weekend kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Ford Stadium.Student tickets along with family weekend packages can be purchasedat the Mane Desk in Hughes-Trigg Student Center or at the ticketoffice in Ford Stadium.
Portions of this story compiled from smumustangs.com.
