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		Nevada seniors cap brilliant careers in bowl victory By Morris Phillips January 9, 2011

	Talk about finishing a book with a dynamite last chapter. That’s what the Nevada fifth-year seniors did in a fairy tale ending of their collegiate football careers. Three games ago, the most accomplished senior class in the history of the University of Nevada football hadn’t beaten Boise State, hadn’t won a conference championship, hadn’t won a bowl game and had a 1-7 record against BCS conference schools. Three games later the headlines accompanying this group’s legacy have undergone a serious upgrade. “We all got here right after that WAC championship (in 2005),” offensive lineman John Bender said. “And we all thought that it would just keep rolling. But it wasn’t like that. We had to battle, we had to persevere, we had to stick together. And after five years of hard work we’re finally back where we thought we’d be the whole time.” In 2005, Nevada was coming off a conference championship in the Western Athletic Conference, just two years into legendary Coach Chris Ault’s return to coaching. Ault had restored the school’s winning ways in which the Wolf Pack made seven playoff appearances in Division 1-AA in the 80’s and early 90’s and then followed that with Big West conference titles in five of their first six years at the Division 1 level. With the introduction of Ault’s radical new offensive system, the Pistol, Nevada seemed poised for even greater accomplishments. At least that’s what Bender, Colin Kaepernick, Vai Taua, Dontay Moch, Virgil Green and Chris Wellington were expecting when they came to the Reno campus the fall after the victory over Central Florida in the Hawai’i Bowl. But as Bender recounted, the championship trophies didn’t continue to mount, mostly due to the ascension of WAC rival Boise State. While Kaepernick grew into a dynamic force at quarterback, on Sunday night becoming just the third player in Division 1 history to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for 4,000 yards in a career (following Missouri’s Brad Smith and Texas’ Vince Young), and the Wolf Pack broke numerous NCAA records with its high flying offense, Boise was winning the WAC year after year and making a national name for itself with blue turf and BCS bowl appearances. The record-breaking seniors, including running back Taua, who along with Kaepernick and Luke Lippincott became the first trio to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season, had accomplished plenty. After wins over Cal and BYU this year, they propelled the Wolf Pack into the national rankings for the first time in school history. Heading into Thanksgiving weekend they were 10-1, but everyone reminded the players that they were 0-4 against Boise. “We knew that this year was going to be special. We knew we had to finish it. We had enough of these seasons with seven, eight wins. We had to get over that hump and become a real special team,” Bender recounted. On a crystal clear, cool Nevada night, in front of a full house at McKay stadium, and just as importantly for a school in a constant quest for a national identity, an ESPN national audience, the Wolf Pack broke through. After a lackluster first half against Boise State, the Wolf Pack took over in the second half and benefitted from two BSU missed field goals in a magical, 34-31 overtime win. The magic continued the next week at Louisiana Tech where the Wolf Pack won and captured a share of the conference title and a berth in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. The city of Reno, in full support, snatched up a record 20,000 plus tickets and Pac Bell Park became a sea of blue on Sunday night. Nevada defeated Boston College, a BCS opponent, 20-13, giving the seniors their final accomplishment. While Kaepernick and Taua struggled against the staunch Eagles defense, Green made the critical 25-yard catch to set up the final field goal for the Pack. Moch and the defense then held BC at bay in the fourth quarter, limiting the Eagles to just a field goal as they tried to close the gap in a 20-10 game. The performance left Ault gushing, in admiration of his team’s perseverance and accomplishments. “I told these guys you are not only making a memory, you’re making an indelible mark in the city of Reno and at the University of Nevada,” Ault said. “I think this senior class has shown everyone what you’re capable of if you just keep pushing through tough times,” Kaepernick said. “There have been a lot of times where people counted us down and out and we bounced back. That’s something we’re proud of.”