SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 6, 2014
Nevada 24, Washington State 13: Cody Fajardo passed for 110 yards and ran for another 100 as the Wolf Pack held off the visiting Cougars in the nonconference game.
Don Jackson added 69 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Nevada (2-0), which was outgained in total yardage 428-324, but did not commit a turnover while forcing two. Hasaan Henderson caught six passes for 77 yards and James Butler ran for another score to support the offense.
Connor Halliday completed 38-of-57 passes for 390 yards and a touchdown for Washington State (0-2). Four receivers had at least 77 receiving yards for the Cougars, led by Isiah Myers with nine catches for 102 yards.
Kendall Johnson intercepted a pass from Halliday late in the first quarter and that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Jackson and a 7-0 lead for the Wolf Pack. Fajardo’s 55-yard run on third down to the Cougars' 8 was the key play on the next drive as Nevada stretched its lead to 14-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Butler.
Halliday was intercepted again in the second quarter before he found Vince Mayle on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 7:15 left to cut the deficit in half, and Erik Powell’s 25-yard field goal capped a 13-play drive and pulled the Cougars within 14-10 at the half. Jackson’s 2-yard touchdown run with 12:15 left in the game put the Wolf Pack back up by 11 points and the teams traded field goals before Nevada stopped Washington State on fourth down with just under four minutes left to seal the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Fajardo’s 210 total yards put him over 10,000 for his career and joined him with Colin Kaepernick and David Neill as the only Nevada players to accomplish that feat. … Halliday has already thrown for 922 yards this season. … Powell missed two field goals in the third quarter before giving way to Quentin Breshears, who booted a 38-yarder in the fourth to cut the deficit to 21-13.