Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette Journal reports on why Nevada believes this year will be different.
The not-so-secret reason behind Boise State's dominance of Nevada the past decade is this: the Broncos have had a good defense; the Wolf Pack hasn't.
During Nevada's current 10-game losing streak to Boise State, the Wolf Pack has allowed an average of 50 points per game and never held the Broncos to fewer than 38 points.
But the Nevada defense believes this year will be different no matter how explosive and efficient Boise State's offense is as the teams prepare for their showdown Friday night at Mackay Stadium.
"When anybody questions what you do as a man, you've got to step up," Wolf Pack defensive tackle Brett Roy said. "I think we've proven in the past couple games in the last year that we've had a turnaround in our mentality. Everybody can see it. Now we can win games with our defense. We can stop big play-makers. We're very comfortable against offenses."
Not many teams have been comfortable against Boise State's offense this season. The Broncos are second in the nation in points per game (47.9) and fourth in yards per game (528.8).
"They're quite dangerous," Roy said. "The thing I see the most is they never mess up, and when you mess up, they exploit you. We've got to find our holes and stop those and find their strengths and attack those."
Boise State's strengths start with its passing game.
Kellen Moore is first in the nation in passing efficiency and he's throwing to a pair of wide receivers who will likely be on NFL rosters next year in Titus Young and Austin Pettis, who have a combined 1,676 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
The biggest improvement in Boise State's offense this season has been the addition of the deep ball.
Moore has completed 11-of-13 deep throws to Young for 548 yards and seven touchdowns and his 10.4 yards per attempt is the best mark in the country.
That's why Pack cornerback Isaiah Frey said limiting the big plays is the key to slowing down Boise State.
"As we've seen last week against Fresno, they feed off big plays, especially to those receivers," Frey said. "If we can limit those, we can get a good game going."
Another key will be putting pressure on Moore, who has been sacked only five times this season.
The Wolf Pack's 30 sacks this year are the second most in the WAC (behind only Boise State). Nevada will need a big game out of All-WAC defensive end Dontay Moch.
"His quickness side to side will get you in the run game as well as the pass game," All-WAC offensive lineman Nate Potter said of Moch. "He's a strong guy and he can get it done that way also."
Boise State coach Chris Petersen said he's seen a vast improvement in Nevada's defense this season with the addition of first-year coordinator Andy Buh.
The Wolf Pack is allowing 21.7 points per game this season after allowing 28.5 per game last year. The Pack also has created more turnovers this year (22) than it did in all of 2009.
"Their scheme is different for sure and they understand it well," Petersen said. "They have another year of maturity and they've won a bunch of games and are playing with confidence. They believe in what they're doing."
And even though Nevada hasn't faced an offense like Boise State's this season, Roy said the Pack will be plenty confident Friday night.
"This year we have immense confidence going into the game," Roy said. "We're at home. We don't lose at home. We've been groomed for this moment."
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