This Thursday, the Northern Cal Lions will take on the UNLV Rebels in their first game in the FBS. The Lions are led by first year head coach Nick Jenkins. The 38 year old Jenkins has spent 10 years coaching high school in the state of California. In his ten years of coaching high school ball Jenkins won 5 championships and was runner up 3 other times. Once Northern Cal made the move of to FBS, they decided Jenkins would be the right fit to lead their young core of stars. The Lions are filled with young stars on offense and defense, but their true leader is SR RB James Guthrie. Guthrie holds about every record you could imagine at his time at NCU. He is known by most casual college football fans for his fight on field with former NCU QB Derek Victor. For the Lions to have success this season, Guthrie will have to put his immaturity to the side, and be a leader for the young Lions. The group of young talent the Lions have is led by FR QB DJ Porter. Porter came to NCU from Sacramento High School, the latest high school coach Jenkins coached at. He decided to follow his head coach to NCU, and he hopes to lead them to a victory this Thursday over UNLV. The leader of the defense for the Lions would be JR MLB Alvin Mack Jr. Mack Jr has true leadership qualities, and he should help show the younger group of players of the defense how to run the show.
The UNLV Rebels are led by HC Bobby Hauck. Hauck in his 4th year lead the Rebels to an abysmal 2-11 record last season, with their lone wins over Air Force and New Mexico. On the field, the Rebels are led by seniors RB Tim Cornett and DT Mark Garrick. Cornett led the Rebels last year with over 1200 years and 7 TDs, and Garrick led the Rebels with 9 TFL and was second on the team with 2.0 sacks. Calling the shots at QB for the Rebels is SO Nick Sherry. Sherry had an awful season last year, and he was the main reason that the Rebels were as bad as they were. He barely threw for over 2500 yards for UNLV, and he threw more INTS, 17, than TDs, 16. The main issue with the UNLV team last year was their run defense that gave up over 200 yards and 2 TDs a game on the ground. UNLV is experienced up front, but lacking in talent like they were last season so expect the same results. The Rebels have many returning players that hope to move on from last season, and rebuild their legacy in Sin City.
Players to Watch UNLV
RB Tim Cornett
DT Mark Garrick
OLB Tim Hasson
Northern Cal
HB James Guthrie
MLB Alvin Mack Jr
SS Treyvonn Damon
Today, SR RB James Guthrie lead his young teammates past the experienced UNLV Rebels. He finished the game with 169 yards on 26 carries with a long rush of 26 yards. He was very consistent with his rushes, but he was never able to find the end zone. The day started out bright for Guthrie and the lions. On their first play, FR QB DJ Porter ran up the field for a nice 32 yard gain. A couple plays later, hefty FB Nigel Douglas-Bell took a FB dive straight into the end zone for a 1 yard TD. The first drive for the Rebels was not as successful as they were not capable to even gain a yard. After a weak drive by the Lions, they had to punt it right back to the Rebels. The next play SO QB Nick Sherry connected to fellow SO WR Anthony Williams for a 29 yard gain. The next set of downs for the Rebels was a failure, but SR K Nolan Kohorst connected on hsi 47 yard field goal attempt to make it a 7-3 game. After another short-lived drive by the Lions, UNLV took the ball back looking to take the lead. Sherry took advantage with a 26 yard and a 30 yard TD run to give his Rebels a 10-7 lead. Guthrie and Porter were not having any of it, running over the Rebels with two big runs of 26 and 12 yards setting up a TD pass from Porter to FR WR Tim Bates.
The second quarter began with a promising drive by Sherry, but it was ended quickly by SR DE Gary Frye. Guthrie started the next drive with promise as he had two quality runs of 19 and 7 yards. After a sack by UNLV's SR OLB Tim Hasson, Guthrie took his first reception of the game for 14 yards. The Lions continued with a couple solid gains, including a 29 yard catch by FR WR Bryce Baker. With a fresh set of downs, the Lions failed with an incompletion, a gain of 0, and a loss of 11. These 3 plays set up a field goal for JR K Augie Callahan, which he hit, giving the Lions a 17-10 lead. UNLV would get themselves another mediocre drive ending in a punt, giving NCU a chance to score before half. Instead of electing to go for points before half, coach Jenkins elected to run the clock out and take his 17-10 lead into half.
The Lions started out the 2nd half in a huge way. On the first play out of half, UNLV QB Nick Sherry threw the ball to a lurking FR CB Walter Valentine who took the ball into the end-zone for 6. Now with the score at 24-10, the Lions were in comfortable position to shut down the Rebels and get a crucial win. UNLV's next drive was crucial because down 24-10, they needed to score before the Lions could. UNLV did what they had been doing all afternoon, giving the ball back to the Lions by way of punt. With a chance end the game with a TD, FR QB DJ Porter threw the ball into the hands of SO CB Kenny Keys. Now, UNLV needed a score to try to comeback and win this game. The Lions D continued to frustrate Sherry causing another punt by UNLV. Northern Cal now decided to take it a little slower, taking a slow drive down to the red zone, and another FG by K Augie Callahan. UNLV ended the quarter driving down quickly to the NCU 7 yard line looking for a much-needed TD.
On the first play of the 4th quarter, the Rebels got the TD they needed with a 7 yard run by HB Tim Cornett. With the ball, and up 10, the Lions felt comfortable they could get the win. On the second play of the drive, Porter connected with TE Tyler Jacobs for a 62 yard TD. To the Lions this was a dagger, but to the Rebels, it was more fuel in the tank. The young Sherry led his Rebels down the field with completed pass after completed pass, ending the drive withe a 2 yard TD to WR Anthony Williams. The next few drives would be cruical for UNLV, as they needed a stop to even have a chance to win the game. After a couple first down runs by Guthrie, he needed some rest, which made the Lions revert to the pass game. Porter threw a couple risky passes leading to a punt, and a chance to make it a one possession game. The defense made another clutch play as FS Warren Paine made his first INT of his NCU career, which practically ended the game for the Lions. UNLV was not done, taking the ball back, and scoring on a 65 yard TD pass to JR WR Devante Davis. After a lousy onside kick by UNLV, James Guthrie carried his team to a much needed 34-31 victory with 2 clutch first down runs.
Box Score
Northern Cal Lions at UNLV Rebels
Aug 29, 2013
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
Northern Cal Lions (1-0)
14
3
10
7
34
UNLV Rebels (0-1)
10
0
0
21
31
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING
NCU
UNLV
7:05
(NCU) N. Douglas-Bell, 0 Yd Run (A. Callahan Kick)
7
0
4:20
(UNLV) N. Kohorst, 47 Yd FG
7
3
2:05
(UNLV) N. Sherry, 30 Yd Run (N.Kohorst Kick)
7
10
0:28
(NCU) T. Bates, 29 Yd Pass from D. Porter (A. Callahan Kick)
14
10
SECOND QUARTER SCORING
NCU
UNLV
3:07
(NCU) A. Callahan, 36 Yd FG
17
10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING
NCU
UNLV
8:49
(NCU) W. Valentine, Returned INT 24 Yds (A. Callahan Kick)
24
10
1:50
(NCU) A. Callahan, 25 Yd FG
27
10
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING
NCU
UNLV
8:55
(UNLV) T. Cornett, 7 Yd Run (N. Kohorst Kick)
27
17
7:53
(NCU) T. Jacobs, 62 Yd Pass from D. Porter (A. Callahan Kick)
34
17
6:37
(UNLV) A. Williams, 2 Yd Pass from N. Sherry
34
24
1:50
(NCU) D. Davis, 65 Yd Pass from N. Sherry (N. Kohorst Kick)
06-18-2016, 07:42 PM
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