Shorthanded Wolf Pack falls to Western Michigan in Quick Lane Bowl

[NEVADA ATHLETICS RELEASE]

DETROIT (AP) — Kaleb Eleby threw two touchdowns and ran for another and Western Michigan recorded its second bowl victory in program history, rolling past Nevada 52-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday.

Sean Tyler rushed for 146 yards on 14 carries and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Western Michigan (8-5). Jaxson Kincaide, a Nevada transfer, rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns.

The Broncos' only other bowl victory came in the 2015 Bahamas Bowl against Middle Tennessee.

Nate Cox passed for 121 yards and a touchdown and Devonte Lee rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown for Nevada (8-5).

Western Michigan, which had 352 rushing yards, led 31-10 at halftime.

Tyler's 100-yard return followed Brandon Talton's 32-yard field goal. Midway through the first quarter, Eleby connected with Corey Crooms on a 74-yard scoring pass.

The Broncos' other first-half touchdowns came on Eleby's 20-yard pass to Brett Borske and Kincaide's 7-yard run.

THE TAKEAWAY

A majority of Nevada's offensive starters during the regular season opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft or transfer. The retooled unit had no chance to keep pace with the Broncos, who scored on two big plays in the opening quarter and then established a steady rushing attack.

Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24

Monday, Dec. 27, 2021

Detroit, Mich. – Ford Field (Quick Lane Bowl)

• Nevada finishes 8-5 overall with a 52-24 loss to Western Michigan (8-5) in the Quick Lane Bowl. Western Michigan improves to 2-9 in bowl games and Nevada falls to 7-12 in bowls all time. 

• The Wolf Pack rushed for two touchdowns for the fourth time this season with both RB Toa Taua and RB Devonte Lee running for a score. Lee led all rushers with 85 yards on seven carries, including a long of 34 yards and an average of 12.1 per rush attempt. Toa finished with 28 yards on 11 attempts.  

• The Nevada defense made 63 tackles including one sack and forced one turnover. LB Lawson Hall and DE Kameron Toomer each record 0.5 sack. The one sack gave the Wolf Pack 41.0 total sacks for the season. Nevada led the Mountain West during the regular season with 40.0 sacks and set a new program record. 

• DB BerDale Robins made one interception near the end of the first half. Robins pulled in his third interception of the season and seventh of his career at Nevada. Robins recorded an interception in each of the last two games. 

• WR Jamaal Bell pulled in his first touchdown catch of his career. Bell finished with 185 all-purpose yards with 110 on kick-off returns and 75 receiving. He averaged 10.7 yards per reception with seven catches on 10 targets. 

• PK Brandon Talton got the Pack on the board first with a 32-yard field goal after a game-opening drive of nine plays and 67 yards that spanned 4:43. It was the 58th field goal of his career, which is third all-time in Nevada program history. Talton made three-of-three on field goal attempts to push his career PAT numbers to 107-for-112. 

• QB Nate Cox made the first start of his career at Nevada, completing 12-of-23 pass attempts for 121 yards and one passing touchdown. Cox threw the second touchdown of his career, an 18-yard strike to Jamaal Bell with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter. Cox rushed 13 times for a game of eight yards

• Tyrese Mack appeared as a wide receiver and made his first-career reception for an 11-yard gain. WR Carson Walters made his first-career reception for a gain of seven yards. TE Reagan Roberson made his second catch for the season for an eight-yard gain. 

• P Julian Diaz booted his third-longest punt of the season, a 59-yard kick and punted six times in total for 295 yards and an average of 49.2 yards per punt with two inside the 20 yard line and three of 50-plus yards.

• DBs JoJo Claiborne, Tyson Williams, and Robins recorded one pass breakup. 

• LB Trevor Price led the Wolf Pack with 13 total tackles including eight solo tackles. DB Jordan Lee made nine total tackles (7 solo). LB Lawson Hall finished with seven tackles including four solo and 1.5 tackles for loss.

• The Nevada offense finished with a season-low 121 yards passing. It marked the lowest passing offensive production since posting 105 yards passing against Hawai’i on  Sep. 28, 2019. 

• Nevada recorded over 100 total yards rushing for the second straight game after posting a season-high 226 yards on the ground at Colorado State to end the regular season and recording 121 rushing yards against Western Michigan.