RENO, Nev. — Colorado State’s football team saw the future of the Mountain West Conference on Saturday night, and it looms further ahead of CSU than even the current lineup.
MWC member-elect Nevada dominated almost effortlessly, scoring on all nine possessions in the game and never punted for a 51-6 win.
It’s time for CSU fans to start counting on their toes — the nation’s third-longest losing streak grew to 11 games.
And it was worse than anything witnessed the previous week against a similarly hapless Colorado rival.
The Rams (0-2) have yet to score a touchdown this season. And the Wolf Pack also dominated the yardage, outgaining CSU 631 yards to 272. Nevada had 415 yards in the first half.
“They outplayed us. They whipped our butts,” CSU coach Steve Fairchild said. “I still think we’re going to be a very good football team. It’s about staying positive.”
The loss was CSU’s worst since the Rams lost 49-0 to top-ranked USC on Sept. 11, 2004.
Through it all, CSU freshman quarterback Pete Thomas endured a relentless rush and managed to complete 23-of-36 passes for 194 yards with one interception. Despite the deficit, Thomas remained in the game until the final buzzer.
“Right now, he has to play,” Fairchild said. “He’s the least of our worries.”
The running game, nearly nonexistent in the opener, showed a pulse when redshirt freshman Chris Nwoke came in for his debut and ripped off a 17-yard run for the Rams’ first first down of the game, but CSU still was held to just 78 yards on 31 carries.
“I have to do a better job,” Thomas said. “We all have to do a better job.”
Despite the obvious mismatch, CSU came out of intermission with a spark, Thomas drove down to the Nevada 29 before a Dontay Moch sack pushed the Rams back to the 36. Two plays later, CSU had no choice but to go for it on fourth-and-5 — only to suffer another 7-yard setback.
The Rams had no answer for Nevada senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who finished with 402 total yards and four touchdowns. He finished 21-of-29 passing for 241 yards and 161 yards rushing on 11 carries.
“We need to take more pride,” CSU linebacker Ricky Brewer said. “(Kaepernick) has a lot of weapons, and he used all of them.”
The senior had a 57-yard run to the CSU 20 on the second play of the game, and on the second drive, he ran for a 44-yard touchdown. After two drives, he had 110 yards rushing on just five carries.
Kaepernick made it three scores in as many drives, hitting Tray Sessions in the far right corner of the field. Sessions slipped behind Momo Thomas for the 29-yard TD for a 17-0 lead.
Kaepernick’s 305 yards of offense at halftime was only 1 yard short of his game total a week ago in a 49-24 rout of Eastern Washington. He became the ninth player in NCAA history to surpass the 3,000-yard mark rushing and passing.
Nevada’s sixth straight scoring drive ended with an 8-yard Kaepernick keeper for a 41-3 lead with 6:46 left in the third quarter.
Natalie Meisler: 303 954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
