NCAA Football Nevada Football

Puuuuuuuuuuuuure fiction.

Refresher: a high school football recruit out of Nevada named Kevin Hart made a commitment to California several days ago. Problem was, Cal hadn't recruited him. Neither had any other schools. That prompted an investigation and the involvement of law enforcement.

The story soon centered around a mysterious recruiter who allegedly duped the poor high school senior.

Turns out we were all duped. SportsByBrooks is reporting (via the Reno Gazette-Journal) that Kevin Hart has admitted making it all up.

"I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything. When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality. I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story."

Now the school district "continues to conduct its internal investigation into how so many people were duped by the high school senior."

I betcha that'll look good on his transcripts.

Previously at FanHouse
Football Recruit Commits to Cal, Law Enforcement Gets Involved

Hawaii's undefeated dream stays alive as the Warriors just beat back pesky Nevada in the weeeeeeeeeee hours of the morning here out East.

Nevada held a 26-25 fourth quarter lead, but Hawaii rallied on its final possession, lining up for a 45-yard field goal with about 30 seconds left. Nevada then let the clock tick down before calling one of those much-criticized last-moment timeouts just as Hawaii lined up for the kick. Not that it counted, but the kicker nailed it much as he had when he hit the game-tying field goal on the road against Louisiana Tech.

That no worries Island spirit took over on the next try as he absolutely drilled his effort. The kick soared into the sky and smoked right through the middle of the goalposts to give the Warriors a 28-26 victory.

Equally impressive, Hawaii played nearly the entire game without injured quarterback Colt Brennan. Backup Tyler Graunke who has experience aplenty was efficient and reliable as Nevada kept the scoring down with keepaway, time-consuming football.

An upset would be a sexy story, but kickers who actually do their job in pressure situations deserve some attention when you don't get the upset. Sooooo, say hello to 10-0 Hawaii while I say hello to a few hours of sleep before I get up and do this again for 16+ hours starting later this morning.

And where else but the Western Athletic Conference? God Bless the WAC!

This baby went to four overtimes and merited nearly three minutes of precious airtime on SportsCenter so you know it's good. There's the usual Boise State trickeration inside, as well as a tour-de-force overtime performance by both teams who were nearly scoring at will (several first-play and second-play touchdowns).

Only when Nevada was sacked on a mandatory two-point conversion attempt did this beautiful little game end with Boise State victorious by the score of 69 to 67.

Encore!

Welcome to the second half. Miami seemed to dominate, but the offense managed to put points on both parts of the scoreboard. It's going to be a long game for the Miami defense.

The first shot of Miami DC, soon to be HC, Randy Shannon. Surprised it took this long for the first shot.

Nevada 3d possession: Nevada goes 3 and out. It's all going to be on the Miami defense to win this game.

Miami 3d possession: Starting on their own 24. Freeman on the play fake threw a beauty that bounced right off of Leggett's facemask. It sproinged in the air for a few seconds before falling harmlessly. 3 and out for Miami.

Feel the excitement that is the MPC Computers Bowl.

Nevada 4th possession: Big punt puts Nevada at their own 32.

Miami helps Nevada's slow offense, with a late hit on QB Jeff Rowe running out of bounds.

Randy Phillips nearly picked off the pass when Rowe rolled out. Miami's defense is the best unit in this game. Nevada's offense can't do anything against them.

Nevada gets a gift with a pass interference call against Brandon Merriweather. The ball looked uncatchable, but the officials seemed to decide Merriweather cut off the route. Bad call.

Nevada still can't do anything. 3d and long and Rowe is sacked to make it punting time.

Fair caught at the 11.

7-2 Miami, 8:24 left in the half.

Welcome to Boise. It's cloudy and around 30 degrees. At least it's not snowing -- just looks like flurries. When it's the end of December and some guy in Cleveland is making fun of the temperature, you know that things are weird.

It's the Nevada Wolfpack versus the Miami (FL) Hurricanes. Larry Coker's last game as the Miami head coach. Randy Shannon's last game as the Miami defensive coordinator before he takes over the head coaching duties. Lots of awkward moments expected -- with the obligatory cutaway camera shots to the two. Expect also gushy sideline reports about how little friction or discomfort has been occurring with the transition. Sure. No awkwardness.

Oh, yeah. There is another team at this bowl. I'll get back to you on that.

Mark Jones with the play-calling, David Norrie on color and Heather Cox swaddled on the sidelines.

Nevada 1st possession: Miami won the toss and deferred to the second half. Touchback.

In the Nevada intros, there are just way too many references to the pistol offense. I keep thinking popgun and really bad erectile dysfunction jokes.

Devin Hester, now of the Chicago Bears, does the Hurricane defense intros. Surprisingly, he didn't add, "I used to smoke all these guys in practice."

The MPC Computers CEO commercial featured their CEO bundled in the cold, pretending he knew what he was doing in front of a grill at a tailgate. Bonus points for conceding that the bowl was known as "that bowl game played on the blue turf." Negative points for the poor graphics to show the teams playing with bad "swooshing special effects" and doing nothing to actually make me consider purchasing a new computer from them.

Nevada has picked up a couple first downs with a mix of short passes and runs. Miami with a huge sack to make it 3d and 22. Shovel pass gets 12 back. Time for the Wolfpack to punt.

Fair caught at the Miami 30.

Miami 1st possession: Kriby Freeman gets the start. They are attributing it to Kyle Wright's broken thumb. Given how sloppy Freeman is with the ball, it's hard to say who would be worse.

A couple first downs, and Miami is already at the Nevada 40.

Man, the Miami players are bundled on the field. Turtlenecks, baclavas, tights, gloves. There seems little inclination for the players to expose much flesh to the cold. Hard to complain, since the Hurricanes are steadily moving at will on the Wolfpack -- with the short pass. The run isn't doing much, but short passes to the sidelines are picking up 6-10 yards per.

Javarris James -- have you heard, he's related to Edgerrin James -- gets it to the 5 for 1st and goal. On 3d and goal, Freeman keeps to give Miami the TD.

7-0 Miami 4:20 in the first quarter.

Full Name: MPC Computers Bowl.

Vitals: Nevada University Wolfpack (8-4, WAC 5-3) versus University of Miami (Fl) Hurricanes (6-6, ACC 3-5)
Sunday, December 31, 7:30pm, Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho, ESPN.
Spread: Miami by 3 to 4.

How Nevada Got Here:
By finishing 4th in the WAC. The only good win in the conference was beating San Jose St. Otherwise, no good wins in or out of conference (unless you count beating Northwestern). The Wolfpack has a run-heavy offense, with about 177 yards/game on the ground. QB Jeff Rowe doesn't throw often (19.6 passing attempts/game) but has a 65% completion rate. Nevada has a decent defense, but nothing spectacular.

How Miami got here:
Oh, where to begin. The Hurricanes finished 9th in the ACC. On offense the problems started up front with a bad offensive line that has killed them all season. RB Javarris James finally emerged from a large but disappointing group of running backs. The defense has kept Miami in many of the games, but the inability to score points has been the big problem.

What you absolutely have to know about Nevada:
This is Nevada, not UNLV. The Nevada Wolfpack is based in Reno. The Cattlemen's update is next week, focusing on low stress cattle handling. Their Hydrologic Science graduate school is one of the largest and best in the country.

What you absolutely have to know about Miami:
The University of Miami is the largest private employer in Miami-Dade County (what that says about private business in the area is a different issue). Given that it is Miami, the school has a page for "emergency preparedness" and a disaster preparation and recovery plan (PDF).

What you absolutely have to know about this bowl game:
Since a computer maker is sponsoring the bowl, they are offering a 7% discount on their computers. Of course, they are overpriced and the sale hardly is an improvement (though if they want to offer me a free laptop to to show why they are worth it, I'll listen).

Why to watch:
It's the last bowl game for 2006. It's the only bowl game of the whole day, plus it's the blue turf.

Most important, it's Miami having to go to Boise. The Hurricanes sent to a cold-weather bowl is awesome. If the point that it's expected to be cold, consider what the gift pack included:

• Winter gloves and hand warmers
• Winter skull cap with logo
• Weatherproof parka with logo

Yeah, that drives the point home.

This bowl game is all about Miami. No offense to Nevada, but the interest for this game, the storylines, are all Miami. Larry Coker's final game as coach. His Defensive Coordinator taking over as soon as this game is done.

Score Prediction:
Nevada 25 Miami 18

That's right folks, I'm here to bring you what I'm pretty sure is the FanHouse's first WAC Nevada Wolfpack liveblog. I'm going to do my best to restrain my hysteria and cover the action between the #3 and #7 teams in the Western Athletic Conference.

For those out you outside the Western region wondering to yourself, "Why is he liveblogging THAT game?" -- this is what ABC is giving us here in Los Angeles for local coverage today. Instead of waking up to Texas-Nebraska, we were able to enjoy Dora the Explorer and The Suite Life with Zach & Cody, so that ABC could bring us this riveting matchup. That's how we roll. Bet you're jealous.

So I'll be liveblogging the action straight from ABC's sterling coverage, for all those of you who had the misfortune of watching the Longhorns and 'Huskers in Lincoln this morning instead of the Wolfpack and Spartans in Reno this afternoon:

1st Quarter:

• Wow, they're making Dan Fouts do this game. He cannot have been happy when he got that assignment. What do you want to bet he negotiates a clause in his next contract to not have to call any WAC games, ever again?
• The Wolfpack strike first blood. If a pack of wolves fought some spartans in real life, who do you think would win? If the wolves are hungry, I'm going with the pack.
• They check in with Boise State/Idaho -- and Idaho's turf is a bright green I've never seen before. So apparently this is the "Battle of the Funky Turf Teams". The winner gets a trophy made of multicolored astroturf. (I joke, but honestly, I think I'd rather be watching that game.)