RENO, Nev. — In the so-called Biggest Little City in the World, Nevada pulled perhaps the biggest little upset in the nation Saturday.
The Wolf Pack knocked off BYU, 31-28, before a crowd of 23,109 at Mackay Stadium. Nevada, which lost by 45 points a year ago in Provo, played inspired football while an inconsistent, mistake-prone BYU team fell behind early and couldn't catch up.
When it was over, the Nevada players, coaches and fans staged a jubilant celebration on the field, and the Cougars walked away knowing they had lost a game they were expected to win.
"They're a mediocre team," said BYU right tackle Dustin Rykert. "We're a lot better team, but you have to give (Nevada) credit. Their adrenaline level was high. They were prepared, and they came out with fire."
The Cougars (2-1) came out flat, and their slow start doomed them. BYU never led in the game, trailing 10-0 after one quarter and 31-14 at halftime. Nevada quarterback Zack Threadgill passed for 410 yards and four touchdowns, and wide receiver Nate Burleson hauled in 12 passes for 215 yards. The pair hooked up on a 95-yard passing play in the first quarter.
"It was a big game for them, and we didn't perform the way we wanted to," said Cougar coach Gary Crowton. In the second half, Crowton decided to go with quarterback Lance Pendleton instead of starter Bret Engemann, and Pendleton led the Cougars to a pair of touchdown drives in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the BYU defense held the Wolf Pack scoreless over the final two quarters. The Cougars played better in the second half, but it was a case of too little, too late.
"You can't let a team like that get confidence," Engemann said of Nevada. "We gave them confidence. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We can't let that happen."
BYU tried to rally in the second half. In the third quarter, Marcus Whalen, who finished with 135 yards on 14 carries, scored on a 30-yard TD camper, making the score 31-21. BYU scored again on its next possession when Pendleton tossed a 9-yard TD to Gabriel Reid with 4:09 left in the period.
But the Cougars didn't get into the end zone again.
It was a long day for BYU in more ways than one. The Cougars awoke early Saturday morning to board their hour-long flight to Reno, though Crowton said the travel schedule didn't have anything to do with his team's sluggish first-half effort.
"I felt like we were fresh at the end," he said. "We just didn't start off well. We didn't start well last week against Hawaii, either."
Midway through the second quarter, it looked like the Cougars were turning things around. Defensive end Brady Poppinga forced a fumble by Nevada running back Matt Milton, and BYU defensive end Shaun Nua recovered the ball at the Wolf Pack 9-yard line. Four plays later, Reno Mahe skirted around the end for a 4-yard touchdown, pulling BYU to within 17-14 with 6:59 remaining in the half.
But Nevada answered with a 12-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Threadgill to tight end Erick Streelman, who was wide open in the end zone with 48 seconds left.
On BYU's last possession of the half, Engemann made a poor read and threw an interception into the hands of Nevada free safety Ronnie Hardiman, who was all alone in the secondary. "It was a mix-up," Engemann said. "It was my fault. I thought (wide receiver Rod Wilkerson) was going to run a post and he ran a curl."
Hardiman returned the ball 21 yards to the BYU 32 yard-line with 33 seconds remaining. "That pick was a huge, huge play," Crowton said.
That's because the Wolf Pack capitalized on the miscue. Burleson caught a 25-yard pass to the nine-yard line, followed by a touchdown pass from Threadgill to Tim Fleming with no time left on the clock. Nevada went into the locker room up by 17 points.
For the Wolf Pack (1-1), the victory was a giant step forward. "It's the biggest win since I've been here," said Nevada coach Chris Tormey, who's in his third season at the helm. "I think we'll look back two or three years from now and we'll look at this game and say to ourselves, 'That was the day that we turned it around. That was the day our players started to believe and know that they could win.' "
BYU will probably look back on this day and just want to forget it. The Cougars travel to Georgia Tech next Saturday.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com