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His team just became bowl eligible for a program-record sixth straight season, but Nevada coach Chris Ault has more pressing concerns. Mainly, a defense that was practically non-existent in the second half of its last game.
Back in the rankings for the first time in three weeks, the 25th-ranked Wolf Pack go for their sixth straight victory over Idaho when the teams meet at ASUI-Kibbie Dome on Saturday.
Coming off a bye week following a 27-21 loss at Hawaii on Oct. 16 that ended its best start since becoming a Division I-A program 18 years ago, Nevada (7-1, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference) qualified for a bowl with last Saturday's 56-42 victory against visiting Utah State.
"I've never gave it a thought," said Ault, whose team dropped out of the Top 25 following the Hawaii loss. "Our expectations are beyond that ... I'm concerned about the defense now and the University of Idaho."
The most points the Wolf Pack had allowed was 31 up until last week, when they gave up all 42 in the second half.
"That was really dismal. The sad thing about it was we played so well the first half," Ault said. "It's disappointing to think we'd go out there and really not play with any energy. ... If you're going to compete at the championship level, you can't have halves like that on either side of the ball."
Despite rushing for a team-high 102 yards and a TD while throwing for two scores, Nevada senior Colin Kaepernick also knows he has to improve after briefly being replaced by Tyler Lantrip in the first half for poor decision-making.
"For what it's worth, (watching from the sidelines) helped somewhat," said Kaepernick, who is 27th in the nation with 96.4 rushing yards per game and two rushing touchdowns shy of breaking the school record of 53.
Leading the Wolf Pack's pistol offense, which is seventh in the FBS with 41.9 points per game and third with an average of 520.1 yards, Kaepernick will likely have leading rusher Vai Taua lined up in the backfield Saturday.
The senior, who sat last week with an ankle injury, is 94 yards shy of becoming the fourth player in program history and fifth in WAC history to rush for 4,000.
Taua, sixth in the FBS with 132.6 rushing yards per game, ran for 146 and two touchdowns in a 70-45 victory against visiting Idaho on Oct. 24, 2009.
Kaepernick ran for 230 yards and a career-best four touchdowns in that matchup while throwing for 178 yards and two scores.
While Idaho (4-4, 1-2) faces a major challenge against the Wolf Pack's rushing attack, which is fifth in the nation with 300.9 yards per game, the Vandals also need to limit their penalties and take better care of the ball.
Senior Nathan Enderle was intercepted twice and the Vandals committed four turnovers and a season-high 14 penalties in last Saturday's 45-10 loss at Hawaii.
"Turnovers put us in a hole," senior running back Deonte' Jackson told the team's official website after totaling 101 all-purpose yards. "That's definitely a momentum killer."
Coach Robb Akey will look for a better performance from Enderle, who is second in the WAC with 2,282 passing yards and third with 16 TDs but leads the conference with 12 interceptions.
Enderle threw for 342 yards and a career-high four TDs last season at Nevada.
"He's probably as good of a quarterback as there is in the conference ... and that's what they're going to do is throw it," Ault said. "We'll have our hands full."
Kaepernick faces a Vandals defense that leads the FBS with 14 fumble recoveries and is tied for ninth in turnovers caused with 21.
Nevada leads the series 18-9 and has won its last three at Idaho by an average of 36.0 points.
