Boxscore

RENO, Nev. ? Nevada junior running back Luke Lippincott scored five touchdowns and the Wolf Pack took advantage of three Bulldog turnovers and a sputtering Louisiana Tech offense as Nevada became bowl-eligible with a 49-10 victory before 9,113 fans on a blustery Saturday at Mackay Stadium. Tech ends the 2007 season at 5-7 overall, 4-4 in Western Athletic Conference play.

Nevada (6-6, 4-4 WAC) outgained the Bulldogs, 641-228, and Tech only managed 12 first downs. It was the most yards Tech has allowed this season, and the sixth-most in school history. Tech was also penalized nine times for 55 yards, and the Wolf Pack held the ball for more than 37 minutes.

?They outplayed us in every phase of the game,? Tech head coach Derek Dooley said. ?Nevada is a good football team. I think the conditions affected us.?

Bulldog quarterback Zac Champion, making his final start in a Tech uniform, finished 9-of-23 for 114 yards. Patrick Jackson led the Bulldog rushing attack with 66 yards on 21 carries, and Philip Beck was the ?Dawgs leading receiver with 57 yards on two catches. Jackson moved into ninth all-time at Tech as he now has 2,173 in his career, pushing him ahead of Arry Moody.

Redshirt freshman Ross Jenkins saw his first action as a Bulldog, completing two of five pass attempts for 26 yards.

Nevada freshman quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 18 of 29 attempts for 404 yards and three touchdowns. Lippencott was a dual threat for the Wolf Pack, gaining 112 yards on 25 carries and another 105 on four catches, scoring a combined five touchdowns on the day. Kyle Sammons scored Nevada?s other two touchdowns as he had 199 yards on eight catches.

For the third straight game, Tech fumbled the ball away on its opening drive, this time on the second play from scrimmage. Nevada capitalized with a touchdown just four plays later to take a 7-0 lead on a Lippencott one-yard dive just 2:11 into the game.

With a stiff wind in the Bulldogs? face, Tech struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt twice early. The Wolf Pack would take advantage of good field position again and put together a 7-play drive to find the end zone on a 16-yard pass to Sammons and take a 14-0 lead late in the period.

Tech?s biggest play of the first half came when a Champion completion to Phillip Livas was fumbled but advanced an extra 12 yards when Michael Mosley recovered inside the Wolf Pack 30. But a 44-yard field goal attempt by Danny Horwedel missed wide right, and the Bulldogs could not capitalize on their best field position of the day.

The Bulldogs caught a break when Chris Pugh recovered a Nevada fumble deep in Tech territory midway through the second quarter. But the Bulldogs would give it right back only two plays later at midfield. Dooley would challenge the call but the ruling of a fumble was upheld. Once again, the Wolf Pack would take advantage of great field position with a four-play, 50-yard scoring drive that ended with a one-yard run by Lippencott.

Late in the second quarter, Tech dug deep into its playbook with a double pass when Mosley, lined up as a receiver, found Phillip Beck for 33 yards and a first down inside the Nevada 10. The Bulldogs, however, would have to settle for a 20-yard Horwedel field goal to get on the board at 21-3, which would be the halftime margin.

Nevada would strike quick coming out of the break as Kaepernick found Sammons wide open across the middle for a 74-yard touchdown to increase the Wolf Pack lead to 28-3. Lippencott added a pair of scores ? both on one-yard runs ? in the third to give the Wolf Pack a 42-3 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Tech would finally get the big play it had been looking for all day when Livas returned the kick 78 yards for the Bulldogs? first touchdown of the day, making the score 42-10 with 2:50 left in the third. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown by Louisiana Tech since Patrick Jackson?s 100-yard return against Fresno State in 2006.

Nevada would tack on one more score as the Wolf Pack marched 70 yards in 10 plays, capped off by Lippencott?s fifth touchdown of the day, to take a 49-10 lead with just over 13 minutes to play.

With the 2007 season complete, the Bulldogs will begin preparations for the 2008 football campaign, which begins Aug. 30 against Mississippi State at Joe Aillet Stadium.