More Reno Previews, Moniz

Lots of Nevada news from tonight's Chawan's Cut. There are soundbites from Greg Salas, Bryant Moniz, Jeramy Bryant, etc.



Bryant Moniz is profiled in ESPN.com's College Football Nation blog.

Moniz refused to give up on football. He went to a community college for a time so he could be eligible to walk on at Hawaii. Moniz quickly found himself sixth on the depth chart when he arrived last January, but that was fine with him.

“I knew what my chances were,” he said. “It was for the love of the game that kept me playing. It didn’t matter if I was last string or first string, I just wanted to play. I was a fan on the field watching Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares. It was just really cool to be out here with all the guys.”

Salas, who ranks second nationally with 126.2 receiving yards per game, saw a spark in Moniz right away.

“Just catching balls from him, running routes, I would always compliment him on his tight spirals,” Salas said. “He put it right on the money. We knew he was going to be good, but we had no idea he was going to be this good.”

Joe Santoro of The Lahontan Valley News has a lot of quotes from the Nevada coaches and players about traveling to Hawaii.

“Everybody always comes up to me and says, ‘Boy, you guys got a long plane ride over to Hawaii. That must be tough to go play a game there,'” the Nevada Wolf Pack head coach said this week as his team prepared to play the Hawaii Warriors Saturday night (8:30 p.m.) in Honolulu.

“I always tell them, ‘Now, what do you think the players are going to do during that plane ride?' They'll tell me things like, ‘Read a book, do homework, sleep, listen to music, talk to their friends.' Exactly. It's a relaxing time. What's so tough about that?”

And Thomas Ranson of the Lahontan Valley Times has a game preview, which includes Nevada's keys to the game.

The keys to winning and staying perfect include keeping Hawaii's passing attack less than 300 yards, committing no turnovers, limiting penalties, controlling the clock and running the ball for 300 yards. With Colin Kaepernick adding more consistency to his passing game, it's made Nevada's offense unstoppable this year. The defense continues to allow big plays but when the game's on the line, the Pack makes stops. This game could come down to the last possession with the ball in Hawaii's hands, a passing touchdown from crushing Nevada fans' dreams of a perfect season two weeks short of Halloween.