Kevin from College Football Zealots recently asked me to answer some questions for his blog's 2011 Pre-Season Preview of Nevada. CFZ does a good job with their previews, which include a statistical look at the team's last season, some history of previous matchups for teams on their upcoming schedule, and other assorted stats. Below is a snippet of the Q&A, followed by a link to the rest. Thanks goes out again to Kevin for the invite.
Any preview about Nevada football has to start with this question. Who is going to replace Colin Kaepernick?
The favorite right now to replace Kaepernick is Senior Tyler Lantrip, who has been Colin’s backup for the past three seasons. Lantrip does not have the running ability that Kaepernick has, but he does feature a good arm and can run well enough to work within the pistol. Due to Lantrip being the expected starter, the coaching staff has said that the offense will feature a more passing oriented look this year. Despite the tragic news recently about receiver Brandon Wimberly, the Wolf Pack receiving corps should still be one of the strengths of the team with number one receiver Rishard Matthews returning after a breakout campaign in 2010. Lantrip will be a big drop off, but he played well in limited time last season and certainly has the ability to lead the Pack to some wins.
Behind him is an intriguing crop of young QBs. Red-shirt freshman Cody Fajardo is seen as the favorite to be the eventual starter. Fajardo is of the Kaepernick mold, a run-first QB who possesses plus athleticism. Another is sophomore Mason Magleby, also an impressive athlete with the same type of skills. In addition to those two, the most recent Pack recruiting class featured another highly touted run-oriented QB in Tanner Roderick. Roderick was named Montana’s Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 2010 after setting a number of state records in football and was also one of the state’s top basketball players. Roderick is a name to watch.