Nevada football fans had to stay up late Saturday night to watch the Wolf Pack take on the Rainbow Warriors in Hawaii. Unfortunately, the late night ended in a bitter 34-13 loss for Nevada, plagued by injuries, undisciplined football, and an incomplete team effort.

Perhaps there’s a Timmy Chang curse. Chang, the current head coach of Hawaii and former Nevada assistant coach from 2017-21, is now 3-0 against Nevada despite being 4-23 against non-Nevada FBS schools.

Either way, Nevada was dominated physically. There was no Brendon Lewis. Savion Red got hurt during the game. Nevada’s chances of a bowl game have almost diminished, and the team will continue to look for its first conference win of the season.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

10:10- Brayden Schager 1-yard TD run (Kansei Matsuzawa PAT)

Nevada 0 – Hawaii 7

0:28- Brayden Schager 1-yard TD run (Kansei Matsuzawa PAT)

Nevada 0 – Hawaii 14

2nd Quarter

0:09- Kansei Matsuzawa 29-yard FG

Nevada 0 – Hawaii 17

3rd Quarter

14:29- Marcus Bellon 63-yard TD pass from Chubba Purdy (Matthew Killam PAT)

Nevada 7 – Hawaii 17

1:57- Brayden Schager 3-yard TD run (Kansei Matsuzawa PAT)

Nevada 7 – Hawaii 24

4th Quarter

14:07- Brayden Schager 6-yard TD run (Kansei Matsuzawa PAT)

Nevada 7 – Hawaii 31

8:43- Marcus Bellon TD pass from AJ Bianco (2-pt conversion attempt failed)

Nevada 13 – Hawaii 31

2:53- Kansei Matsuzawa 30-yard FG

Nevada 13 – Hawaii 34

Final: Nevada 13, Hawaii 34

Offense

With Lewis out, it wasn’t expected that the running game would be the same. Still, it took a huge hit.

Nevada only rushed for 94 total yards on 29 attempts. The Pack’s leading rusher was QB Chubba Purdy, who got the start but was subbed in and out with AJ Bianco. Purdy rushed for 41 yards on attempts.

Red only had one carry until he came out with a toe injury. With how heavy Nevada relies on its run game, not having Lewis or Red hurt more than anything. It was the second straight game Nevada was held under 100 rushing yards.

However, Nevada’s passing game outperformed Hawaii’s. Purdy went 13-18 with 155 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Bianco went 13-21 with 131 yards and a touchdown pass.

Both QBs relied heavily on wide receiver Marcus Bellon, who finished the night with 111 yards on six receptions and two touchdowns.

Defense

Hawaii QB Brayden Schager channeled his inner Lewis as he dominated the Pack’s defense with his legs.

On 19 carries, Schager rushed for 120 yards and four rushing touchdowns. He also went 14-25 in the air with 135 yards and an interception by Nevada CB Michael Coats Jr., his fourth of the year.

Outside of Schager’s dominant run performance, Nevada reverted to bad habits in the penalty department. Nevada was flagged 12 times for 108 yards, many of them coming from unsportsmanlike penalties.

Overall, it was a sloppy, undisciplined game mixed with a lot of injuries.

What’s Next

Nevada is now one of two teams to be winless in the Mountain West (Air Force is the other.) The Pack now sit at 3-6 and 0-3 in conference play, with the already slim chances at a bowl game going even lower.

Nevada will return home to face old friend Jay Norvell and the Colorado State Rams. The Rams are 5-3 and 3-0 in the MW, and one more win would send Colorado State bowling for the first time since 2017.

Rep. Sara Jacobs has been an unmistakable presence in her San Diego district since long before she began running for re-election this year.

But recently she’s also been showing up in Nevada and a handful of other states.

Mayor Todd Gloria is running hard to win another four-year term at San Diego City Hall. Yet he’s made three brief trips to Nevada as well.

Elected officials and political staff members from San Diego and across California — particularly Democrats — have journeyed to swing states near and far to knock on doors, hand out literature and attend rallies to help their candidates for president, Senate and the House.

Candidates helping campaigns afar is by no means a new phenomenon, especially in deep blue California, which is certain to back Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Rep. Adam Schiff for Senate.

Though a Democratic stronghold, California does have a handful of battleground districts that could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the House. And those races are not lacking for attention from both political parties.

But states like Nevada could decide whether Harris or former President Donald Trump win the White House and determine who controls the Senate. Both parties have responded accordingly.

High-profile visitors such as Gov. Gavin Newsom can bring volunteers, energize locals and command media attention. Newsom’s frequent out-of-state campaign jaunts to support Joe Biden when the president was still running for re-election triggered repeated questions about whether the California governor was angling to replace the beleaguered incumbent on the ticket.

Newsom steadfastly denied such ambitions back then and has continued to travel beyond his state’s boundaries to campaign for Harris and other Democrats.

Of course, there’s a big difference between a well-known surrogate like Newsom (or Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk, for that matter) and most others.  But the elected officials lending a hand elsewhere tend to face similar political circumstances – either they’re not up for re-election (like Newsom) or expected to easily win their races.

The latter is particularly the case with the well-resourced Jacobs, who is facing a long-shot challenge from Republican El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells in the heavily Democratic 51st Congressional District.

Gloria faces a tougher road against San Diego police Officer Larry Turner, who last month was the beneficiary of a surprise $1 million donation to an independent campaign supporting him from Point Loma attorney Steven Richter. More recently, Richter reportedly kicked in another $450,000.

Two of Gloria’s Nevada trips to support the Democratic ticket were before the dynamics of his race changed — in March and August — when his path to victory seemed more clear. He also went to the Silver State on Sept. 28. Each visit was a day trip.

Political opponents often grouse that elected officials should be staying at home doing their jobs, but, like Gloria’s, these trips tend to be short.

This practice of out-of-towners dropping in to help seemingly has been around forever, but it may feel like it’s more common in recent times. There’s no database that can determine whether it actually is. For one thing, the spread of such activities on social media — often by the visiting politicians themselves — may give the impression it’s happening more than in decades past.

Thad Kousser, political science professor at UC San Diego, said the changed political landscape over the years may encourage more out-of-town campaigning.

The number of battleground states has shrunk as the nation has become more sharply divided along political lines.

“Politicians have always been doing their part in support of the national ticket,” Kousser said. But he noted that “so many states are simply off the playing board, like California has been since about 2000.”

The bottom-line motivation isn’t complicated. Politicians want their cause or the candidate they support to win. Without overlooking their own races, if they’re in a position to go elsewhere to help, many do.

“Savvy politicians know where that will help the most and that’s in battleground states,” Kousser said.

“Politicians want to help allies in their party,” he continued, adding, “and they want to be seen helping them.”

Officials often want to be known as good soldiers for the party. Assisting other candidates by raising money, making an endorsement or just walking precincts often isn’t forgotten.

It’s hard to say how much Gloria brings to the table in Nevada, but, cumulatively, he and other visiting politicians can attract attention and encourage others back home to join them.

After Biden stepped aside and Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, Gloria’s team stressed the long, close relationship the mayor has with the vice president. That naturally led to speculation about a Harris administration appointment if she’s elected. Gloria’s trips to Nevada may have added more fuel.

The mayor recently sought to throw cold water on that, telling the San Diego Sun that if he’s re-elected, he has the “absolute 100 percent intention of staying here all four years.”

Nevada is a critical state for both parties, with its six electoral votes potentially tipping the election to Trump or Harris. Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is facing a tough challenge from Republican Sam Brown in a pivotal race.

There’s also a ballot measure to amend the Nevada Constitution to recognize a fundamental right to abortion.

Rep. Jacobs is concerned about “the stakes in this election, which we don’t think could be higher,” said aide Lauren McIlvaine.

Jacobs, one of the youngest members of Congress, is a rising star in the Democratic Party, with a growing national profile and a sought-after fundraiser.

In addition to Nevada, she has made campaign appearances in Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire, according to McIlvaine. A trip to Pennsylvania and another one to Michigan are planned.

Jacobs often talks with groups of women voters, young voters and college students, McIlvaine said. In perhaps a sign of the times, the Congress member attended a unique political event with her mother in Minnesota: a pickleball tournament.

“Yes, she played. No, she didn’t win,” McIlvaine said.

What they said

New York Times, final NYT/Sienna College national poll.

“The electorate has rarely seemed so evenly divided.. . . Harris and Trump are locked in a dead heat for the popular vote, 48 percent to 48 percent.”

Rather than playing against a male player on the San Jose State women’s volleyball team, the University of Nevada women’s team pivoted away and held a rally at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on Saturday to highlight the ongoing fight to keep trans athletes (men) from destroying the future of women’s athletics. 

UNR had a match originally scheduled for Saturday until the Wolf Pack women spoke up, announcing that they would not compete against SJSU’s Blaire Fleming (born a male) — accepting a forfeiture — to send a message to collegiate athletes to stand for truth.

READ: Nevada Volleyball Officially Forfeits Against San Jose State, Transgender Player Blaire Fleming

The event was a resounding success. The Wolf Pack players often showed emotion, though the reaction was more out of triumph.

Limited to standing room minutes before the event, the “Women’s Sports Are For Women Only” event showed the real support that the Reno community offers.

Men clamored for the UNR team to speak truth and women cheered as Gaines, UNR co-captain Sia Liilii and others called out the injustices allowed by the NCAA, the Mountain West Conferences, and San Jose State by championing trans athletes’ inclusion. 

Sia Liilii and eight of her teammates took the stage on Saturday — alongside Riley Gaines — in the event held by the ICONS (Independent Council on Women’s Sports) team — intended to encourage more women, men, and individuals to speak up against the injustices of allowing men to compete in women’s athletics. 

BREAKING: San Jose State-Nevada Volleyball Match Moved To SJSU Campus

The University of Nevada became the fifth school to forfeit its competition against the SJSU Spartans. 

(The women of UNR stand up for women against trans athletes (OutKick: Alejandro Avila))

Despite UNR’s consensus not to compete against San Jose, the Wolf Pack program refused to support its women.

“I feel in that meeting that we had where our university told us that we would have to play it,” Liilii said after the event, detailing her discussions with UNR. “I felt like I just had no air, like I was being actively silenced.”

Riley Gaines, who launched a major campaign against the inclusion of trans athletes after competing against Lia Thomas in the NCAA’s national swim championship, sounded the alarm for people to take action before it’s too late; including demanding action from NCAA’s Charlie Baker.

ICONS has launched a lawsuit, joined by SJSU volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser, to pressure the NCAA into abiding by the original definition of Title IX rather than prioritizing “gender identity” over biological sex. 

UNR athletic director Stephanie Rempe has proclaimed that competing against Blaire Fleming is done in the name of “inclusion,” even if the Wolf Pack women fear for their safety by competing against the trans athlete. 

“Do the right thing,” Gaines said. “Stop treating girls as an afterthought.”

Fleming is a 6-foot-1 male competing in a sport that boasts advantages for men, including a volleyball net for women that is seven feet shorter than men’s regulation nets.

Women, including Liilii and Gaines, need support from their institutions. When the women at UNR agreed to forfeit against SJSU, UNR responded by wanting to force the women into showing up for the Oct. 26 match. The conference agreed to let the women switch venues to San Jose after the women at UNR backed out. 

After the Nevada Wolf Pack competed against Fresno on Thursday, the University of Nevada sent two buses for the players. One bus was headed toward San Jose, and the other was a trip back home for the women who opted not to play against Fleming. During matches in the last two weeks, Fleming knocked down two competitors with his force.

The women of UNR stand up for women against trans athletes (OutKick: Alejandro Avila)

READ: Trans Blaire Fleming Blasts A Spike Off Opponent’s Head & Now America Is Talking

A resounding message of “Unity” was evoked by the UNR women, reminding people that many women are begging to keep women’s athletics from going extinct.

“I think this situation just allowed us to really embrace it,” Liilii said, speaking about the team’s forfeiture and her team’s principles. “I mean, at the beginning of the season, we talked about our core values, and we’re like, yeah, of course, you’re going to fight. …

“We’re not backing down. We’re fighting for this because it affects not only us. It’s bigger than just listening to this woman’s voice. 

“If we were to let this proceed and this affects my nieces, I mean, I have family. My little sister could play sports if I was like, one more case is not okay.”

These women are brave, and their actions show that.

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