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October 15, 2004
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Rowe to remain Pack quarterbackBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Coach Chris Ault told boosters at his weekly luncheon on Monday that he'll stick with sophomore Jeff Rowe the rest of the year despite some inconsistencies en route to a 2-4 record. Nevada hosts Rice Saturday at 6 p.m. "You have to name a starter and we have named a starter and he has been the starter," Ault said. "It's just that our quarterback play has been so inconsistent. "You have to settle in with one guy for the continuity of the offense, the continuity of the audible, the continuity of the passing game. We are going into our seventh game and I have seen enough." Ault said that he may call on sophomore Travis Moore and senior third-stringer Andy Heiser at times the rest of the season, but it would probably just be for a series or two if Rowe needs to see the opposing defense from a different perspective during the game. "Andy might get some shots in there to relieve Jeff, as Travis will," Ault said. "But Jeff is our guy. He has earned that right. He's played well enough to be there, we just need to eliminate the mistakes. Travis has done well and he is a good athlete. But there is no question that Jeff is the best quarterback for the job." Rowe, who starred at Reno's McQueen High School, has started all six games this year but his playing time has diminished in the last two weeks' losses at UNLV and Hawaii as Moore came on in relief. Against Hawaii on Saturday, Rowe played the entire first half and the first series of the second half before Ault went to Moore for the rest of the game. The Pack scored 13 points under each quarterback but costly mistakes, especially inside the Hawaii 20-yard line, helped contribute to the 48-26 loss. Against UNLV, Moore saw the bulk of the playing time after coming on in the second quarter. On the season, Rowe has completed 98-of-175 passes (56 percent) for 1,132 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Moore is 44-of-71 (62 percent) with three touchdowns and two picks. Both have made mistakes that show up on the stat sheet - costly interceptions and taking sacks instead of throwing the ball away. But there are other things, Ault said, that contributed to the decision. "A lot of it is making the right reads and checks," Ault said. "Our offensive line only gave up two sacks (against Hawaii). The rest (there were four total) were our quarterbacks not getting us into the right protection schemes." "We are not playing good football. It is real simple. It starts with the head coach and goes through the coaching staff and then goes down to the players. It is not acceptable. (But) we are a better team than how we have been playing." |
