UNR’s ‘bazooka’ offense aimed at Boston College

SAN FRANCISCO -- Despite playing on the opposite side of the country, Boston College has gotten the chance to see quite a bit of UNR's vaunted pistol offense on television.

The Eagles spent more than a few Friday nights the past couple of years being entertained in their hotel by quarterback Colin Kaepernick, running back Vai Taua and the rest of coach Chris Ault's high-scoring crew while preparing for their own game the following day.

Boston College (7-5) has been forced to study the No. 13 Wolf Pack's pistol more closely the past few weeks in preparation for tonight's Fight Hunger Bowl.

"I learned that we better be lined up right and we better be ready," Boston College coach Frank Spaziani said. "They're prolific. I think it's misnamed. It's not a pistol; it's a bazooka. We run the pistol. They run a bazooka. This thing explodes."

UNR (12-1) is led by the dual threat of Kaepernick, who has joined Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow and Cam Newton as the only players in Football Bowl Subdivision history to throw and run for at least 20 touchdowns in a season.

The Wolf Pack are fifth in the nation in scoring at 42.6 points per game with five games of at least 50 points. They are the third-most prolific rushing team, with 1,000-yard seasons from Taua and Kaepernick, and join No. 2 Oregon as the only teams averaging more than 300 yards rushing and 200 yards passing per game.

"Those guys make plays," Eagles linebacker Mark Herzlich said. "No matter what offense Colin is in, he would make plays. What's annoying about him, and I'll tell it to his face, is he can pass the ball, too. A lot of running quarterbacks can't pass, but he can. That's annoying."

Much of the credit goes to Ault's pistol offense that he invented a few years ago, which has the quarterback about 4 yards behind center and a running back 3 yards behind the QB to combine elements of the spread and the I formation.

BC already has seen a form of the pistol in its game against Duke in November. The Eagles won that contest 21-16, holding the Blue Devils to four yards rushing on 24 carries -- a reason why BC is ranked No. 1 in the nation in run defense.

"We saw a little bit, but not the way it's run here and with the execution and the personnel," Spaziani said. "He's the inventor of it, and they have pretty good players running it. It's a lot different."

Largely because of UNR's success the past few seasons, the offense has spread around the country so quickly that it's becoming more of a staple than a novelty.

The Wolf Pack have watched the growth with admiration.

"Early in the year we saw Alabama running it and were like, 'Wow, the national champions are running our offense,' " Kaepernick said. "That's when it really hit that we're doing some good things with this offense."

Anyone who hadn't caught on to what UNR was doing surely learned about it the second-to-last week of the regular season, when the Wolf Pack rallied for a 34-31 overtime win over previously undefeated and third-ranked Boise State.