Nevada isn’t a stranger to scoring over 40 points this year, but it was nice for the Wolf Pack to come away with a victory after last week.

The Pack delighted the homecoming crowd with a 44-17 blowout win over Utah State in Western Athletic Conference football action Saturday afternoon.

Utah State (1-6, 1-2 WAC) tried three different attacks in the opening drive against a Nevada defense that allowed 48 points a week ago in a loss to New Mexico State. To the shock of the 13,159 in attendance, none of it worked.

A run up the middle, a pass deep downfield and a screen pass led to a combined zero yards and the first of seven straight punts by the Aggies.

A big punt return by Jonathon Amaya set up the Wolf Pack deep in Utah State territory. However, Nevada would not break the scoreless tie until its second possession of the game.

Three straight completions by Wolf Pack quarterback Nick Graziano, who started in place of Colin Kaepernick, opened up the running game. Running back Vai Taua made up for his fumble from the first drive and found the end zone from 26 yards out. A bad snap on the PAT left Nevada with a 6-0 advantage and it never trailed.

Missed opportunities plagued the Wolf Pack in the opening quarter. The hosts had a shot to take over inside the Utah State 10, but rather than diving on the fumble caused by defensive end Dontay Moch’s sack, Nevada tried to picked it up and score. Instead, the Aggies were able to pounce on the ball and maintain possession. Utah State still had to punt.

Nevada wouldn’t waste Amaya’s second big punt return. In the second quarter, he returned a 35-yard punt 26 yards to the Aggies’ 19.

Kaepernick was clearly undisturbed by not starting the game and on his first snap of the game, the sophomore faked a handoff on a read-option play and took it 19 yards untouched for a score. This time the snap on the extra point was good as was the kick, increasing the home team’s edge to 13-0 at the 14:49 mark in the second quarter.

“Their read-zone play, when they bring Kaepernick on the edge, that's what worried me the most,” Utah State coach Brent Guy said. “The way Nevada runs the ball now, they can really control the game. If we can’t stop the run against those guys, then we're in big trouble.”

Nevada’s third turnover of the half led to Utah State’s first points of the game.

Utah State hadn’t been in Wolf Pack territory all day, but on a swing pass to Brian Fludd, Aggies defender Caleb Taylor somehow pulled the ball out from the Nevada wideout’s hands while he was falling to the ground.

Three plays later, Diondre Borel tossed up a fade to a wide-open Otis Nelson in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown. The extra point made it a 13-7 game with 2:27 remaining in the first half.

That left plenty of time for the Wolf Pack’s offense to trek back down the field before the intermission. Wideout Mike McCoy went in motion and took a pitch on an option play for a 10-yard touchdown, his first TD of the year. The nine-play drive gave Nevada a 20-7 halftime lead thanks to the score with just over a minute on the first-half clock.

While Utah State’s offense looked overmatched all day except for the gift they received, the Aggies still threatened to put up more points prior to halftime. Utah State drove to within field goal range, but a poor play call ended up running out the clock.

Nevada ate up over eight minutes off the clock in the opening drive of the second half. The Wolf Pack did not get into the end zone, but Brett Jaekle extended the lead to 23-7 with a 26-yard field goal.

It didn’t take long to turn the Western Athletic Conference battle into a rout. Following an illegal substitution penalty, Kaepernick hit Marko Mitchell in stride on a play-action pass for a 75-yard touchdown down the sideline and a 30-10 lead.

On the ensuing Utah State drive, the Nevada defense did bend, but it refused to break and only gave up a 42-yard Chris Ulinski field goal with 2:57 on the third-quarter clock. It was Ulinski’s first field goal of the year and was set up by Kejon Murphy’s 57-yard kickoff return, which started the Aggies in Wolf Pack territory.

Nevada answered right back when Kaepernick capped a 77-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play with 10:45 on the fourth-quarter clock.

The Wolf Pack defense finally gave up the big play in the fourth quarter. Initially, a Utah State touchdown was negated by a holding call, but two plays later Borel and Nelson hooked up again for a 52-yard touchdown pass.

For eight minutes, the score remained 37-17 until Jared Silva-Purcell picked off a Borel pass and returned it 47 yards for six points, sealing the victory with under two minutes left in the game.

Nevada’s improved defense was the big story. Utah State managed just 71 yards on the ground on 37 carries, while the Wolf Pack turned in a balanced offensive performance with 284 rushing yards and 239 yards passing, out-gaining the Aggies by 190 yards in the game.

“I saw some good things out of the defensive front and linebackers today,” Nevada coach Chris Ault said. “I saw some good aggressive football.”

Taua finished with 122 yards on 18 carries to lead all rushers. Mitchell caught a pass for the 21st game and eclipsed the century mark for the third time this season with 122 yards receiving.

Nevada now has four straight wins over the Logan, Utah school in a series that started 104 years ago.

The Wolf Pack (4-3, 2-1 WAC) will face a stiff challenge when it makes the long trip to Hawaii Saturday.