RENO, NEV. » Nevada coach Brian Polian didn’t make a big deal when he told third-string quarterback Tyler Stewart that he would be starting Saturday’s game against Hawaii.

At the start of Thursday’s practice, the coaching staff told Stewart, a redshirt freshman, to go out with the first-team offense.

"I’d love to tell you we sat him down and gave him a ‘Win one for the Gipper’ speech," Polian said.

Stewart looked just fine on Saturday, throwing three touchdown passes and completing 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards to lead the Wolf Pack to a 31-9 win over the Rainbow Warriors.

Stewart was playing because starter Cody Fajardo sprained his right knee two weeks ago against UC Davis, and backup Devin Combs then blew out the ACL in his left knee in a loss at Florida State last week. Stewart came on in the second half of that game.

On Saturday, Stewart completed eight of his first nine passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Once Nevada had the lead, the coaching staff didn’t ask Stewart to do too much, throwing the ball just six times in the second half.

Stewart was not available to the media because Polian won’t allow freshmen — even redshirt freshmen — to speak to the media. But his teammates were effusive in their praise.

"Before you guys ask me questions, I want to give a shout-out to Tyler Stewart," said defensive end Brock Hekking. "That was an amazing job for him to step up and come out and play like that. I’m extremely proud of him."

Said wide receiver Brandon Wimberly: "He was poised and came out there and delivered the ball like we expect him to do."

Of course, Wimberly — a sixth-year senior — couldn’t resist some hazing.

"For this being his first start, he did pretty good," Wimberly said. "I always pick on Tyler. He’s young, he’s goofy-looking. But he’s a good guy. He was kind of speaking softly and we said, ‘C’mon, speak up. This is your group right now. You have to lead us.’ "

It was a blustery evening at Mackay Stadium with a bone-chilling wind blowing for most of the first half. Confetti released after a first-quarter field goal by the Wolfpack was still swirling above the field more than 10 minutes later.

With Hawaii up 3-0 in the first quarter, Stewart hit tight end Kolby Arendse in stride on a crossing route, and Arendse raced 68 yards to the Rainbow Warriors 10 before Dee Maggitt finally ran him down. Stewart later found Arendse for a 5-yard scoring pass and Nevada led for good.

"It was just a well-executed play," Arendse said. "Tyler threw a great ball, and I think it possibly caught the defense off-guard. They were in man coverage and we work on it all week. It’s just a matter of one guy beating another guy."

Stewart had another big play late in the quarter, throwing a perfect screen to the right side to Chris Solomon out of the backfield. Hawaii was in a big blitz and Stewart calmly waited out the play. Solomon got loose and ended up running 57 yards to the Rainbow Warriors 9. On the first play of the second quarter, Stewart connected with Arendse again for a 2-yard touchdown.

Stewart’s third touchdown pass came on a back-shoulder fade to Wimberly in the third quarter from the 7. From that point on, he had done his job and Nevada relied on its defense to finish off the game.

"I told him right after the game how proud of him I was," Polian said. "Guy was the third quarterback and went out and played fantastic in a conference game. He deserves a lot of credit."