The man responsible for leading the Gaucho offense is QB Nick Nelson (6-2,
230) who started seven games in 2005 and has big plans for this season.
“We have a ton of talent on our team,” Nelson told JCFootball.com. “We
expect to have a good season, but we’re not looking ahead. Our next game
(against Bakersfield) is our most important one and if we focus and play hard, I
think we’ll do really well.”
Nelson doesn’t talk about himself a lot. He speaks of the team and the goals
they’ve set for themselves.
“I prefer to let my play do the talking,” Nelson said, but then added, “I’m
pretty smart on the field. I have a strong arm and a quick release. One thing
I’ve really been working on was my accuracy because last year I wasn’t as good
as I thought I should be.”
In 2005, Nelson finished with over 1,300 yards passing, completed 61% of his
passes and had 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for five
touchdowns as well.
“I really was disappointed with my completion percentage last year,” Nelson
noted. “I think I should have been way better, but that just gave me something
to focus on this summer and I think I did that.”
Nelson hit on 16 of 26 passes against Allan Hancock, for 278 yards, two
touchdowns and no interceptions.
On the recruiting front, Nelson said he has gotten the typical mail that most
recruits get during the evaluation period, but no schools have called and none
have ever made any direct contact – yet. He plans to change that with his play
this fall.
“I was planning on greyshirting last year, but because our starter got hurt,
they turned to me,” Nelson said. “I wasn’t really recruited out of high school
(he attended Tesoro High School in Las Flores, Ca.) so not a lot of scouts knew
much about me and since there wasn’t a lot of film of me last year, they haven’t
really seen me play.
“This year, my coaches said after the first few games that they would get my
tape out and that schools would be looking at me pretty quickly.”
His speed – he runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds – and his size make him a player
that teams will eventually come out to see once they know what they are dealing
with.
Nelson plans to major in business and will graduate in December with three
years to play two at the next level.