RENO, Nev. — Sophomore Colin Kaepernick will start at quarterback for Nevada Saturday in the Wolf Pack's home opener against Grambling State, coach Chris Ault said.

Kaepernick became the starter last year when Nick Graziano was lost for the season with a foot injury in the fifth game and went on to be named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.

"Kaepernick will start. Both will play," Ault said.

Graziano, a junior who had surgery to reattach a tendon in his right foot on Oct. 8, was not able to practice in the spring, and then in the third week of preseason camp he suffered a turf toe injury that has limited his time.

"It looks like it's coming around nicely," Ault said. "He's missed a little practice time. We had to rest it. We didn't want to take a chance and have a recurring injury. We've got to make sure he doesn't agitate it again. It's one of those injuries that time heals. So it set him back a little bit. He just hasn't had the reps."

Kaepernick, whose speed and quickness makes him more of a dual-threat quarterback, said he is eager for Saturday's opener. But he said he knows both he and Graziano, considered the more pure passer, will play.

"It's a great feeling, but you still have to approach it like every other game, and you have to be ready at all times because you can be replaced at any moment," the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Kaepernick said. "I wasn't too worried about (who would be named the starter). I was more focused on getting better and getting ready for that first game."

The 6-1, 220-pound Graziano said he wasn't shocked to learn that he wouldn't start.

"I was sort of expecting it, to tell you the truth, after coming off the injury, especially not getting all the reps in camp that I needed and with the toe flaring up," he said. "But I'm going to prepare like any other game, like I'd be starting. I'm planning on getting time, so I've got to be ready for that.

"(I just need) to be ready, like any other game — know all the checks and reads out there. It's the same preparation as if you were going to be starting, basically."

Ault didn't reveal how or when he planned to change quarterbacks.

Kaepernick expressed some concern in continuity with alternating quarterbacks.

"As a quarterback, being taken out and put back in, it can take you out of rhythm, take you out of the flow of the game and the offense," he said. "We'll see how it goes."

He said, though, that he doesn't believe he or Graziano will have any issues regarding "playing scared," knowing that either could be pulled if he is not performing up to expectations.

"When it comes to game time, you can't be worried about that," he said. "If you have second thoughts in your mind, it's over from there. You have to go out there confident, knowing what you're doing and get the job done."

Nevada plays at Hawaii Oct. 25.