Nevada had a nice run going until the last two years. The Wolf Pack had four consecutive winning campaigns and four straight bowl berths before going 2-10 in each of the past two years.
Those last two seasons were all Ken Wilson had to be the head coach before being fired. Taking over is Jeff Choate, who was Texas’ co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach the previous three seasons. His other college head coaching job came at Montana State, where he was 28-22 in four seasons and led the Bobcats to two FCS playoff appearances from 2016-2019.
This is a team made up of many players who started their careers at other schools. Now this transient squad will attempt to get back to its winning ways with a new coach.
Nevada’s odds to win the Mountain West are +25000, via BetMGM.
Nevada’s win total and Over/Under is 2.5, with Under 2.5 at -135 and Over 2.5 at +110.
8/24 vs SMU
8/31 at Troy
9/7 vs Georgia Southern
9/14 at Minnesota
9/21 vs Eastern Washington
10/5 at San Jose State
10/12 vs Oregon State
10/19 vs Fresno State
10/26 at Hawaii
11/2 vs Colorado State
11/9 at Boise State
11/23 vs Air Force
11/30 at UNLV
Bold indicates Mountain West contests
2023 All-Mountain West Honorable Mention
LB Tongiaki Mateialona
LB Drue Watts
OL Isaiah World
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Many potential key players for this season have come from the transfer portal either this year or seasons past. The two main competitors for the quarterback job are Brendon Lewis, who began his career at Colorado and is entering his second season at Nevada, and Chubba Purdy, who had stints at Florida State and Nebraska.
This past season, Lewis appeared in 12 games for Nevada, making 10 starts. He completed 131 of 236 passes (55%) for 1,313 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also rushed for 495 yards and four touchdowns. Purdy spent two seasons at Florida State before playing the last two at Nebraska. He appeared in 12 games for Nebraska, making four starts in those two seasons.
Leading the running game is Sean Dollars, who began his career at Oregon but led the Wolf Pack in rushing last year during his first season in Reno. He rushed for 527 yards and six touchdowns.
One of this year’s expected top receivers is Cortez Braham, who began his career at Hutchinson Community College and transferred from West Virginia.
Tight end Andrew Savalinaea joins the team after spending his first two years at Florida.
Left tackle Isaiah World has started 22 games over the past two years and heads up the offensive line.
Two others who have been with the Nevada program for a long time are linebackers Jrue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona, who are both third-year starters.
One of the expected top defensive players will be sixth-year defensive end Henry Ikahihifo. He spent his first two seasons in 2019 and 2020 at Nevada as a tight end before moving to defensive end in his one season at the College of Canyons. He also played defensive end in his one season at California in 2022 before rejoining Nevada and redshirting last year.
Another expected key defensive contributor will be cornerback Kitan Crawford, who spent the past four seasons at Texas where he appeared in 46 games.
I predict Nevada won’t win the Mountain West title and will win two games.
Even if Nevada wins twice, it likely has to be done in the first 10 games because the final three are against Boise State, Air Force, and UNLV. For Nevada to earn two wins, it would have to beat FCS Eastern Washington. Then its two games against Sun Belt teams (Troy and Georgia Southern) won’t be easy. Other Mountain West teams Nevada could defeat are Hawaii and San Jose State. The margin for error is slim even for two wins.
If the offense improves after averaging just 17.3 points per game, Nevada could exceed these expectations, but the first season of the Choate regime may not look too different results-wise from Nevada’s previous two years.
