The Nevada football team held its first closed scrimmage of spring camp last Thursday with the team nearing the halfway point of its 15 allowable spring practices.

After the scrimmage, third-year head coach Jeff Choate met with the media to share his takeaways. One of the first things he noted was positives coming from the wide receiver and running back rooms, saying all four wideouts who transferred to Nevada this spring made impact plays. Those newcomers include Donnie Cheers (Southeast Missouri), Jaceon Doss (Towson), WR Gary Givens III (Northern Illinois) and Damien Morgan (Idaho State), who were imported to shore up Nevada’s biggest weak point last season.

“I thought we did some really good things creating explosives,” Choate said. “The negatives from an offense standpoint was just some basic operational things. We had a lot of snaps that were on the ground, perimeter blocking the first time you get the officials out there. We got some holding calls that negated some explosive plays. So, those are things that obviously we need to continue to work on and clean up.

“From a defensive standpoint, like I told them after the scrimmage, ‘There’s the two things that are always going to show up in these. We can’t really simulate live tempo the way it’s going to be when you’re playing football with officials. So, I think the tempo got them a little bit. And then tackling always shows up in a first scrimmage where we’ve been working tag tempo or thud tempo in practice and now we’re out there playing real football.

“A lot of things to clean up on both sides. I felt like there was good competition. I think that guys competed hard. There was some good physical play. “

Entering spring camp, Choate said the Wolf Pack had the same depth chart at quarterback as it ended the 2025 season, with Carter Jones atop the list, veteran backup A.J. Bianco second and UCLA transfer Luke Duncan blending in with the two. Choate said all three quarterbacks did some good things in the scrimmage, which will be used as an evaluation tool as a pecking order begins to take shape after spring break so the quarterbacks could continue to build consistency with playmakers on the depth chart.

Despite some sloppiness, it was an interception-free scrimmage, with turnovers an issue for Nevada last season. The Wolf Pack ranked sixth worst in the nation in passing efficiency, throwing 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

“I think that competition raises everybody’s performance,” Choate said. “I felt like the three top guys all did some really, really good things. All three of them were able to lead touchdown drives at one point in time or another during the scrimmage. There was some sloppiness with some issues with the snap, but some of that was on the quarterbacks, right? They gotta be able to catch the freaking ball first and then worry about what the read is. And some of that stuff I’d like to see be a little cleaner in terms of the basic operation stuff.

“I thought those guys missed a couple of reads there, and that’s gonna happen. But by and large, we didn’t throw any interceptions today. I thought that was good they took care of the football, they got out of the pocket when it was appropriate for them to do that and they were able to put the ball in the end zone, which is the goal.”

Choate hired offensive coordinator Brett Bartolone this offseason to help revitalize a stagnant offense that averaged just 17.5 points per game last year, one of the worst marks in program history. Bartolone isn’t new to Nevada after serving as an offensive analyst for the Wolf Pack from 2020-21. Nevada’s offense hasn’t been as potent since then. During that two-year stretch, it averaged 33.7 points per game led by two-time Mountain West offensive player of the year, Carson Strong and playmakers Romeo Doubs, Cole Turner and Toa Taua.

Choate admitted this offseason change was needed to be more effective on offense, which includes throwing the ball more than his offense featured the last two seasons. Bartolone previously ran a spread-passing attack that Nevada is installing this spring.

“I think he’s got a plan and he knows what he wants it to look like,” Choate said of Bartolone. “He’s run this system for a while and he’s been a part of the system for even longer, so he’s gotten bank reps on, ‘Hey, defenses are gonna play us certain ways, and when they do this to us, this is how we can counterpunch that.’ And I think it’s done a good job there. I think there were some things in protection today that we’ve got to get cleaned up. We missed some protections with the backs, but those guys will get better at that as we get more repetitions.”

Nevada is on spring break this week and will continue spring camp next week with its final scrimmage at Churchill County High on April 10.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — 30 southern Nevada high school football programs are going independent and choosing to step away from competing in the NIAA-sanctioned playoff structure.

“Definitely a good number of schools, their decision was based off of Bishop Gorman, we have to do all of these weird playoff configurations with these complicated formulas because a lot of teams don’t want to play them, but it’s not the only factor,” Liberty Football head coach Rich Muraco said.

WATCH| Alex Eschelman reports the latest on 30 high school football programs leaving NIAA playoff structure

30 Southern Nevada high school football programs go independent, leaving the NIAA playoff structure

Other factors include differences in zoning rules, transfer rules and finances.

“When you’re playing for a state championship, the NIAA’s job is to group teams you know as fairly as possible and play with similar types of circumstances and rules and there’s a perception out there that that’s not being done,” Muraco said.

Now, these schools are taking action into their own hands as the first step toward an even playing field.

“The goal long term is to get everybody back in a room and come up with a plan that’s fair for everyone,” Muraco said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — There is a growing concern about youth mental health across Nevada, and a local nonprofit is pushing for change in one community.

In many Latino households, talking about mental health is not always the easiest conversation.

But as Hope Means Nevada says, breaking that silence is where the change begins.

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Conversations about mental health may be growing, but in Latino households, they are still not happening. Hope Means Nevada is a nonprofit focused on preventing teen suicide and improving youth mental health across the state.

Nevada ranks last in youth mental health

Executive Director Janna Velasco said here in Nevada the stakes are high.

“I think all the data proves that our work is important and imperative and really urgent, because Mental Health America just reported us last, 51st,” Velasco said.

That ranking, measuring things like depression, hopelessness and suicide attempts, puts Nevada at the bottom nationwide.

Within that, some communities are being hit even harder.

“Latinas, in particular, female Hispanic youth, reports 10% higher rates of suicide attempts than their white peers,” Velasco said.

Stigma persists despite family support

Velasco said that the data point surprised her at first.

“I thought that those numbers would report less. I thought that the family support, and my husband is Colombian, and nothing is better than spending time with my married family. They’re just so loving and close and just pour so much love on the kids and hugs and celebration and music and great food, et cetera. I thought it would be the opposite. But what is present is stigma,” Velasco said.

Velasco said that is why it is important to have uncomfortable conversations until they get comfortable.

“Really, having a preventative conversation with your teen, just like you might run through a fire escape route, or how to beware of strangers. It’s a safety plan for teens that really needs to happen. And parents should just start the conversation,” Velasco said.

Velasco said a lot of crisis moments happen between midnight and 6 a.m. But help is always available. The 988 Lifeline is free, 24/7, and offered in multiple languages.

Hope Means Nevada will be hosting a mental health wellness walk in a few weeks.

To learn more about how to join, visit their official website.

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