College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Nevada Wolf Pack season with what you need to know.
CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada Wolf Pack preview in 60 seconds
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Nevada Wolf Pack Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 7-6 overall, 4-4 in Mountain West
Head Coach: Jay Norvell, 4th year, 18-20 overall
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 89
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 74
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 87
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Nevada Wolf Pack Offense 3 Things To Know
– The Nevada offense hasn’t quite worked like it was supposed to. Head coach Jay Norvell was going to crank up a high-flying run-and-shoot attack – with Matt Mumme, son of passing game guru Hal Mumme – when he took over three years ago. Instead, there have been way too many interceptions, too many sacks, and … the No. 1 offense in the Mountain West averaging 471 yards per game. Depending on the alignment, at least nine starters – more like ten – are expected back.
CFN in 60 Video: Nevada Wolf Pack Preview
– Sophomore QB Carson Strong went through the growing pains. He made a whole lot of mistakes, but he also showed moments of potential greatness with a good arm and the moxie to keep on battling through several rough patches. The 6-4 bomber is back, but former Boise State transfer Kaiden Bennett adds more mobility.
The receiving corps loses several key parts, but the top two targets – Elijah Cooks and Romeo Doubs – are back. They’ll form one of the best 1-2 punches in the Mountain West.
– The way-too-leaky offensive line is at least loaded with experience. All five starters are back around junior left guard Gray Davis – the best all-around blocker of the bunch – but there’s a whole lot of work to do after allowing 33 sacks while paving the way for a ground game that averaged just 3.4 yards per carry.
“The Union” – the name for the Nevada O line – has a nice back in veteran Toa Taua to block for. He’s a shifty runner who came up with 807 yards and six touchdowns, and 230-pound junior Devonte Lee is the bowling ball who gets the hard yards.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Nevada Wolf Pack Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Nevada Wolf Pack Defense 3 Things To Know
– Defense hasn’t always been a given at Nevada over the years. There’s been little consistency, and when there were problems, they were major. Last year, though, the D did had its moments. It was good against the run, mediocre against the pass, and didn’t generate enough pressure.
New defensive coordinator Brian Ward gets everyone back on the defensive front in the 3-3-5, with decent enough size to get by and whole lot of depth to fold into the rotation. Now someone besides junior Dom Peterson on the outside has to get behind the line.
– The linebacking corps was okay, but not it has to replace two starters and needs senior Lawson Hall to do even more on in the middle of the whole thing. There isn’t a whole lot of proven depth around Hall, but there’s some size ready to fill in.
– For good and for bad, the secondary made a whole lot of plays last year. Safety Tyson Williams is a feisty 5-9, 195-pound safety who led the team with 85 tackles, and he’s got help around him with a deep and promising group of defensive backs returning. The secondary held its own for the most part – it didn’t give up a 300-yard passing day after allowing four in the first six games – but it needs more help from the pass rush.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Nevada Wolf Pack Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Nevada Wolf Pack Players
Best Nevada Wolf Pack Offensive Player
WR Elijah Cooks, Sr.
The 6-4, 215-pound veteran went from being a nice option in for big play scores to a volume-catcher who could do a little of everything. He led the way with 76 grabs for 926 yards and eight touchdowns, but he didn’t quite stretch the field like he did as a sophomore. Even so, he’s the No. 1 target and go-to guy in what should be a good receiving corps.
2. RB Toa Tua, Jr.
3. QB Carson Strong, Soph.
4. OG Gray Davis, Jr.
5. WR/PR Romeo Doubs, Jr.
Best Nevada Wolf Pack Defensive Player
DE Dom Peterson, Jr.
Can anyone help the guy out? There wasn’t much of anything happening in the opposing backfield last year for the Wolf Pack D, but the 6-0, 295-pound Peterson did his part in an All-Mountain West campaign. He might not look the part of a typical pass rushing defensive end, but he managed to come up with nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss, spreading out the production throughout the season.
2. S Tyson Williams, Jr.
3. LB Lawson Hall, Sr.
4. S Austin Arnold, Sr.
5. DT Sam Hammond, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Nevada Wolf Pack Offense
STOP TURNING THE BALL OVER. To be fair, the O cleaned things up over the second half of the season with five giveaways over the final five games, but it couldn’t stop screwing up early on. To be even more fair, almost everyone else in the Mountain West had a major turnover issue, too.
The Nevada O managed to go error-less in the win over Purdue – the Wolf Pack D came up with five takeaways – and then things got ugly with 15 giveaways over the following seven games. There’s enough talent back on the offensive line to give everyone time, and the skill players should be as good as any in the Mountain West. Now they just have to stop giving it up.
Biggest Key To The Nevada Wolf Pack Defense
Start getting into the backfield. The 3-3-5 alignment doesn’t have a sure-thing outside pass rusher, but that doesn’t mean that parts of the puzzle can’t get behind the line from time to time, All-star DE Dom Peterson did his part, but there weren’t enough big plays coming from the rest of the group.
This ties into the team’s biggest defensive need – stopping the run. Nevada was 6-0 last season when it was able to keep teams to 115 rushing yards or fewer, and is 11-1 over the last two seasons when it’s been able to do that.
Key Nevada Wolf Pack Player To A Successful Season
QB Carson Strong, Soph.
Former transfer Malik Henry was supposed to make all the difference in last year’s offense, but it was Strong who took over early, struggled with his consistency, and showed enough upside and talent to develop over the next few years. Now he has to become the type of star the program can build around.
The 6-4, 220-pound bomber doesn’t bring any mobility, but he cut down on his mistakes late in the year with just one pick one rate final five games, and he threw for 753 yards in the final two outings. They were both losses, but they weren’t his fault.
Key Game To The Nevada Wolf Pack Season
San Diego State, Sept. 26
It’s a not-that-bad start to the season with UC Davis and UTEP providing at least two almost-certain wins, but the Mountain West slate starts out with a bang.
Brady Hoke’s San Diego State team comes to Reno, and Nevada needs to pull off a win for the third year in a row or else there’s a problem with a trip to Hawaii to follow. Beat the Aztecs, and it’s a great-looking schedule the rest of the way.
– Nevada Wolf Pack Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Nevada Wolf Pack Fun Stats
– First Quarter Scoring: Opponents 91 – Nevada 46
– Penalties: Nevada 96 for 772 yards – Opponents 77 for 678 yards
– Sacks: Opponents 33 for 220 yards -Nevada 23 for 173 yards
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Nevada Wolf Pack Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Nevada Wolf Pack Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
There’s a whole lot in place to like in Year Four of the Jay Norvell era.
He’s got his young, big passer in Carson Strong to run the Air Raid offense, he’s got a fantastic-looking offensive line, the right skill parts around strong, and a defense that shouldn’t be all that bad.
Throw in a good schedule, a few years to get everything in place, and just enough is there to finally turn a corner and be a real player in the Mountain West race.
Set The Nevada Wolf Pack Regular Season Win Total At … 7.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 6.5
There’s no Boise State to deal with from the Mountain, and missing Air Force is a big plus, too. The toughest West division games are at home – San Diego State, Utah State, Fresno State and Wyoming – with at road trip against Hawaii thrown into the mix.
Not having to leave Nevada more than once over the final six wins of the season helps, but the biggest key is the overall experience and depth.
Injuries and inconsistencies last season threw a lot of young players into the fire. The payoff should come this year with a shot at the West division title and a third straight bowl appearance under Norvell.
