Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Nevada had the #2 offense in the country last year, and rode an 8 game win streak through the middle of the season to finish second in the WAC and earn a trip to the Hawaii Bowl. SMU shut them down in Honolulu, but the Wolf Pack scored over 50 points in five different games, four of which were over 60.
Nine players from that starting offense are back this year, including prolific quarterback Colin Kaeperkick and RB Vai Taua, who starts his senior year having rushed for 1300+ yards in each of the last two seasons. The defense will need to rebuild a little more after losing five starters.
Schedule
9/2/2010 Eastern Washington
9/11/2010 Colorado State
9/17/2010 California
9/25/2010 at BYU
10/2/2010 at UNLV
10/9/2010 San Jose State
10/16/2010 at Hawaii
10/30/2010 Utah State
11/6/2010 at Idaho
11/13/2010 at Fresno State
11/20/2010 New Mexico State
11/26/2010 Boise State
12/4/2010 at Louisiana Tech
Nevada gets 13 games courtesy of the Hawaii rule, and it’s a schedule to be optimistic about. They start with three home games, but the one to watch will be the Friday night clash with Cal. Also interesting to see will be how they are received when they play road games against WAC schools left behind in the crumbling conference- Hawaii and Idaho in particular (I’m not sure Louisiana Tech is too concerned, frankly). But the critical conference games against Fresno and Boise don’t arrive until November, and that’s when the conference standings will really shake out.
Coaching
Chris Ault is one of only two active coaches to already be in the College Football Hall of Fame. He’s technically on his 3rd stint as coach at Nevada, having amassed a 206-91-1 record, going all the way back to 1976 and a lot of 1-AA years. There have been whispers of retirement, but for now he’s staying put as a Nevada institution.
Rankings
The WAC media & coaches both have Nevada second in their poll. Nevada got a single vote in the coaches poll, but not in the AP.
Outlook
I think Nevada has all the pieces in place to have another really good season. The defense may be suspect, but when the offense is clicking, it’s going to be near impossible to outscore Nevada regardless. Anything less than a 10-3 regular season may come as a letdown, and I think even 12 wins could be possible if everything goes the Wolf Pack’s way.
Nevada Connections
Silver and Blue Sports – independent news & message board
Reno Gazette-Journal – Local coverage of the Wolf Pack.