Week #1 - Nevada (0-0, 0-0 MW) at Northwestern (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. PT
Stadium: Ryan Field
Location: Evanston, Ill.
Television: Big Ten Network
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Series: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: L, 36-31 - Sept. 8, 2007

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Nevada and Northwestern is fairly small, with just two games between them. In 2006 and 2007, the Wolf Pack and Wildcats played a home-and-home series with the first game in Reno and the second in Evanston. Each year the home team came out on top. This also marks the second year in a row that Nevada will face a Big Ten opponent in nonconference play as it played at Purdue a year ago.

NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
The Wolf Pack is 61-45-3 in season openers all-time and has won three consecutive season-opening games. The last time that Nevada opened the season on the road was 2013 when it played at UCLA.

NEVADA VS. MEMBERS OF THE BIG TEN
The Wolf Pack has not faced current members of the Big Ten very often in its history, just six
meetings. In those six meetings Nevada is 1-5 with its only win coming on Sept. 22, 2006, a
35-26 home victory over Northwestern. With all of the recent conference realignment, two
of those five games (2007 vs. Nebraska and 2008 vs. Maryland) were against opponents who
were not members of the Big Ten at the time.

RETURNING PLAYERS
The Wolf Pack returns 33 letter winners and 14 starters from last year's campaign.

Offensive Returning Starters (4): Senior OL Austin Corbett, senior WR Wyatt Demps, junior OL Sean Krepsz, junior QB Ty Gangi
Defensive Returning Starters (9): Senior DB Kendall Johnson, senior DB Jaden Sawyer, junior DB Asauni Rufus, junior DB Dameon Baber, junior DE Malik Reed, junior DT Korey Rush, junior DE Jordan Silva, sophomore DT Hausia Sekona, sophomore LB Gabriel Sewell
Kicking Returning Starters (1): Sophomore PK Spencer Pettit

DEGREES COMPLETED
A total of 10 Nevada football student-athletes have already obtained a college degree prior to the start of the 2017 season. That number is tied for sixth-most in the nation along with Kent State, New Mexico, South Alabama, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Wolf Pack players with degrees in hand are: Justin Brent, Austin Corbett, David Cornwell, Ziad Damanhoury, Jimbo Davis, Sean Krepsz, Ryan Mack, Thomas Newton, Jaden Sawyer and Travis Wilson.

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT
A total of four Wolf Pack student-athletes, formerly walk-ons, were awarded scholarships during fall camp: senior OL Thomas Newton, junior TE Trae Carter-Wells, sophomore PK Spencer Pettit and sophomore RB Maliek Broady.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Wolf Pack's 2017 schedule consists of eight teams that advanced to bowl games last season; Northwestern, Pinstripe Bowl; Toledo, Raycom Media Camellia Bowl; Washington State, Holiday Bowl; Hawai'i, Hawai'i Bowl; Colorado State, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; Air Force, NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl; Boise State, Cactus Bowl; San Diego State, Las Vegas Bowl.

COACHING STAFF
Jay Norvell enters his first season at the helm of the Wolf Pack football program, his first stint as a head coach. Norvell brought with him an entirely new coaching staff, minus a few remaining graduate assistants from last season.

Jeff Casteel, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Matt Mumme, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Timmy Chang, Inside Receivers
Jason Kaufusi, Defensive Line
Matt Kirk, Safeties
Mason Miller, Offensive Line
Eric Scott, Outside Receivers
Courtney Viney, Cornerbacks
David White, Running Backs/Recruiting Coordinator
Tommy Perry/Vai Taua, Special Teams Analysts
Jeff Nady/Brandon Crosby, Offensive GAs
John Landwehr/Alec Drudi, Defensive GAs

CORBETT AND REED NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
Nevada senior OL Austin Corbett and junior DE Malik Reed represented Nevada on this year's preseason All-Mountain West team, which was voted on by coaches at MW media days in Las
Vegas. Corbett started in all 12 games last season and will take a streak of 36 consecutive starts into the 2017 campaign. Corbett was named second team All-Mountain West as a junior after he paved the way for former running back James Butler to rush for more than 1,000 yards for a second consecutive season and average 111.3 rushing yards per game, which ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Corbett led the team in knockdown blocks and was second on the team in cut blocks.
 
Reed, a six-foot-one, 250-pound returning starter, posted a breakout sophomore season on his way to earning second team All-Mountain West honors. The Alabama native led the Wolf Pack with 9.5 tackles for loss, including 5.0 sacks, which tied for 10th in the league. Reed's 59 total tackles on the year were fifth-most on the team and ranked second among the league's defensive linemen. Additionally, Reed's three fumbles forced tied for the team lead.

TWO-DEEPS CLASS BREAKDOWN
The Wolf Pack's depth chart on offense and defense consists of: eight seniors, 17 juniors, 10 sophomores, seven redshirt freshmen and three true freshmen.

PROGRAM HISTORY
Nevada is in its 111th season of collegiate football, seeking win No. 541 in the program's strong history. The Wolf Pack sports an all-time record of 540-474-33 (.553). Since joining the FBS in 1992, Nevada is 164-140 overall and 106-74 in conference play.

GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
After summer classes had commenced, the Wolf Pack football team posted a cumulative grade-point average of 3.008 for the 5,667 credit hours current members of the team had logged. The 5,667 credit hours take in to account every credit hour by every current member of the team, which dates back to 2013. Nevada is one of just three FBS schools to accomplish this, along with Northwestern and Boise State.

POSITION BREAKDOWN

QUARTERBACK
Key Losses: Tyler Stewart (started eight games in 2016)
Key Returners: Ty Gangi
Outlook: Ty Gangi became the starter for the Pack with four games remaining last season, stepping in for the injured Tyler Stewart. Gangi led the team to a 2-2 record in the final four games and threw for over 300 yards twice. However with the additions of David Cornwell, as well as two other newcomers, Nevada has plenty of depth at quarterback for the 2017 campaign.

RUNNING BACK
Key Losses: James Butler (1,336 rushing yards in 2016; 15 total TDs)
Key Returners: Jaxson Kincaide
Outlook: After seeing time in all games last year as a true freshman, Jaxson Kincaide is poised to take over the starting role. Throw in Kelton Moore and Blake Wright, guys who have been with the team for a couple of seasons, and the running backs group may be deeper than meets the eye.

WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END
Key Losses: Hasaan Henderson, Jerico Richardson, Jarred Gipson
Key Returners: Wyatt Demps, Andrew Celis, Brandon Scott
Outlook: Despite the loss of three talented receivers, the receiving corps of the Wolf Pack looks to be one of the deepest areas on the team with a lot of offseason additions. Senior Wyatt Demps had a breakout junior campaign and will be called upon again as one of the top targets in 2017. Sophomore Brendan O'Leary Orange impressed during spring ball and figures to be Nevada's other top target on the outside, along with Notre Dame transfer Justin Brent. The additions of Kaleb Fossum from Washington State and freshman McLane Mannix, along with the return of junior Andrew Celis, should also give the Pack a strong inside presence.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Key Losses: Jacob Henry, Nathan Goltry, Jeremy Macauley
Key Returners: Austin Corbett, Sean Krepsz
Outlook: The Union will see mostly a new look for the first time in a few years. With the departure of Henry, Goltry and Macauley, the Pack loses a lot of games logged at this position. However, senior Austin Corbett is one of the top offensive tackles in the Mountain West and the Pack will have a big body senior Ziad Damanhoury back after he missed the 2016 season. Sean Krepsz also returns and will slide into the role at center.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Key Losses: Salesa Faraimo
Key Returners: Malik Reed, Korey Rush, Patrick Choudja, Hausia Sekona
Outlook: The defensive line is one of the most untouched positions on the Wolf Pack roster from 2016. With the return of almost everybody, including an all-conference performer in Malik Reed, the defensive line should be one of the most productive groups on the field.

LINEBACKER
Key Losses: Alex Bertrando (led the team with 106 tackles in 2016)
Key Returners: Gabriel Sewell, Austin Paulhus, Travis Wilson
Outlook: The Wolf Pack linebackers lost their leader in Alex Bertrando in the offseason, but sophomore Gabriel Sewell should slide into that role after an impressive redshirt freshman season when he ranked third on the team in tackles. Behind returners Austin Paulhus and Travis Wilson though, the Pack is fairly young in this area.

DEFENSIVE BACK
Key Losses: Elijah Mitchell (1,512 career kick return yards)
Key Returners: Asauni Rufus, Dameon Baber, Kendall Johnson
Outlook: Last year's outlook at this position said that the future looked bright for the Nevada defensive backfield, and that remains true for 2017. Nevada loses just one key piece of its defensive backfield but returns all others, and switching to the 3-3-5 defense this season means we will see a lot more of them. Asauni Rufus and Dameon Baber are about as good as it gets and with additions like JC transfer Vosean Crumbie and a true freshman in Nephi Sewell, the Pack should be fit to lock down opposing offenses.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Key Losses: Brent Zuzo (49 career FGs made), Alex Boy (43.3 career yards per punt avg.)
Key Returners: Spencer Pettit
Outlook: Nevada will have to find a new face to take its kickoffs with the departure of Brent Zuzo, but sophomore Spencer Pettit returns as the Pack's place kicker after hitting 7-of-9 field goals in 2016. Punter is the big question mark here after the loss of Alex Boy.

OH BROTHER
Nevada's roster for 2017 contains two sets of brothers: Clifford and Devin Porter, Gabriel and Nephi Sewell. The Porter brothers are local products from Reno and graduates of Hug High School. The Sewell brothers hail from Nevada's neighbor to the east, Utah, and are both graduates of Desert Hills High School in the town of St. George.

EIGHT PLAYERS SLATED TO MAKE FIRST CAREER STARTS
The Wolf Pack's depth chart (offense and defense) for its season opener at Northwestern consists of eight players listed as starting that could potentially be making their first career starts with the Wolf Pack; OL Anthony Palomares, OL Jake Nelson, WR Brendan O'Leary Orange, WR Kaleb Fossum, QB David Cornwell, LB Travis Wilson, CB Elijah Moody, CB Vosean Crumbie.

QUARTERBACK CONSISTENCY
Since 2010, Nevada has had just four starting quarterbacks (Colin Kaepernick, Tyler Lantrip, Cody Fajardo, Tyler Stewart) on opening day and will start its fifth in 2017. That number is tied for fourth-best in the country with Baylor, Colorado, Maryland and Navy. The only schools that have started less since 2010 are Duke (4), Marshall (4), Syracuse (4), TCU (4), Tulsa (4), USC (4), Nebraska (3), Western Kentucky (3) and Troy (2).

LOGGING FEWER MILES
The difference between miles traveled for Nevada's 2016 season compared to its 2017 season is significantly lighter. Last year, with two trips to Indiana and one to Hawai'i, the Wolf Pack logged a season total of 8,487 miles. In 2017, with just one trip to the Midwest and most others on the western side of the country, the Pack will log just 4,852 miles, a 3,635 mile difference.

WINNING SEASONS
Nevada has posted winning seasons in six out of its past eight campaigns.

2016 TEAM AWARD WINNERS
Golden Helmet Award (MVP): James Butler
Outstanding Offensive Player: James Butler
Outstanding Defensive Player: Malik Reed
Outstanding Special Teams Player: Alex Boy
Newcomer of the Year: Jaxson Kincaide
Striker Award: Alex Bertrando
Basalite Big Blocker: Jeremy Macauley

Full-Speed Effort Award:
Wyatt Demps, Offense
Malik Reed, Defense
John Durney, Special Teams

Scout Team Players of the Year:
Cristian Solano, Offense
Kameron Toomer, Defense

PRESEASON HONORS
Nevada had 12 players earn preseason recognition from either a preseason trophy watch list or preseason all-conference list. The Pack's preseason honorees consisted of four offensive players, seven defensive players and one special teams contributor.

Dameon Baber
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

Andrew Celis
• Paul Hornung Award preseason candidate
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

Patrick Choudja
• Fourth team preseason All-MW from Phil Steele

Austin Corbett
• Outland Trophy and Wuerffel preseason watch lists
• Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee
• Preseason first team All-MW from the conference, Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

David Cornwell
• Fourth team preseason All-MW from Phil Steele

Wyatt Demps
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

Wes Farnsworth
• First-team preseason All-MW by Phil Steele

Kendall Johnson
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports

Sean Krepsz
• Rimington Trophy preseason watch list
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele
Malik Reed
• Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award preseason watch lists
• Preseason All-MW from the conference, Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports 
Madness

Asauni Rufus
• Preseason all-conference from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

Gabe Sewell
• Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award watch list
• Preseason All-MW from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness

NEW VOICES OF THE PACK
As the 2017 season begins there will be a couple of new voices of Nevada football making their debut on the Wolf Pack Radio Network this Saturday. John Ramey takes over for Ryan Radtke as the play-by-play voice, while former Pack standout Mike Edwards replaces Kevin Grimes as the color analyst.

NEVADA TABBED FOR FOURTH PLACE FINISH IN WEST DIVISION
The conference coaches voted Nevada to finish fourth in the MW West Division in the preseason All-MW poll. The Wolf Pack earned 79 points, finishing ahead of San José State and Fresno State. Reigning conference champions San Diego State earned all 28 first place votes and 168 points overall to lead the West Division. Boise State earned 21 first place votes and was predicted to finish first in the Mountain Division. Colorado State garnered six first place votes was picked second, while Wyoming received one vote and was lauded third.