Week #2 - Toledo (1-0, 0-0 MAC) at Nevada (0-1, 0-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 9
Kickoff: 4 p.m. PT
Stadium: Mackay Stadium
Location: Reno, Nev.
Online Stream: ESPN3
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); NevadaWolfPack.com/audio; TuneIn App
Series: Toledo leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: L, 31-13 - Sept. 27, 1997

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Nevada and Toledo is pretty small and swings heavily in Toledo's favor. The Rockets have won all three of the previous meetings between these two squads. It has been 20 years though since the last time the Wolf Pack and Rockets played one another. Other than the last meeting in 1997, the Pack and Rockets faced each other twice in 1995. During that season Toledo won the contest early in the year in Reno and again in December when the two teams met in the Las Vegas Bowl.

NEVADA IN HOME OPENERS
Nevada is 55-15-3 in season-opening games played at home. This is the first time since 2013 that Nevada will open at home with the second game of the season.

IMPROVED RUN-D
Last season the Wolf Pack run defense ranked near the bottom of the nation in run defense, giving up an average of 6.1 yards per rush. Even though the team has only played one game the run defense was a bright spot for Nevada in its season opener at Northwestern. The Pack surrendered just 156 yards on the ground to the Wildcats and held them to an average of 3.1 yards per rush. That was a big feat considering Northwestern running back Justin Jackson averaged 5.1 yards per carry in 2016 and has over 4,000 rushing yards in his career.

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

SACK!
It took the Nevada defense until the fourth game of the 2016 season to record a sack. Last Saturday in the season opener at Northwestern, the Pack defense found its way to the quarterback. On the Wildcats second drive of the game senior LB Austin Paulhus and sophomore LB Gabriel Sewell combined for the Pack's first sack of the season. Senior DT Patrick Choudja and junior DE Korey Rush were also each credited with a QB hurry. Looks like the rush may be coming at opposing quarterbacks more often this season.

YOUNG GUNS
Last Saturday during the season opener at Northwestern, head coach Jay Norvell played four true freshmen: WR McLane Mannix, DB Nephi Sewell, TE Reagan Roberson and WR Daiyan Henley. The most impactful of those for was Mannix who caught a 41-yard touchdown pass for his first collegiate reception. He finished the game with two receptions for 76 yards, which led the team.

CAREER HIGHS
Two members of the Wolf Pack defense set single-game career highs in the season opening loss at Northwestern. Senior LB Austin Paulhus made a name for himself after leading the team with 15 total tackles (7 solo, 8 asst.), a new career best. Of his 15 tackles, 3.5 went for a loss, which also led the team and set a new career high. His 3.5 tackles for loss currently rank in the top five in the nation. He combined for a sack early in the game, the first of his career. Junior DB Dameon Baber recorded 11 total tackles (7 solo, 4 asst.) in the game, which bested his previous career high of 10.

NOSE FOR THE BALL
Junior DB Asauni Rufus has proved to be one of the best defensive members of the Wolf Pack and he showed that in the season opener at Northwestern. In the second quarter Rufus stripped the ball out of the Northwestern receiver's hands at the Nevada 10-yard line, giving the ball back to the Pack. The forced fumble for Rufus was the fifth of his career after he had three last season. Additionally he went over the 200 tackle mark for his career, needing 74 more to pass John Ramatici for 10th all-time.

IT'S GOOD!
Wolf Pack placekicker Spencer Pettit connected on both of his field goal attempts in the season opener at Northwestern. Pettit hit from 31 yards with under a minute to go before halftime, sending the team into the locker room with a 17-7 lead. He also connected from 33 yards out for the Pack's only points of the second half. Pettit is now 9-of-11 in his career, raising his field goal percentage to 80 percent.

NEW RETURN FACES
Junior CB Vosean Crumbie and junior WR Kaleb Fossum have given the Wolf Pack some new faces at the return positions. Both playing in their first games with Nevada last Saturday at Northwestern, each had impressive return debuts. Crumbie totaled 54 kickoff return yards with just two returns, breaking one open for 35 yards in the fourth quarter. Crumbie's 27.0 kickoff return average ranks inside the top 20 nationally. Fossum returned two punts and two kickoffs during his debut. His two punt returns went for 18 yards and his average of 9.0 yards per return is also inside the top 20 in the nation.

SEVEN PLAYERS WITH FIRST CAREER START IN WEEK 1
The Wolf Pack had seven players make their first career start with Nevada during the season opener at Northwestern; OL Anthony Palomares, OL Jake Nelson, WR Brendan O'Leary Orange, TE Trae Carter-Wells, LB Travis Wilson, CB Elijah Moody, CB Vosean Crumbie.

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.

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.

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.

QUARTERBACK CONSISTENCY
Since 2010, Nevada has had just five starting quarterbacks (Colin Kaepernick, Tyler Lantrip, Cody Fajardo, Tyler Stewart, Ty Gangi) on opening day. 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.

TWO-DEEPS CLASS BREAKDOWN
The Wolf Pack's depth chart on offense and defense consists of: eight seniors, 16 juniors, 10 sophomores, seven redshirt freshmen and four 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 540-475-33 (.553). Since joining the FBS in 1992, Nevada is 164-141 overall and 106-74 in conference play.

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.