Week #6 - Fresno State (3-1, 0-0 MW) at Nevada (3-2, 1-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 6
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. PT
Stadium: Mackay Stadium
Location: Reno, Nev.
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Series: Fresno State leads, 28-20-1
Last Meeting: Sept. 30, 2017; L, 41-21

SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and Fresno State have long been rivals on the gridiron. The all-time series, which runs at 49 games, dates back to the 1923 season when the Wolf Pack defeated the Bulldogs 46-3 in Reno. Overall, Fresno State leads the series 28-20-1 but lately the contests have been fairly even. In the last 10 years Nevada has a slight edge over the Bulldogs with six wins. It was Fresno State though that won the most recent outing, 41-21 last season in Fresno.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Nevada's offense posted nine explosive plays (20+ yard passes, 15+ yard rushes) during the week five win at Air Force, which tied second-most this season. The Wolf Pack had four rush plays of 15 or more yards and five pass plays of 20 or more yards. The long run of the game came from senior QB Ty Gangi, who put together a season-long run of 29 yards. The long pass play of the contest came on the Pack's first drive of the game, the 40-yard TD pass from Gangi to sophomore WR Elijah Cooks.

Portland State: 13 (9 pass, 4 rush)
Vanderbilt: 3 (3 pass)
Oregon State: 9 (4 pass, 5 rush)
Toledo: 13 (6 pass, 7 rush)
Air Force: 9 (5 pass, 4 rush)

PACK'S TOP FIVE MARKS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Nevada ranks in the top five in the Mountain West in the following statistical categories: total offense (4th, 452.2), punt returns (1st, 20.5), first downs (4th, 102), sacks by (1st, 15), sacks against (T2nd, 5), opponent 3rd down conversion (2nd, 26.7), red zone defense (3rd, 70.8), tackles for loss (1st, 9.6).

CAN YOU REED THIS?
Coming as no surprise to anyone, senior LB Malik Reed is producing a more than solid season for the Pack defense. Reed ranks fourth on the team with 26 tackles, but leads the Wolf Pack with 7.0 TFL, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and is tied for the team lead with 3.0 sacks. Reed's three forced fumbles this year is tied with six others for the national lead, and gives him 10 for his career. Additionally his two fumble recoveries are tied for second-most in the country.

BEHIND THE LINES
Through five games this season, Nevada's defense has been one of the best in the nation at tackling opponents behind the line of scrimmage. Entering week six, the Wolf Pack ranks fourth nationally, and is first in the Mountain West, averaging 9.6 tackles for loss per game. Senior LB Malik Reed leads the charge in that category with 7.0 TFL this season. His 1.4 per game average ranks 42nd nationally and third in the conference.

TRYING TO CONVERT? GOOD LUCK.
The Wolf Pack defense has been one of the best teams in both the Mountain West and in the country when it comes to stopping teams on third down. How good? Tenth in the nation good.

TAUA OF TERROR
True freshman Toa Taua has been playing more like a veteran running back as of late, and proved he belongs in the college game with his week 4 performance at Toledo. The Lompoc, Calif. native carried the ball 15 times for a career-high 170 yards and added three rushing TDs. Taua's 170 yards on the ground were the third-most by a Mountain West player this season. Two of Taua's three rushing TDs were chunk plays, including a 66-yard rush straight up the middle on the Pack's first play of a drive in the third quarter.

Taua is currently averaging 7.54 yards per carry, which ranks fifth nationally.

UP, AND, GOOD
Senior PK Ramiz Ahmed drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal to end the first half in the week 4 matchup at Toledo. It was the longest made field goal by a Wolf Pack player since Brett Jaekle hit from 50 yards against UNLV in 2007. Ahmed, who is in his first year of field goal duties, is 4-of-6 on the year in field goal attempts, with his only misses coming from 52 and 51 yards out. Additionally, on kickoffs, he has 20 touchbacks in 34 attempts.

RECEIVING DUO
The Wolf Pack's top two targets this season have been junior WR Kaleb Fossum and sophomore WR McLane Mannix, and for good reason. The receiving duo has snagged 50 percent of the team's passing completions this season and have combined for nearly 800 receiving yards. Each of them has at least one 100-yard receiving performance under their belt, with Fossum at two games, including a career-high 147 yards at Toledo.

Entering week six, both Fossum and Mannix rank 38th in the nation and sixth in the conference with 399 receiving yards each. Additionally, at 6.6 receptions per game, Fossum is 18th nationally and fifth in the MW in that category. Mannix's five TD receptions this year have him 14th in the country and third in the league, and his 19.0 yards per reception rank 33rd across the nation and third in the MW.

NEVER ENDING SUPPLY OF OFFENSE
With the creation of the Pistol in 2005 and into the Air Raid of today, Nevada has gained a lot of yards. Since 2006, the Wolf Pack ranks fifth nationally in total yards, behind Houston, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oregon.

1.    Oregon    81,417
2.    Oklahoma    80,874
3.    Texas Tech    79,777
4.    Houston    78,832
5.    Nevada    71,447

#HECKOFAYEAR
For junior P Quinton Conaway, he adopted the tag line of #HeckOfAYear for the 2018 season. Conaway posted one of the best games of his career in the week three win over Oregon State. The Oklahoma native recorded single-game career highs in punt attempts (7), punt yards (313) and longest punt, which went for 63 yards, the second-longest by a Mountain West player this season. Conaway has boosted his punting average up to 41.6 yards per punt, which ranks sixth in the conference and 53rd nationally.

HOLY POINTS
In the week one win over Portland State, Nevada put up 72 points, the most points it had scored in a single game at Mackay Stadium since it also put up 72 against North Texas in 1991. In turn those 72 points are the most points scored in the Jay Norvell era. It was three points shy of the Mackay Stadium record of 75, set in 1977 when it beat Sacramento State 75-0.

Additionally, the Pack's 72 points were the third-most scored in week one in Division I behind Fresno State's 79 and Ohio State's 77.

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT
A total of six Wolf Pack student-athletes, formerly walk-ons, were awarded scholarships during the offseason and fall camp: senior DB Anthony Hankins, senior PK Ramiz Ahmed, junior P Quinton Conaway, sophomore TE Reagan Roberson, RB Roger Neal and sophomore DE Sam Hammond.

DEGREES COMPLETED
A total of nine Nevada football student-athletes have already obtained a college degree prior to the start of the 2018 season. That number is tied for 15th-most in the nation along with Akron, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCF and West Virginia. The Wolf Pack players with degrees in hand are: Justin Brent, Jomon Dotson, Ty Gangi, Sean Krepsz, Kalei Meyer, Kelton Moore, Asauni Rufus, Korey Rush, Lucas Weber.

DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!
Five games into the 2018 season, the Wolf Pack defense has been one of the top teams in the nation in a few different defensive categories. Nevada ranks second in the conference and 19th nationally in sacks per game (3.0), is first in the league and fourth nationally in tackles for loss per game (9.6), and is second in the MW and 10th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, allowing their opponenets to convert on third down just 26.7 percent of the time. 

ROMEO, ROMEO, WHEREFORE ART THOU ROMEO
True freshman Romeo Doubs made a big splash in his collegiate debut against Portland State. On his first collegiate touch in the fourth quarter, Doubs returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown. His 80-yard punt return was the longest punt returned for a TD in the Mountain West in week one and was the third-longest in the nation. It was the first punt returned for a TD by a Wolf Pack player since 2011.

In week 3 against Oregon State, Doubs returned one punt for 29 yards and has slid into the starting punt returner role heading into week five. He is averaging 27.2 yards per punt return on his four returns.