Week #8 - Nevada Wolf Pack (3-4, 1-2 MW) at Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (6-2, 3-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 20
Kickoff: 9 p.m. PT
Stadium: Aloha Stadium
Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
TV: Spectrum Sports PPV (Hawai'i only); Nevada Sports Net (Northern Nevada - NSN is available over the air on channel 21; Charter channel 787 in HD or 7 in SD; DirecTV and Dish Network on channel 21; or on AT&T U-verse channel 1021 in HD or 21 in SD)
Stream: Mountain West Network (mobile device only)
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Series: Nevada leads 13-9
Last Meeting: Oct. 7, 2017; W, 35-21

SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and Hawai'i have been playing football against one another since 1920, but with only 23 games between them in that 98-year span. The Wolf Pack has the edge in the all-time series, 13-9, but has only won five of those 13 games on the road in Honolulu. Nevada has also taken six of the last seven contests from the Rainbow Warriors, with the only setback in the last seven games coming in 2016, the last time the Pack played in Honolulu.

MILES AND MILES AND MILES
Nevada is one of the most active teams in terms of logging miles travelled this season. Between its six road trips in 2018, the Wolf Pack will have gone roughly 8,646 miles, with it's longest trip coming up this week, 2,564 miles to Honolulu. The Pack also will have played in all five of the American time zones when the season is said and done.

Eastern time zone: at Toledo
Central time zone: at Vanderbilt
Mountain time zone: at Air Force
Hawai'i time zone: at Hawai'i
Pacific time zone: vs. Portland State, vs. Oregon State, vs. Fresno State, vs. Boise State, vs. San Diego State, at San Jose State, at UNLV

BEHIND THE LINE
Through seven 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 eight, the Wolf Pack ranks just outside the top 10 nationally in 11th, and is first in the Mountain West, averaging 8.4 tackles for loss per game. Senior LB Malik Reed leads the charge in that category with 9.5 TFL this season. His 1.4 per game average ranks 38th nationally and third in the conference.

DEFENDING THE RUN
The Wolf Pack defense has played well as of late, especially against the run. Last week against Boise State, on the stat sheet Nevada gave up 207 rushing yards to the Broncos, but take out John Hightower's 88-yard TD run and it becomes 119. 

In week six against Fresno State, Nevada held the Bulldogs to just 30 yards on the grounds, the lowest total by a Fresno State team in more than three seasons. It was the lowest rushing total by a Wolf Pack opponent since Nevada also held San Jose State to 30 rushing yards in 2009.

Three weeks ago against Air Force, Nevada held the Falcons' vaunted triple-option attack to just 154 yards on the ground on 51 carries (3.09 yards per rush). It was Air Force's second-lowest rushing output going back to the 2016 season and the lowest against a MW team since Wyoming held Air Force to 149 rushing yards that year.

PACK'S TOP FIVE MARKS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Nevada ranks in the top five in the Mountain West in the following statistical categories: pass offense (5th, 273.6), total offense (5th, 424.9), punt return average (1st, 17.6), punting (5th, 37.5), first downs (T3rd, 146), opponent 3rd down conversion (5th, 32.1), sacks by (4th, 19), sacks against (5th, 10), red zone defense (3rd, 71.4).

REED ALL ABOUT IT
Coming as no surprise, senior LB Malik Reed is producing a more than solid season for the Pack defense. Reed ranks second on the team with 43 tackles, but leads the Wolf Pack with 9.5 TFL, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and has the team lead with 5.0 sacks. Reed's three forced fumbles this year is tied with 14 others for second-most nationally, and gives him 10 for his career. Additionally his two fumble recoveries are tied for eighth-most in the country.

For his career, Reed ranks pretty highly among active FBS players in a few noteworthy categories, along with senior Asauni Rufus.

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.

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 6.15 yards per carry, which ranks 23rd 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 7-of-10 on the year in field goal attempts, with his only misses coming from 49, 52 and 51 yards out. Additionally, on kickoffs, he has 24 touchbacks in 42 attempts. For his career, he is a perfect 7-of-7 from inside 40 yards.

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 49 percent of the team's passing completions this season and have combined for over 1,000 receiving yards. Each of them has two 100-yard receiving performances under their belt this season, the most recent being Mannix's 109 yards in week seven against Boise State.

Entering week eight, Fossum ranks 47th in the nation with 506 receiving yards, while Mannix is 21st in that department with 563. Additionally, at 6.9 receptions per game, Fossum is 14th nationally and third in the MW in that category. Mannix's six TD receptions this year have him 14th in the country and fourth in the league, and his 19.4 yards per reception rank 27th across the nation and fourth 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 Pack ranks fifth nationally in total yards.

1.    Oregon    81,796
2.    Oklahoma    81,406
3.    Texas Tech    80,130
4.    Houston    79,715
5.    Nevada    72,160

#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 week six against Fresno State. The Oklahoma native totaled 309 yards on seven punts for an average of 44.1 yards per punt, his second-best average this season. Additionally he booted a career-long 74-yard punt, the longest by a Mountain West player this season and third-longest nationally. Conaway has boosted his punting average up to 42.5 yards per punt, which ranks sixth in the conference and 46th nationally.

DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!
Seven 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 fourth in the conference and 44th nationally in sacks per game (2.57), is first in the league and 11th nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.4), and is fifth in the MW and 24th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, allowing their opponenets to convert on third down just 32.1 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 22.0 yards per punt return on his five returns.