Week #11 - Colorado State Rams (3-6, 2-3 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (5-4, 3-2 MW)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 10
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: Colorado State leads 12-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 14, 2017; L, 44-42

SERIES HISTORY
With the first matchup between the two schools occuring in 1974, Colorado State rattled off eight straight victories against Nevada before the Pack earned its first win over the Rams in 2006. The Pack has never defeated CSU on the road, and holds a 2-4 home record against the Rams all-time. The last victory for the Pack came on Dec. 29, 2015 when Nevada defeated the Rams 28-23 in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl.

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 last 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, which ranks tied for first in the nation.

1. Nevada - 5
     Navy - 5
3. Hawai'i - 4
     UTEP - 4
     UNLV - 4
     Utah State - 4
     BYU - 4

BEHIND THE LINE
Through eight games this season, Nevada's defense has been one of the best in the nation at tackling opponents behind the line of scrimmage. Coming out of the bye week, the Wolf Pack is still in the top 10 and is currently tied for eighth nationally, and first in the Mountain West, averaging 8.6 tackles for loss per game. Seniors Malik Reed and Korey Rush led the charge in that category as both of them are averaging 1.3 per game, which is 38th nationally and first in the MW.

DEFENDING THE RUN
The Wolf Pack defense has played well as of late, especially against the run. Entering week ten, Nevada is surrendering 143.6 rushing yards per game, which ranks 45th in the nation and is seventh in the Mountain West. That is a stark difference from a year ago when the Pack finished the season with the 109th ranked rush defense in the FBS at 208.3 yards per game.

In week six against Fresno State, Nevada held the Bulldogs to just 30 yards on the ground, 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.

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: total offense (5th, 416.9), punt return average (1st, 14.5), opponent 3rd down conversion (3rd, 32.6), sacks allowed (4th, 1.33), sacks for (2nd, 2.67), opponent 4th down conversion (5th, 54.5), red zone offense (4th, 86.7), red zone defense (2nd, 71.4), and fumbles recovered (10).

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 third on the team with 52 tackles, but is tied for the team lead with 11.5 TFL, leads the Pack with three forced fumbles, and is tied for first with two fumble recoveries. Reed is also tied with the team-high with 6.0 sacks. Reed's three forced fumbles this year aretied for the 11th-most nationally, and gives him 10 for his career. Additionally his two fumble recoveries are tied for 13th-most in the nation.

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 has moved himself into the starting role in the Wolf Pack offense. The Lompoc, Calif. native has carried the rock 104 times this season for a team-high 582 yards and five touchdowns. His best game of the year came at Toledo when he scampered for 170 yards and three scores.

Taua is currently averaging 5.60 yards per carry, which ranks 49th nationally and is fourth in the Mountain West.

COOKIE MONSTER
Sophomore WR Elijah Cooks has established himself as one of Ty Gangi's top outside targets on the receiving corps. For the year he has 18 catches for 272 yards, but it's his play late that has gotten some attention. Cooks has TD receptions in four of his last six games, including two snags at Air Force. With a passing TD and a rushing TD on a backwards pass at Hawai'i, Cooks has totaled six touchdowns in those last five games. His five TD catches this year rank second on the team, one behind McLane Mannix.

SO RAMIZ-Y
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 11-of-15 on the year in field goal attempts, with his only misses coming from 49 yards out or longer. Additionally, on kickoffs, he has 30 touchbacks in 50 attempts. For his career, he is a perfect11-11 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 44.3 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.

At 6.2 receptions per game, Fossum is 24th nationally and fourth in the MW in that category. Mannix's six TD receptions this year have him 46th in the country and fifth in the conference, and his 19.1 yards per reception ranks 22nd across the nation and first 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.    Oklahoma    83,331
2.    Oregon    82,886
3.    Texas Tech    81,519
4.    Houston    81,332
5.    Nevada    72,938

#HECKOFAYEAR
For junior P Quinton Conaway, he adopted the tag line of #HeckOfAYear for the 2018 season. Conaway was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week after his career-night against San Diego State. The junior set career-marks in punts (nine), net yards (460) and average (51.1). Conaway he booted a career-long 74-yard punt, the longest by a Mountain West player this season in Nevada's battle with Fresno State. Conaway has boosted his punting average up to 44.3 yards per punt, which ranks third in the conference and 17th nationally.

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!
Nine 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 29th nationally in sacks per game (2.67), is first in the league and eighth nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.0), and is third in the MW and 23rd nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, allowing their opponenets to convert on third down just 32.6 percent of the time. 

GANGI MOVING UP THE RANKS
Nevada senior QB Ty Gangi is set to make some moves in the Wolf Pack record book this season, breaking into the top 10 in career passing TDs. He needs five more to tie Jeff Rowe for ninth.

SACK MACHINE
Senior LB Malik Reed has broken into the top 10 career leaders in sacks at Nevada and now needs two and a half to tie Brock Hekking for fourth all-time.

THE RUFUS ON FIRE
Senior DB Asauni Rufus is making a name for himself as one of the top defenders in program history. With five more tackles, Rufus will tie Daryl Towns for third in career tackles at Nevada and be poised to continue to climb the list.