Week #5 - Nevada (2-2, 0-0 MW) at Air Force (1-2, 0-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 29
Kickoff: 1 p.m. PT
Stadium: Falcon Stadium
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo.
TV: ESPNEWS
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Series: Air Force leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 2017; L, 45-42

SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and Air Force do not have a lot of games between them in their histories, meeting just four times. The Falcons own a 3-1 record against the Wolf Pack all-time, with the series dating back to 2012. Air Force is currently on a two-game win streak against Nevada, winning in 2014 and then again last season, 45-42, in Reno.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Nevada's offense posted 13 explosive plays (20+ yard passes, 15+ yard rushes) during week four at Toledo, which tied its season high. The Wolf Pack had seven rush plays of 15 or more yards and six pass plays of 20 or more yards. The long run of the game came from true freshman Toa Taua, who ripped off a career-long 66-yard rush up the middle for a touchdown. The long pass play of the game came on a 34-yard catch and run from QB Ty Gangi to sophomore WR Daiyan Henley.

Portland State: 13 (9 pass, 4 rush)
Vanderbilt: 3 (3 pass)
Oregon State: 9 (4 pass, 5 rush)
Toledo: 13 (6 pass, 7 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: scoring offense (5th, 40.8), passing offense (4th, 289.2), total offense (4th, 456.2), punt returns (1st, 20.5), first downs (5th, 83), sacks by (1st, 13.0), opponent 3rd down conversion (2nd, 27.9), red zone offense (1st, 93.3).

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 are 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.

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-5 on the year in field goal attempts, with his only miss coming from 52 yards also at Toledo. Additionally, on kickoffs, he has 16 touchbacks in 28 attempts.

RECEIVING DUO
For two of the Pack's top receiving targets, sophomore McLane Mannix and junior Kaleb Fossum, the season opener against Portland State couldn't have gone much better. Both Mannix and Fossum recorded over 100 receiving yards Friday night, led by Fossum's 139. Both Fossum's 139 yards and Mannix's 132 ranked inside the top six in the Mountain West in week one. Mannix added three TD receptions to his stat line as well, marking the first multi-TD game of his career.

Mannix followed up his week one performance with six catches for 86 yards at Vanderbilt to lead the team. Heading into week five, Mannix ranks 27th in the nation in receiving yards (358), is 13th in receiving TDs (4) and ranks 48th in yards per reception (18.8).

Fossum on the other hand posted a career game in week 4 at Toledo. The Washington State transfer snagged 15 catches for 147 yards, both career highs. His 147 receiving yards is the most by a Wolf Pack player this season and his 15 receptions ranks tied for ninth-most in a single game in Nevada history.

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    80,932
2.    Oklahoma    80,267
3.    Texas Tech    79,314
4.    Houston    78,832
5.    Nevada    71,011

#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 40.5 yards per punt, which ranks seventh in the conference and 60th nationally.

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!
Four 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 first in the conference and 12th nationally in sacks per game (3.25), is first in the league and ninth nationally in tackles for loss per game (9.0), and is second in the MW and 14th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, allowing their opponenets to convert on third down just 27.9 percent of the time. The Pack is led on defense by a host of players, including senior DE Korey Rush, who leads the team with 4.5 TFL. Behind Rush, defensive end turned linebacker Malik Reed, and running back turned linebacker Maliek Broady each have 4.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks to their credit this season.

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.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Last season, Coach Norvell and his program chose week-by-week team captains for every game but this season there have been three student-athletes chosen by the team to serve as team captains for the length of the season. Ty Gangi will represent the offense, Malik Reed will represent the defense and Wes Farnsworth will represent the special teams. In addition, Norvell will recognize scout team players each week who will serve as either an honorary captain, US Flag bearer or Nevada state flag bearer.

Portland State: Alec Bonsall (honorary captain), Carson Strong, Zak Mahannah
Vanderbilt: McLane Mannix (honorary captain), Trae Carter-Wells
Oregon State: Lamin Touray (honorary captain), Ben Putman, Sheldon Wilkinson
Toledo: Quinton Conaway (honorary captain), Kelton Moore, Gabe Sewell