Week #8 - Nevada Wolf Pack (4-2, 1-1 MW) at Utah State Aggies (3-2, 2-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 19
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. PT
Stadium: Maverick Stadium
Location: Logan, Utah
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); TuneIn app
Series: Nevada leads 18-6
Last Meeting: Nov. 19, 2016; W, 38-37

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wolf Pack has won three of its four games in Mackay Stadium this season, boasting a 3-1 record after defeating Purdue 34-31, Weber State 19-13 and San Jose State 41-38. The Wolf Pack accumulated over 400 yards off offense in each of those wins. 

HOT START
Nevada's 3-1 finish in nonconference play put it off to its best start since the 2014 season when it also began with the same record. 

LAST TIME OUT
Nevada is coming into this week following a barn-burner in Mackay Stadium, as the Pack topped San Jose State 41-38 for its first Mountain West victory of the season. Nevada scored at least one touchdown every quarter, led by quarterback Malik Henry's first FBS start who tossed for 352 yards, the most by a Nevada quarterback this season. Toa Taua led the Nevada ground game with 160 yards, the second-highest of his career, and a touchdown as the Pack put up 541 total yards of offense. Nevada won the game thanks to a 40-yard field goal by freshman kicker Brandon Talton as time expired, making him 12-of-12 on the season.

A LOVE, HATE RELATIONSHIP
Led by quarterback Jordan Love, the Aggies will host Nevada with a 3-2 record while 2-0 in conference play. Utah State is averaging 32 points per game with 289 yards passing per contest. Love has tossed six touchdowns with a 62.5 completion percentage, but has also thrown eight interceptions in five starts. Two of his favorite targets this year, Deven Thompkins and Siaosi Mariner, have combined for 38 catches, 561 yards and five touchdowns. The Aggie defense is surrendering 25.60 points per game and 140 rushing yards per game along with 281.4 passing yards per game. The defense has recorded three interceptions on the year along with five fumble recoveries.

NEVADA VS THE AGGIES
Nevada has gotten the better of Utah State in their history, holding an all-time record of 18-6. The Pack boasts a 9-4 record when playing in Logan, Utah where it will be this Saturday to face Utah State. The Pack is 7-3 in its last 10 matchups as Jay Norvell will battle the Aggies for the first time as the head coach of the Wolf Pack.

Nevada's last 10 against Utah State
Date    Opponent    Location    Result
Nov. 19, 2016    Utah State    Reno, Nev.    W, 38-37
Nov. 21, 2015    Utah State    Logan, Utah    L, 31-17
Nov. 26, 2011    Utah State    Logan, Utah    L, 21-17
Oct. 30, 2010    Utah State    Reno, Nev.    W, 56-42
Oct. 17, 2009    Utah State    Logan, Utah    W, 35-32
Oct. 18, 2008    Utah State    Reno, Nev.    W, 44-17
Oct. 20, 2007    Utah State    Logan, Utah    W, 31-28
Nov. 11, 2006    Utah State    Reno, Nev.    W, 42-0
Nov. 19, 2005    Utah State    Logan, Utah    W, 30-24
Nov. 20, 1999    Utah State    Reno, Nev.    W, 35-37

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL
After Malik Henry earned the start against San Jose State, Nevada has now started three different quarterbacks this season in six contests. Carson Strong has started four, and Cristian Solano has started one.

Strong was named the starting QB for week one midway through fall camp and led the Nevada offense against Purdue, making him the first freshman since Mo Jones in 1998 to get the nod under center in week one. Strong dazzled in his debut, completing 30-of-51 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, including orchestrating a game-tying and game-winning drive in a come-from-behind victory over Purdue to open the season. He threw for a career-high 299 yards against Weber State, making him 2-0 in Mackay Stadium to start his career before losing at home to Hawai'i.

To close the nonconference season at UTEP, Solano earned his second-career start and led Nevada to a 37-21 victory. In the contest, Solano threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns while leading the team with 100 rushing yards, the first Wolf Pack player to break the century mark this season.

Henry put teams on notice with his first FBS start against the Spartans, throwing for 352 yards and one touchdown that came on the first play of the second half as he found Romeo Doubs down the sideline for a 75-yard score. Of Henry's 22 completions, he spread the ball around to nine different receivers on the afternoon and is now 1-0 in his career after orchastrating a 41-38 victory over San Jose State.

STOUT RUN DEFENSE
The Nevada run defense has been dominant this season, ranking 30th in the nation only allowing 115.8 rushing yards per game. Against San Jose State, it only allowed 15 yards on the group and 45 total in its last two against the Spartans.

(DOM)INANT
Dom Peterson has proven to be one of the Pack's most productive defensive linemen in 2019, as he is the team leader with three sacks and six tackles for loss on the year. He also anchors a defensive line that ranks 30th in Division I in run defense, allowing just 115.8 yards per game.

SURGING SEWELL
In his senior season, Gabriel Sewell has anchored the Nevada defense and led the charge thus far, totaling 24 tackles and is second on the team with 4.0 tackles for loss. 3.5 of those TFLs came in a career-best effort against Weber State.

"TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT"
Tyson Williams has been a wrecking ball as a starter at safety for the Wolf Pack this season, as he leads the team with 38 tackles on the season and has one tackle for loss. He recorded his first-career interception at UTEP and ran it back an extra 14 yards.

COOKIE MONSTER
Elijah Cooks has been Nevada's most productive receiver this season, leading the Wolf Pack with four touchdowns and 354 yards and 29 receptions. Cooks' four receiving touchdowns rank 46th in the NCAA and fifth in the conference.

Cooks played a huge role in Nevada's season-opening victory, hauling in a career-high seven receptions for 60 yards and tying his single-game best with two touchdowns. The first was a leaping acrobatic catch midway through the third quarter for Nevada's second score of the game, while the biggest of his career came with 52 seconds left in regulation to tie the game against the Boilermakers.

VAST IMPROVEMENT
In his second season at the helm of the program, Jay Norvell turned the Wolf Pack around in a big way. Nevada went from three wins in 2017 to eight wins in 2018, the most it had won since joining the Mountain West. To put it in perspective, Nevada improved by 4.5 games in 2018 to rank as the seventh-best improvement mark in the NCAA. The Pack posted a 5-3 conference record as well to finish second in the West Division. Norvell and the rest of the team capped off the year with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory in the 2018 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, the program's sixth bowl win.

Now in his third season, Norvell has already led Nevada to its second-ever Big Ten victory with a season-opening victory against Purdue and a 3-1 record against nonconference opponents to open the year, its best record to open a season since 2014. 

CLUTCH GENE
In its four wins this season, Nevada has been near perfect in the final 15 minutes of those games, outscoring its opponents 43-10.

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALTON 'BOUT
True freshman kicker Brandon Talton has quickly become a household name among Wolf Pack fans, as he has begun his career 12-for-12 on field goals this season. His is one of two kickers Division I to make 12 or more field goals without missing one this season. His 2.00 field goals per game rank fourth in the NCAA and first in the Mountain West. His four field goals against Weber State were the most by a Nevada kicker since 2008 when Brett Jaekle accomplished the feat. 

Talton drilled the third-longest field goal in program history with three seconds left against Purdue in the season opener to complete a 17-point second-half comeback. His 56-yarder was one of two made on the day, as he also drilled a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter. The 56-yard kick was the fourth-longest in Mountain West history and the longest ever hit by a MW freshman. Talton was awarded a scholarship after the game thanks to his heroics. Talton was also named the Mountain West Co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts in week one. Talton was also named the MW STPOW following that Weber State win and also after defeating San Jose State with a game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired.

Talton is one of only 11 freshmen kickers in Division I this season:
Name    School
Evan Davis    Toledo
Michael Lantz    Minnesota
Camden Lewis    Oregon
Cory Munson    Western Kentucky
Bijan Nichols    Navy
Jadon Redding    Utah
Will Reichard    Alabama
Andrew Stein    Southern Miss
Cole Talley    Army
Brandon Talton    Nevada
Cade York    LSU

Talton is one of only two other kickers to make 10 or more field goals without a miss this season:
Name    Made    School
Peyton Henry    14    Washington
Brandon Talton    12    Nevada

COMEBACK KIDS
Nevada rallied from a 17-point deficit midway through the third quarter of its game against Purdue to stun the Boilermakers and tie the second-largest comeback in Nevada history since 1996. The Wolf Pack's other 17-point comeback was during the Miracle at Mackay, when it came back to defeat No. 3 Boise State in overtime. 

Nevada also trailed against Weber State 10-9 at the half, before limiting the Wildcats to three second-half points in a 19-13 Wolf Pack win.

TURNOVER TOWEL
Now in year three of the 3-3-5 stack defense under coordinator Jeff Casteel, the Wolf Pack has emerged as a ball-hawking defense. In 2018, Nevada ranked fourth in takeaways within the Mountain West Conference. Through six games in 2019, Nevada is 19th in the nation, and third in the MW, with 12 takeaways. The Pack's five fumbles recovered so far this season is 28th in the nation and the seven interceptions – three by senior cornerback Daniel Brown – is 16th nationally and second in the Mountain West. Brown is seventh in the nation in interceptions per game.

Going into this week's game against Utah State, Nevada has taken the ball away in 10 of its last 11 games, with its nine-game streak being snapped at Hawai'i. In that stretch, Nevada is 8-3. The streak:

Oct. 27, 2018     vs. SDSU*    2 (two fumbles)
Nov. 10, 2018    vs. CSU*    1 (one interception)
Nov. 17, 2018    at SJSU*    1 (one interception)
Nov. 24, 2018    at UNLV    1 (one fumble)
Dec. 29, 2018    vs. Ark. St.*    3 (three interceptions)
Aug. 30, 2019    vs. Purdue*    5 (three interceptions, two fumbles)
Sept. 7, 2019     at Oregon    1 (one fumble)
Sept. 14, 2019   vs. Weber St.*    1 (one interception)
Sept. 21, 2019    at UTEP*    3 (three interceptions
Sept. 28, 2019    vs. Hawai'i    n/a
Oct. 12, 2019    vs. SJSU*    2 (one interception, one fumble)
* -- victory

SCHOOLBOY Q
Nevada senior punter Quinton Conaway has really made a name for himself as he enters his final season with the Wolf Pack. Conaway recorded a career year in 2018 and has begun scattering his name throughout the Nevada record book. Additionally, Conaway has posted strong academics during his time at Nevada as he was selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team last season.

Conaway is currently 40th in the nation, averaging 43.4 yards per punt. He is also firmly cemented in the Nevada record books, while continuing to work his way up. Following Nevada's win over Weber State, Conaway moved up to sixth all time in career punting yards with the Wolf Pack.

TAUA OF POWER
The reigning Mountain West Freshman of the Year has picked up right where he left off. On the year, Toa Taua leads Nevada with 429 yards on 95 rushing attempts with three touchdowns. On the Wolf Pack's final drive against Weber State that iced the game, Taua eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark for his career after totaling a season-high 85 against the Wildcats, and has now totaled 1,141 for his career.

Taua had a career day against San Jose State, rushing for 160 yards on a career-high 34 carries and a touchdown. On the game's final drive to get Nevada into field goal position, Taua amassed 33 yards on the group to set up Talton for the game-winning field goal.

BROTHERLY LOVE
After earning a new role in the offseason to coach the Pack's running backs this year, assistant coach Vai Taua is now the only coach in the FBS to be coaching his brother, sophomore back Toa Taua. The Taua's are becoming a household name with Wolf Pack fans as Toa became Nevada's first 'of the year' award winner since joining the Mountain West, notching the conference's freshman of the year honor. Vai on the other hand has his name scattered throughout the Nevada record book, ranking second all-time in rushing yards and fourth in rushing touchdowns.

DEGREES COMPLETED
A total of 10 Nevada football student-athletes have already obtained a college degree prior to the start of the 2019 season, with one player earning two degrees. That number ranks in the top 20 in the nation. SMU leads the way with 22 players having already earned a bachelor's degree.

Graduate    Bachelor's Degree    Master's Program
Nate Brown    Management    Higher Education
John Humphrey    Liberal Studies (ASU)    Liberal Studies
Kelton Moore    Management & Marketing    Higher Education
EJ Muhammad    Marketing    Management
Jake Nelson    Criminal Justice    Justice Management
Brendan O'Leary-Orange    General Studies    Human Development & Family Studies
Spencer Pettit    Information Systems    Business Administration
Gabriel Sewell    Kinesiology    Higher Education
Cristian Solano    Journalism    Higher Education
Lucas Weber    Public Health    Secondary Education

Additionally, as part of a new Mountain West initiative this season, all student-athletes who have earned a degree will sport a new patch on their jersey with the MW logo and the word 'graduate' below. 

TEAM CAPTAINS
Last season, Coach Norvell and his program chose three captains to lead the team, one from each unit of offense, defense and special teams. This year, Coach Norvell and the Wolf Pack have selected four team captains to lead the squad into 2019. The four team captains are seniors Kelton Moore, Kaleb Fossum, Hausia Sekona and Lucas Weber.

LOCK-DOWN BROWN
Nevada cornerback Daniel Brown has cemented himself as one of the top defensive backs in the conference, as he is currently tied for fourth in the FBS with three interceptions this season and is tied for fourth averaging 0.5 interceptions per game. Brown has recorded half of Nevada's picks this season, as they are ranked 21st in the nation with six picks. Two of his interceptions came in the season-opener against Purdue, the second with under a minute remaining in regulation that set up the game-winning field goal for the Pack. His third came against Weber State.

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT
There were not as many scholarships to award as there typically has been in the past, but one member of the Wolf Pack did hear his name called during fall camp. Junior offensive lineman Nathan Edwards, a local product out of Galena High School, was offered a scholarship midway through camp. Edwards is projected to become more of a force with The Union and get the start at center in week one against Purdue. True freshman placekicker Brandon Talton was also awarded a scholarship recently, as Coach Norvell put him on scholarship after his game-winning 56-yard field goal against Purdue in week one.

NARBONNE HIGH SCHOOL
Three members of the Wolf Pack hail from Narbonne High School, including Dom Peterson, Daniel Brown and Lawson Hall.