Week #9 - Nevada Wolf Pack (4-3, 1-2 MW) at Wyoming Cowboys (5-2, 2-1 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 26
Kickoff: 11 a.m. PT
Stadium: War Memorial Stadium
Location: Laramie, Wyo.
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); TuneIn app
Series: Wyoming leads 4-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 22, 2016; L, 42-34

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 looking to get back on track against Wyoming this week after suffering a 36-10 defeat at the hands of the Aggies. The Wolf Pack defense held tough through the first three quarters, only surrendering 13 points but the Aggies held a 22-3 halftime lead thanks to a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown and a safety. Nevada's lone touchdown of the game came courtesy of Toa Taua with 4:48 left in the game on a 20-yard scamper. He finished with 84 yards on 20 attempts.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Entering the weekend with a 5-2 record, including 2-1 in Mountain West play, the Cowboys have scored 200 points this season while only allowing its opponents 138. Sean Chambers has  taken a majority of snaps under center for Wyoming, tossing five touchdowns and 757 yards. The Cowboys have been dominant on the ground this season, rushing for a nice 1,669 yards. Led by Chambers, who has accumulated 547 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns, the Pack will have its hands full with the Wyoming ground game. Alijah Halliburton has been the leading tackler for the Cowboys from the safety position, totaling a nice 69 on the season including 5.5 for loss and a sack.

NEVADA VS THE COWBOYS
Wyoming holds a slim advantage all-time over the Wolf Pack, going 4-3 all time against the Wolf Pack. Nevada's only-ever road win in Laramie came in 2000, when Nevada defeated the Cowboys 35-28. Wyoming, however has won the last two contests against the Pack.

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL
After Malik Henry earned the start against San Jose State, Nevada has now started three different quarterbacks this season in Seven contests. Carson Strong has started four, Malik Henry has started two 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. Henry is now 1-1 in his career after orchastrating a 41-38 victory over San Jose State, but falling at Utah State this past Saturday.

QB COMPARISON

Name    Starts    TD-INT    Com. %
Carson Strong    4    3-5    59.70%
Malik Henry    2    1-4    53.85%
Cristian Solano    1    2-2    66.67%

STOUT RUN DEFENSE
The Nevada run defense has been dominant this season, ranking 42nd in the nation only allowing 134.1 rushing yards per game. Against San Jose State, it only allowed 15 yards for a season best. 

(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 four sacks and seven tackles for loss on the year. He also anchors a defensive line that ranks 42nd in the nation in rushing yards allowed, only surrendering 134.1 per game.

SURGING SEWELL
In his senior season, Gabriel Sewell has anchored the Nevada defense and led the charge thus far, totaling 28 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 44 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 393 yards and 33 receptions. Cooks has caught a pass in all seven games this season and has caught at least four in six of them. Nevada is 3-0 this season when Cooks records six or more receptions.

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.

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 13-for-14 on field goals this season. Talton is one of nine kickers this season to make 13 field goals. His 1.86 field goals per game rank tied for sixth 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.

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 Wyoming, Nevada has taken the ball away in 11 of its last 12 games, with its nine-game streak being snapped at Hawai'i. In that stretch, Nevada is 8-4. 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)
Oct. 19, 2019    at Utah State    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 55th in the nation averaging 42.1 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 and then moved into fifth after his game at Utah State.

CAREER PUNTING YARDS LEADERS (ALL-TIME)
Rk     Player    Years    Punt Yards
5    Quinton Conaway    2017-    6,185
6    Tom Kolesar    1973-74    6,032
7    Brad Langley    2008-10    5,278
8    Justin Bergendahl    2004-05    4,691
9    Chase Tenpenny    2012-13    4,618
10    Jason McLean    1995-97    4,483

CAREER PUNT AVERAGE LEADERS (ALL-TIME)
Rk     Player    Years    Punt Avg.
1.    Chase Tenpenny    2012-13    44.0
2    Armando Avina    1993-94    43.8
3    Alex Boy    2014-16    43.3
4    Tom Kolesar    1973-74    43.1
5    Brad Langley    2008-10    42.6
6    Quinton Conaway    2017-    41.8 

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 513 yards on 115 rushing attempts and four 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 1,385 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 10th in the FBS with three interceptions this season and is tied for fourth averaging 0.5 interceptions per game. Brown has recorded three of Nevada's picks this season, as they are ranked 21st in the nation with eight 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.