Week #7 - San Jose State Spartans (3-2, 1-1 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (3-2, 0-1 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 12
Kickoff: 1 p.m. PT
Stadium: Mackay Stadium
Location: Reno, Nev.
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); TuneIn app
Series: Nevada leads 21-9-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 2018; W, 21-12

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wolf Pack has won two of its three games in Mackay Stadium, boasting a 2-1 record after defeating Purdue 34-31 and Weber State 19-13. 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 off a forgettable contest against Hawai'i at home two weeks ago, but had a bye week to refresh following the loss. The 54-3 defeat was the largest in Mackay Stadium's history.

300 (THE MOVIE)
The Spartans of San Jose State will come to Reno to battle Nevada this Saturday with an equal 3-2 record. SJSU has been playing better than in recent years, knocking off Arkansas on the road and earning a 32-21 home victory over Mountain West foe New Mexico. The Spartans have scored the same amount of points they have surrendered this season at 138, which means they are scoring and allowing 27.60 per game. Using a pass-heavy attack behind quarterback Josh Love, who has tossed seven touchdowns with only one interception, the Spartans are averaging 310 passing yards per game.

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL
With transfer Malik Henry earning the starting nod from head coach Jay Norvell in his Monday press conference, this will mark the third different starting quarterback for the Wolf Pack this season. 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.

NEVADA VS THE SPARTANS
Nevada leads the all-time series against the Spartans 21-9-2. It has won 14 of its last 16 contests against SJSU, including two in a row and nine of its last 10. The Pack has not lost at home to San Jose since 2000, a 49-30 defeat.

Nevada's last 10 against SJSU

Date    Opponent    Location    Result
Nov. 17, 2018    San Jose State    San Jose, Calif.    W, 21-12*
Nov. 11, 2017    San Jose State    Reno, Nev.    W, 59-14*
Oct. 15, 2016    San Jose State    San Jose, Calif.    L, 14-10
Nov. 14, 2015    San Jose State    Reno, Nev.    W, 37-34 (OT)
Sept. 27, 2014    San Jose State    San Jose, Calif.    W, 21-10
Nov. 16, 2013    San Jose State    Reno, Nev.    W, 38-16
Sept. 17, 2011    San Jose State    San Jose, Calif.    W, 17-14
Oct. 9, 2010    San Jose State    Reno, Nev.    W, 35-13
Nov. 8, 2009    San Jose State    San Jose, Calif.    W, 62-7
Nov. 15, 2008    San Jose State    Reno, Nev.    W, 41-17

*indicates game coached by Jay Norvell

(DOM)INANT
Dom Peterson has proven to be one of the Pack's most productive defensive linemen to open 2019, as he is the team leader with three sacks this season and five tackles for loss.

SURGING SEWELL
In his senior season, Gabriel Sewell has anchored the Nevada defense and led the charge thus far, totaling 21 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 35 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 260 yards while leading the team with 23 receptions. Cooks' four receiving touchdowns rank 32th in the NCAA and third 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 three wins this season, Nevada has been near perfect in the final 15 minutes of those games, outscoring its opponents 33-0.

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 10-for-10 on field goals this season. His is one of four kickers in the entire NCAA to make 10 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 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

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 five games in 2019, Nevada is 24th in the nation, and fourth in the MW, with 10 takeaways. The Pack's four fumbles recovered so far this season is 37th in the nation and the six interceptions – three by senior cornerback Daniel Brown – is 16th nationally and second in the Mountain West. Brown is fourth in the nation in i interceptions per game (0.6).

Going into this week's game against San Jose State, Nevada has taken the ball away in nine of its last 10 games, with its nine-game streak being snapped at Hawai'i. In that stretch, Nevada is 7-3. 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
* -- victory

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 278 yards on 61 rushing attempts with two 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.

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 0.6 interceptions per game. Brown has recorded half of Nevada's picks this season, as they are ranked 16th 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.

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.