Week #11 - Nevada Wolf Pack (5-4, 2-3 MW) at No. 24/24 San Diego State Aztecs (7-1, 4-1 MW)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 9
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. PT
Stadium: SDCCU Stadium
Location: San Diego, Calif.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); TuneIn app
Series: San Diego State leads 7-4
Last Meeting: Oct. 27, 2018; W, 28-24

HOME SWEET HOME
The Wolf Pack has won four of its five games in Mackay Stadium this season, boasting a 3-1 record after defeating Purdue 34-31, Weber State 19-13, San Jose State 41-38 and New Mexico 21-10 . The Wolf Pack accumulated over 350 yards off offense in each of those wins. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Wolf Pack is coming off a huge victory over Mountain West foe New Mexico on Saturday, defeating the Lobos by a score of 21-10. Quarterback Carson Strong put together a career day, throwing for 305 yards and two touchdowns. His primary target was Romeo Doubs, who also had his best collegiate game, hauling in 11 receptions for 167 yards. The Wolf Pack defense stifled New Mexico, holding the Lobos to only 10 points and three in the second half. Nevada is now 4-1 at home this year and one win away from bowl eligibility.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Nevada will travel to face No. 24 San Diego State this weekend, who sit atop the West division in the Mountain West standings. Nevada has only defeated the Aztecs one time in San Diego, dating back to 1946. SDSU boasts one of the best defenses in the FBS, including ranking third in run defense, fourth in rushing yards per carry allowed, and 12th in total defense only allowing 3283.5 yards per game. Nevada will have to generate turnovers from the San Diego State offense, as the Aztecs are 30-1 in the last 31 games that it has won the turnover margin.

NEVADA VS THE AZTECS
San Diego State holds the all-time advantage over Nevada with a 7-4 head-to-head record. Nevada has gotten the most recent victory, however, defeating the Aztecs in a dramatic 28-24 win last year in Mackay Stadium. Nevada has only ever won once in San Diego against the Aztecs but will look to add to that number this Saturday. 

Nevada all-time against SDSU

Date    Opponent    Location    Result
Oct. 27, 2018    San Diego State    Reno, Nev.    W, 28-24
Nov. 18, 2017    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    L, 42-23
Nov. 12, 2016    San Diego State    Reno, Nev.    L, 46-16
Nov. 28, 2015    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    L, 31-14
Nov. 1, 2014    San Diego State    Reno, Nev.    W, 30-14
Oct. 4, 2013    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    L, 51-44 (OT)
Oct. 20, 2012    San Diego State    Reno, Nev.    L, 39-38 (OT)
Sept. 25, 2004    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    L, 27-10
Sept. 28, 1995    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    L, 30-27
Oct. 19, 1946    San Diego State    San Diego, Calif.    W, 26-0
Nov. 3, 1945    San Diego State    Reno, Nev.    W, 44-6

THE MORE THE MERRIER
After Malik Henry earned the start against San Jose State, Nevada has now started three different quarterbacks this season in eight contests. Carson Strong has started six, emerging as the Pack's starter for this season, 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. Strong holds a 3-1 record at home in Mackay Stadium, and threw for 300 yards for the first time in his career in a 21-10 victory over New Mexico.

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    Yards    Com. %
Carson Strong    6    5-6    1,281        62.62%
Malik Henry    2    1-4    593        53.85%
Cristian Solano    1    2-2    248        60.98%

STOUT RUN DEFENSE
The Nevada run defense has been dominant this season, ranking 53rd in the nation only allowing 145.1 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 six sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the year. tied for second in the conference with six sacks on the year and 31st in the FBS averaging .75 sacks per game. His 10 tackles for loss rank second in the Mountain West,

"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 54 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 one of Nevada's most productive receivers this season, leading the Wolf Pack with five touchdowns and 42 receptions while placing second with 498 yards. Cooks has caught a pass in all seven games this season and has caught at least four in seven of them. Nevada is 4-0 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.

ROMEO, O ROMEO! WHERE ART THOU, ROMEO?
Romeo Doubs exploded in Nevada's win over New Mexico, hauling in career-highs with 11 receptions for 167 yards as well as a touchdown to go along with it. His 11 receptions against the Lobos matched the high of any MW player this season, and his two 100-yard outings (New Mexico, San Jose State) rank as two of the top-5 in the Mountain West this season. He leads Nevada with 574 yards this season, which ranks as the sixth-most in the Mountain West. 

CLUTCH GENE
In its five wins this season, Nevada has been near perfect in the final quarter of those games, outscoring its opponents 50-10.

TIME IS ON OUR SIDE
Nevada has been outstanding handling time of possession this season, ranking 19th in the FBS and third in the Mountain West averaging 32:29 per game. Nevada has won the time of possession battle in four of its five victories this season.

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 14-for-16 on field goals this season. Talton is one of 11 kickers this season to make 14 field goals. His 1.56 field goals per game rank 22nd in the NCAA and third 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

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 nine games in 2019, Nevada is 24th in the nation, and third in the MW, with 15 takeaways. The Pack's six fumbles recovered so far this season is 38th in the nation and the nine interceptions – three by senior cornerback Daniel Brown – is 23rd nationally and second in the Mountain West. 

Going into this week's game against New Mexico, Nevada has taken the ball away in 11 of its last 13 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)
Oct. 26, 2019    at Wyoming    1 (one interception)
Nov. 4, 2019    vs. New Mexico*    n/a
* -- victory

SCHOOLBOY Q
Nevada senior punter Quinton Conaway has 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 52nd in the nation averaging 42.3 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. He now sits in fourth following Nevada's win at New Mexico.

CAREER PUNTING YARDS LEADERS (ALL-TIME)
Rk     Player    Years    Punt Yards
4    Quinton Conaway    2017-    6,660
5    David Heppe    1979-82    6,649
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

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-    41.9 

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 591 yards on 143 rushing attempts and five 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 1,434 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 20th in the FBS with three interceptions this season. Brown has recorded three of Nevada's picks this season, as they are ranked 38th in the nation with nine 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 in a 19-13 win against Weber State.