Game #1 - Wyoming Cowboys (0-0, 0-0 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 MW)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Kickoff: 4 p.m. PT
Stadium: Mackay Stadium
Location: Reno, Nev.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM); TuneIn app
Series: Wyoming leads 5-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 26, 2019; L 31-3

RENO, Nev. - Nevada will kick off the 2020 season in an unconventional way, opening up with Mountain West action against Wyoming this Saturday from Mackay Stadium.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both teams will open up their season on Saturday, each playing a conference-only schedule of eight games in the regular season. Following the end of the regular season, the two teams in the Mountain West with the highest winning percentage will advance to the MW Championship game, to be played on Saturday, Dec. 19.

ON THE AIR
John Ramey and Mike Edwards will have the call in Northern Nevada on ESPN Radio 94.5 FM with a 60 minute pregame show prior to kickoff. Fans can also tune in to listen to Ramey and Edwards' broadcast online at TuneIn.com or via the TuneIn app.
 
Fans can watch the game on CBS Sports Network. Rich Waltz and Aaron Murray will have the call on the television broadcast.

SERIES HISTORY
It hasn't been a long series between Nevada and Wyoming, just eight games in total, but it has been a long standing series. The series began in 1937 when Nevada captured a thrilling 9-7 win over the Cowboys in Reno. It took 55 years before these two teams would meet again, resuming the series in 1992 in Laramie. The series has been more consistent in recent memory once the Wolf Pack joined the Mountain West in 2012, playing four of the eight games in the past eight years. Overall the all-time series stands at 5-3 in favor of Wyoming with game No. 9 in the series coming up this Saturday.

NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
The Wolf Pack is 63-46-3 in season openers all-time and has won five of its last six season-opening games. The last time that Nevada opened the season at home was last year when it scored a thrilling 34-31 come-from-behind, walk-off win over Big Ten member Purdue. Head coach Jay Norvell is 2-1 in season openers, falling on the road at Northwestern to open the 2017 season and beating Portland State and Purdue in each of the last two seasons.

NEVADA IN HOME OPENERS
Since becoming an FBS program in 1992, Nevada sports a 21-7 record in home opening contests at Mackay Stadium.

THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE
Sophomore quarterback Carson Strong had taken care of the football pretty well through his last few games of the 2019 season. Strong threw six interceptions in the first six games of his redshirt freshman season, but had just one in the last four. The last time Strong threw a pick was against a nationally ranked opponent as the Pack upset No. 24 San Diego State on the road. Since that interception Strong has gone 151 pass attempts without a pick, which includes 97 completions and ranks second in the nation.

Consecutive Pass Attempts Without an Interception
1. Jayden Daniels (Arizona State) - 157
2. Carson Strong (Nevada) - 151
3. Shane Buechele (SMU) - 142
4. Kedon Slovis (USC) - 126
5. Brock Purdy (Iowa State) - 103

Additionally Strong highly in the Mountain West in a couple of key statistical categories last season, including completion percentage and passing yards per game. Strong completed 63.4 percent of his passes a season ago, which ranked third in the conference and was in the top 40 nationally. His passing yards per game average of 233.5 also ranked in the top five in the league and was in the top 45 nationally.

PETERSON AND TALTON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
Junior defensive tackle Dom Peterson and sophomore placekicker Brandon Talton were selected to the Mountain West's Preseason All-Conference team, which was voted on by coaches at MW media days in Las Vegas.

Peterson was named first team All-MW in 2019 for the first time in his career after proving to be the Wolf Pack's most dominant defensive lineman last season. The then-sophomore ranked second in the conference and led Nevada with 15.0 tackles for loss, 14 of them being solo. Peterson also led the team and ranked second in the MW with nine sacks. He recorded at least one tackle for loss in all but one game in 2019 and had his best performance of the year in a 21-10 win over New Mexico, where he recorded four solo tackles, three for loss and two sacks. He was also named to the preseason All-MW first team by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine and earned a spot on the watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Award and Chuck Bednarik Award.

Talton burst onto the scene in 2019 as he walked on to the Wolf Pack program as a true freshman and made his collegiate debut in historic fashion, drilling a 56-yard field goal to complete a comeback win over Purdue at Mackay Stadium. He began his rookie season making the first 13 field goal attempts of his career and finished the year hitting 21-of-25. He was named to the preseason All-MW first team by Athlon Sports and All-MW second team by Phil Steele Magazine. He was also named to the watch list for the Lou Groza Award.

UP NEXT
Nevada will face in-state rival UNLV earlier than usual this season as the Wolf Pack will head to Las Vegas next weekend to battle the Rebels on Saturday, Oct. 31, part of Nevada Day weekend. It will mark the first collegiate game in the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.