Nevada (0-0) vs. SMU (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 - 5 p.m.
Reno, Nev. - Mackay Stadium

TV: CBS Sports Network (PxP: Rich Waltz; Analyst: Robert Turbin; Sideline: Amanda Guerra)
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network - KOZZ 105.7 FM/siriusxm Ch. 386
(PxP: John Ramey; Analyst: Mike Edwards)
Westwood One Radio - siriusxm Ch. 84
(PxP: Ryan Radtke; Analyst: Derek Rackley)

RENO, Nev. - The 2024 campaign gets started in Week 0 as Nevada hosts new ACC member SMU Saturday at Mackay Stadium. Saturday's contest against the Mustangs is set for a 5 p.m. kick and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Robert Turbin (analyst), and Amanda Guerra (Sideline Reporter) on the call.

The Wolf Pack Radio Network will call the game on KOZZ 105.7 FM in Northern Nevada, online at www.thevarsitynetwork.com and on the Varsity Network app, and on siriusxm Ch. 386. John Ramey (play-by-play) and Mike Edwards (analyst) will be in the booth, with the 60-minute pregame show to begin at 4 p.m. The game will also be carried nationally on Westwood One Radio (siriusxm Ch. 84) with Ryan Radtke (play-by-play) and Derek Rackley (analyst) on the call.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting will be the seventh all-time between Nevada and SMU. Each team has won three times in the series, with SMU taking the last two. The most recent meeting of the teams came in the 2009 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, when the Mustangs beat the Wolf Pack, 45-10.

ABOUT SMU
Saturday also marks the first football contest for SMU as a full-fledged member of the ACC. The Mustangs previously played in the American Athletic Conference, capturing the conference title in 2023 with a perfect 8-0 record and a championship game victory over Tulane. The Mustangs, which received the fourth-highest amount of votes among teams just outside of the first Associated Press Poll of 2024, went 11-3 last season, and wrapped with a 23-14 loss to Boston College in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.

THE LAUNCH
The Launch of Nevada Football began Dec. 4, 2023, when Jeff Choate was named the 28th head coach in program history.

Choate brings a championship resume to Reno which boasts deep postseason runs (FCS semifinal with Montana State in 2019, College Football Playoff semifinal with Texas in 2023), top-10 programs, and Fiesta Bowl victories in 2006 and 2011.

His first head-coaching tenure came at Montana State from 2016-20, over which he guided the Bobcats to a 19-9 record over his final two seasons, culminating with an 11-4 record and a run to the FCS semifinals in 2019.

Most recently, Choate spent the past three seasons (2021-23) at Texas, serving as the Longhorns' co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Under Choate's tutelage, the Longhorn defense topped the Big XII in rushing defense (82.4 ypg, third in the country), scoring defense (18.9 points per game, 15th in the country), third-down conversion percentage defense (26.6 percent, second in the country), and total defense (336.7 yards per game), while ranking in the national top 10 in red-zone defense (73.8 percent, seventh),  as the Longhorns racked up a 12-2 record, Big XII title, and a spot in the College Football Playoff.