Nevada (1-0) vs. Montana State (2-0)
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026 - 7:30 p.m.
Reno, Nev. - Mackay Stadium

TV: The CW (PxP: Jack McMullen; Analyst: Cody Kessler; Sideline: Marshall Newhouse)
Radio: 105.7 KOZZ / The Varsity Network App (PxP: John Ramey; Analyst: Mike Edwards; Sideline: Terrence Newman)

RENO, Nev. - Nevada aims to make it two in a row to open 2026 Saturday, hosting defending FCS national champion Montana State at 7:30 p.m. The game will air on The CW with Jack McMullen (play-by-play), Cody Kessler (analyst) and Marshall Newhouse (sideline) on the call.

The radio broadcast of the game will be available on KOZZ 105.7 FM in Northern Nevada, online at www.thevarsitynetwork.com and on the Varsity Network app. John Ramey (play-by-play), Mike Edwards (analyst) and Terrence Newman (sideline) will be on the call, with the 60-minute pregame show to begin at 6:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Nevada opened its season with a victory for the first time since 2022 with Saturday night's 49-14 rout of Western Kentucky.

The tone was set on the second play from scrimmage as running back Dominic Kelley sprinted 72 yards for a touchdown to give Nevada a quick 7-0 lead. Kelley would finish the night with 152 rushing yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns, earning Mountain West Player of the Week honors. He led a ground attack which produced four players with at least 38 rushing yards and combined for 323 yards on 42 carries, a clip of 7.7 yards per attempt.

Sophomore quarterback Carter Jones coolly ran the Wolf Pack offense to the tune of 486 total yards and seven touchdowns while going 9-for-15 passing for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Jones also added 50 yards on the ground to the Wolf Pack attack.

As five different players found the end zone for Nevada, four of them scored their first touchdown in a Wolf Pack uniform. Wide receiver Donnie Cheers scored twice, once on a 20-yard carry with another on a 32-yard reception, while running backs Herschel Turner and Carter Jackson each found the end zone.

SERIES HISTORY 
Nevada and Montana State will meet for the 19th time overall Saturday, and the second time since the Wolf Pack moved up to Division I-A (now FBS) in 1992.

The Wolf Pack beat the Bobcats, 31-7, in the only post-1992 meeting of the teams, which took place Sept. 14, 1996 at Mackay Stadium. The teams met for 13-consecutive seasons as members of the Big Sky from 1979-91 with Nevada holding a 9-4 edge in those matchups. Overall, the Pack leads the all-time series 12-6 with four-straight wins.

ABOUT MONTANA STATE
Montana State comes to Reno as defending FCS national champions and owners of a 16-game winning streak. The Bobcats, under sixth-year head coach Brent Vigen, have hit the 50-point mark in each of their two games this season, outscoring the two opponents 105-24.

The Bobcat offense returns two of its impact players from last year's national championship team in quarterback Justin Lamson and wide receiver/return man Taco Dowler. In 2025, Lamson threw for 3,172 yards and 26 touchdowns against just three interceptions, being named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and to the Stats Perform FCS All-America Second Team. Dowler, despite appearing in just nine games last season, earned three All-America honors in 2024 and finished 2025 with 49 catches for 571 yards and four touchdowns, and scored six times overall (four receiving, one rush, one punt return).

Defensively, Tayden Gray and Brendon Ross each have an interception for the Bobcats while Cole Taylor leads the team with 11 tackles. Over its first two games the Bobcats have registered 10.0 tackles-for-loss with three sacks.

NOW *THAT'S* HOW YOU OPEN A SEASON!
Nevada fans didn't have to wait long to be shown that this year's Wolf Pack will be an exciting squad to watch. On the second play from scrimmage sophomore running back Dominic Kelley took a handoff and found space on the right side going 72 yards to the house for the opening score.

The season-opening win is Nevada's first since a 23-12 victory at New Mexico State to open the 2022 campaign. The Wolf Pack's 49 points Saturday night matched its most in a home opener since a 49-10 win over Idaho State in 2021.

KELLEY NAMED MOUNTAIN WEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nevada running back Dominic Kelley's standout performance in Saturday night's 49-14 win over Western Kentucky earned him the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honor Monday.

Kelley set the tone on the game's second play from scrimmage, taking a handoff and breaking free for a 72-yard touchdown run, the Wolf Pack's longest run from scrimmage since 2015. It only took him two carries to eclipse the 100-yard mark as he went 42 yards to open Nevada's second drive of the contest.

He finished the contest with 152 yards on just 11 carries, scoring a pair of touchdowns and averaging over 13 yards per attempt. Kelley added a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter to give Nevada a 42-7 advantage.

His 152 rushing yards were also the most by a Wolf Pack player since Toa Taua ran for 160 yards against San José State in 2019. Kelley led the way for Nevada's rushing attack Saturday as it piled up 323 yards at a clip of 7.7 yards per carry.