Nevada quarterback Carson Strong on the sidelines against UNLV in Reno on Oct. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Tom R. Smedes)
Carson Strong is well on his way to owning the best passing season in the history of Nevada Wolf Pack football. That honor right now belongs to Chris Vargas when he set the Wolf Pack’s single-season records in 1993 for yards (4,265), touchdowns (34), completions (331) and attempts (490). He led the nation that season in completions, yards, touchdowns and attempts.
The final pass of his career, fittingly, was an 18-yard touchdown with 46 seconds left that gave the Pack a 21-17 lead at Arkansas State. The Pack, though, lost that day on a last-second touchdown, ending the season at just 11 games. Vargas, therefore, averaged 388 yards, three touchdowns, 30 completions and 45 attempts a game in 1993.
Strong, who will have at least five more games this season (12 regular season plus a bowl game) and a sixth if the Pack goes to the Mountain West title game, has passed for 2,883 yards, 24 touchdowns and 253 completions (356 attempts) already, an average of 360 yards, three touchdowns, 32 completions and 45 attempts a game. At that pace, over 13 games, he will surpass Vargas of 1993 in completions (416), yards (4,680), attempts (585) and touchdowns (39).
The Pack, by the way, calls its offense this year the Air Raid. In 1993 it was Air Wolf.
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Vargas was, without a doubt, the best passing quarterback in the nation in 1993, leading everyone in yards, touchdowns, completions and attempts. He even had better numbers than the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner, Charlie Ward of Florida State, and 1994 first-round NFL draft picks Heath Shuler of Tennessee and Trent Dilfer of Fresno State.
Vargas, though, wasn’t even drafted by the NFL in 1994 and eventually played five seasons professionally in Canada. In addition to Shuler and Dilfer, the NFL also drafted forgettable quarterbacks Doug Nussmeier, Jim Miller, Gus Frerotte, Jay Walker, Steve Matthews and Glenn Foley instead of Vargas.
That slight, though, will not be Strong’s problem. The current Pack quarterback is considered a high-round pick (likely by the third round) this April. The Big West of 1993 and the Air Wolf, apparently, pales in comparison to the Mountain West of 2021 and the Air Raid as far as the NFL is concerned. Or maybe it’s just that practically every Division I-A game now can be seen live on national television and repeatedly on the internet forever while in 1993, if you weren’t at the stadium, you likely never saw Vargas and his magic.
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Strong has passed for 300 or more yards six times this year in eight games and has gone over 400 twice. He has thrown for three or more touchdowns four times, getting six once. Vargas in 1993 passed for 300 or more yards in nine of 11 games, going over 400 five times and 500 twice. He had three-plus touchdowns eight times and even had seven in one game.
There were, however, two distinct differences between Strong of 2021 and Vargas of 1993. The Pack in 1993 made Vargas hand the ball off far more often than Strong is asked to do this year. Marcellus Chrishon (809 yards), Zeke Moore (594) and Dedric Holmes (322) led the 1993 Pack in rushing. This year just one Pack back (Toa Taua) will likely go over 320 yards rushing. The Pack has run the ball an average of 25 times a game this year, roughly 15 times a game fewer than in 1993.
The other distinct difference between Strong of 2021 and Vargas of 1993 is that Vargas threw the ball far more often (18 times) to the opposition than Strong (just five so far).
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Vargas’ top targets in 1993 were Bryan Reeves (91 catches, 1,362 yards, 17 touchdowns), Michael Stephens (80-1,062-7), Mike Senior (58-962-5) and Tom Matter (49-460-3). Senior, Reeves and Stephens became the first Pack trio to all go over 100 yards receiving in a single game against Texas Southern. Reeves, who put up his 1993 numbers while playing in just 10 games, finished his career in 1993 as the Pack’s all-time leader in receiving yards (3,408), catches (234) and touchdowns (32) despite playing just three seasons at Nevada.
Strong’s top targets are Romeo Doubs (49-648-4), Cole Turner (49-571-8), Melquan Stovall (39-458-1), Justin Lockhart (27-402-2) and Tory Horton (27-321-2).
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Vargas shattered the Wolf Pack’s single-season record for passing yards in a season in 1993, breaking Eric Beavers’ record of 2,810 yards in 1986. Beavers, though, was required to hand the ball off to Charvez Foger and Lucius Floyd and others about 45 times a game. That Pack team went 13-1 and wasn’t in the business of padding its passing stats.
Strong, for example, threw passes on 20-of-22 plays in the second half on Friday against UNLV despite being up by 27-plus points. Since 1986 no less than 10 Pack quarterbacks have combined to beat Beavers’ record a total of 12 times, including Strong twice (last year and this year). Strong this year became just the third Wolf Pack quarterback with 2,000 or more yards in at least three separate seasons along with Colin Kaepernick (four) and David Neill (three).
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The assumption (by head coach Jay Norvell, no less) is that Strong will leave Nevada after this season, leaving him short of the Pack’s career records in passing yards (10,901 by David Neill), touchdowns (82 by Colin Kaepernick), completions (878 by Cody Fajardo) and attempts (Neill’s 1,374). Those are all records Strong would shatter if he plays out his two remaining seasons of eligibility. He would likely, in fact, own all those records after next season and then put them out of reach forever in 2023.
Strong right now has 1,036 attempts (seventh all-time), 7,659 yards (eighth), 702 completions (fourth) and 58 touchdowns (eighth). Are those records enough for him to stay in school at least one more year? Keep in mind that the five quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Mac Jones) taken in the first round of the 2021 draft signed contracts worth an average of $28 million. Enjoy your school records, David, Colin and Cody.
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It’s likely, however, that Strong will be just the second most prolific quarterback connected with the 2021 Wolf Pack whether he plays one or two more seasons. Wolf Pack assistant coach Timmy Chang, a member of Norvell’s staff since 2017, passed for 17,072 yards for Hawaii from 2000-04, second most in NCAA history. Chang is also the NCAA career leader in attempts (2,436) and fourth in completions (1,388) and 11th in touchdowns (117). A fun thought: If Strong stays at Nevada through 2023 and plays 30 or more games, he would likely challenge Case Keenum (Houston) NCAA career FBS records of 19,217 yards, 155 touchdowns and 1,546 completions. Who needs $28 million?
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There were no noticeable physical altercations between the Wolf Pack and UNLV Rebels last Friday in Mackay Stadium, likely because no Rebel got within 8-10 yards of a Pack player all night. That calm and serenity, at least visibly, was a welcome relief given the last time the two teams met at Mackay two years ago an ugly brawl broke out immediately after the game.
That 2019 fight brought back memories of the ugly fights before and after the 1995 Fremont Cannon game at Mackay. But 1995 wasn’t even the first time the Pack and Rebels rivalry got ugly. In 1974 an altercation erupted between Pack fullback Sam Vaiana and UNLV lineman Randy Rizo. UNLV was assessed a penalty and the officials then decided to end the game with 34 seconds still remaining on the clock in UNLV’s eventual 28-7 victory in Las Vegas.
Pack coach Jerry Scattini said after the game the official told him, “‘I’m not going to continue the game because there is going to be a big brawl.’” The official also told Rebel head coach Ron Meyer, ‘“It was out of control.’” The decision to end the game was a good one. The Rebel players then started shoving Pack players outside the locker rooms after the game and tried to present the Pack with a so-called “Loser’s Fremont Cannon.”
“The Rebel players showed a lack of class,” Scattini said.
Future Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault was a Meyer assistant that night in Las Vegas.
