Troy Babbitt/University of Wyoming
A look ahead to Saturday’s (6 p.m.) Mountain West football game between the Nevada Wolf Pack (2-9, 2-5) and Wyoming Cowboys (7-4, 4-3) at Mackay Stadium:
HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN: TV: CBS Sports Network. Radio: 105.7 FM.
THE POINT SPREAD: Wyoming is favored by 11 points.
AT STAKE FOR NEVADA: The Wolf Pack, hoping to avoid its second consecutive 2-10 season, is looking for some momentum heading into the off-season.
AT STAKE FOR WYOMING: The Cowboys, 0-4 on the road this year, are looking for their first win away from home since winning at Colorado State, 14-13, on Nov. 12, 2022.
WYOMING LAST WEEK: The Cowboys beat Hawaii, 42-9, at home as quarterback Andrew Peasley completed 14-of-17 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Harrison Waylee ran for 70 yards on just 11 carries, scoring on a 28-yard run for a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.
Wyoming won easily despite controlling the ball for just 23:28 on offense and going 0-for-6 on third down.
NEVADA LAST WEEK: The Wolf Pack lost at Colorado State, 30-20, for its third loss in a row. Richard Toney Jr. returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half to cut Colorado State’s lead to 20-13.
Quarterback Brendon Lewis relieved starter A.J. Bianco in the second quarter and was 18-of-24 for 169 yards. He also ran for 61 yards on 14 carries and a 9-yard touchdown.
WYOMING-NEVADA LAST MEETING: The Wolf Pack outlasted Wyoming, 37-34, in overtime to open the 2020 pandemic season on Oct. 24, 2020, at Mackay Stadium.
Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong was 39-of-52 for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Cole Turner caught seven passes for 119 yards and touchdowns and Romeo Doubs caught 12 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. Tory Horton caught the other Pack touchdown pass.
Just 250 fans were in the stands because of COVID-19 restrictions.
THE SERIES: Wyoming leads the rivalry, 5-4, which began in 1937 with a 9-7 Wolf Pack win at the original Mackay Stadium.
The Pack won the 1937 game as Hank Clayton blocked a Wyoming punt, setting up a game-winning 20-yard field goal by Pat Eaton with under a minute to play.
The two teams did not play each other a second time until 1992 in the Wolf Pack’s first game as a member of Division I-A (FBS). The Pack is 3-2 against Wyoming in Reno.
WELCOME TO BIG-TIME FOOTBALL: In 1992, Wyoming, at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie Wyo., was the opponent in the Wolf Pack’s first game in Division I-A.
Wyoming, coached by Joe Tiller, won easily (25-6) despite Nevada dominating the stat sheet. The Pack had more first downs (21-12), yards (380-224) and stopped the Cowboys on 15-of-18 third-down plays. The Pack also held Wyoming to 41 yards rushing on 38 carries and had four sacks.
Wyoming, though, tackled Pack quarterback Fred Gatlin in the end zone for a safety and blocked a Pack punt and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. The Cowboys led 11-6 at halftime on a field goal, safety and special team touchdown (the two-point pass failed). The Pack’s points came on a pair of field goals (20, 28 yards) by Steve Terelak.
The Wolf Pack, though, had a better year in 1992 in Division I-A than Wyoming, finishing 7-5 in the Big West Conference and going to the Las Vegas Bowl. Wyoming, of the Western Athletic Conference, finished 5-7.
THE HEAD COACHES: Nevada’s Ken Wilson, 59 years old, is 4-19 overall and 2-13 in the Mountain West, in his second year as head coach.
Wyoming’s Craig Bohl, 65, is 59-60 and in his 10th season as the Cowboys’ head coach. Bohl was 104-32 in 11 seasons (2003-13) as North Dakota State’s head coach, winning three FCS national titles.
Bohl and Wilson have faced off twice before. Wilson’s Washington State Cougars (he was a linebacker coach) beat Bohl’s Cowboys (he was head coach) in 2015 (31-14) and 2018 (41-19).
Bohl is 3-1 against Nevada as Wyoming’s head coach, beating Pack head coach Brian Polian in 2015 and 2016 and Jay Norvell in 2019 and losing to Norvell in 2020. This is Wilson’s first game against Wyoming as head coach, though he was a Pack assistant in Wolf Pack losses to Wyoming in 1992 and 1997 and in a victory in 2012.
WYOMING OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Quarterback Andrew Peasley is 134-of-223 for 1,658 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. Peasley has run for 307 yards (second on the team) and five touchdowns (leads team).
Harrison Waylee has rushed for 785 yards and four touchdowns.
Wyatt Wieland has caught 35 passes for 382 yards and five touchdowns. Ayir Asante has 18 catches for 317 yards and five scores. John Michael Gyllenborg (19-316-3) and Treyton Welch (27-286-2) are also favorite targets of Peasley.
Wyoming averages 24.6 points a game, running the ball 384 times for 1,646 yards and 15 touchdowns and passing the ball 259 times for 1,842 yards and 18 touchdowns.
NEVADA OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Brendon Lewis has completed 129-of-233 passes (.554) for 1,305 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. A.J. Bianco is 45-of-82 (.549) for 614 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Lewis also leads the Pack in rushing with 504 yards and four touchdowns on 118 carries. Sean Dollars has 496 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 143 carries. Bianco has run for 183 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries.
Jamaal Bell, who plays wide receiver and running back (and returns kickoffs), has 119 rushing yards on 31 carries and has 31 catches for 267 yards and a touchdown. John Jackson leads the Wolf Pack with 32 catches (239 yards, no touchdowns) while Dalevon Campbell leads the team with 562 receiving yards (29 catches, two scores).
Spencer Curtis is at 25 catches, 303 yards and one touchdown.
Nevada averages 18.4 points a game, running the ball 418 times for 1,480 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Pack has thrown the ball 315 times for 1,919 yards and six touchdowns. Nevada has just 13 touchdown passes over its last two seasons (23 games).
COWBOYS FALTER IN FOURTH: Nevada might have to only stay close to Wyoming through three quarters in order to steal a victory on Saturday.
Wyoming has outscored its 11 opponents 219-168 over the first three quarters this season. In the fourth quarter, though, Wyoming has been outscored 88-37.
Wyoming has been outscored 40-6 in the fourth quarter in its four losses against Texas, Air Force, Boise State and UNLV (all on the road).
The Cowboys have also been outscored 48-31 in their seven victories in the fourth quarter.
The Wolf Pack has been outscored 96-64 in the fourth quarter this season. They’ve also been outscored in the first quarter (84-43), second quarter (81-57) and third quarter (98-38). The Pack was also outscored in every quarter last year (109-58, 82-54, 85-58, 95-56).
TOP KICKERS MEET: Saturday’s game will be a matchup of two of the greatest kickers in Mountain West history.
Nevada’s Brandon Talton is 81-of-103 on field goals and 141-of-145 on extra points during his five-year (2019-23) career for 384 points. He is the Wolf Pack and Mountain West career leader for field goals.
Talton needs just two points on Saturday to become the all-time leading scorer in school history. He currently trails Marty Zendejas (1984-87), who had 385 points.
Talton’s 384 career points are second in Mountain West history behind TCU’s Ross Evans (407 points from 2008-11). His 141 extra points are ninth.
Wyoming’s John Hoyland, in his fourth season, is 115-of-116 on extra points and 55-of-70 on field goals for 280 points. His .991 extra point percentage is second in Mountain West history behind only Dominik Eberle of Utah State, who was a perfect 167-of-167 from 2015-19.
Hoyland’s .786 field goal percentage is tied with Talton as 11th best in Mountain West history. Jonah Dalmas, who is still kicking for Boise State, is the best in league history at .878 (72-of-82).
Hoyland’s only extra point miss (it was blocked) came in a 34-27 loss to Air Force this season. The kick would have given the Cowboys a 28-27 lead with six minutes left in the game.
Hoyland is 10-of-17 on field goals and 31-of-32 on extra points this season for 61 points while Talton is 13-of-18 on field goals and 19-of-19 on extra points for 58 points.
Talton was 1-for-1 on field goals and 4-of-4 on extra points in the Pack’s win over Wyoming in 2020 and was 1-of-2 on field goals with no extra point attempts in a Pack loss to Wyoming in 2019.
Hoyland has faced Nevada just once, going 4-of-4 on field goals and 2-of-2 on extra points in 2020 at Mackay Stadium.