Santoro: Forget 1-2 record; there’s much to like about the Pack

Sports Fodder:

There is so much to like about this Nevada Wolf Pack football team right now. Yes, the Pack is just 1-2 and probably should be 3-0 but forget the record for now. Everything this year is about the Mountain West games anyway.

The Jeff Choate hire as head coach has been as advertised so far. He's taken a program that had lost 21 of its last 25 games and completely transformed the roster, mindset, attitude and hope for the future in roughly nine months. The Pack is 1-2 but has stood toe-to-toe with all three of its opponents (29-24 loss to SMU, 28-26 win at Troy and 20-17 loss to Georgia Southern).

The Pack truly could be and probably should be 3-0 at this moment. They led SMU 24-13 in the fourth quarter and dominated Georgia Southern on the stat sheet.

The last time we've seen such a positive Wolf Pack transformation mentally and physically from one season to the next after a coaching change was when Chris Ault took over after the 1975 season, taking a 3-8 team and turning it into an 8-3 team. But even Ault wasn't handed a program nearly five decades ago as wretched, lifeless, beaten down and sad as the one Choate was given last December.

This Pack team stepped on the field this year, armed with four whole victories over the last 30 months or so, and immediately had swagger, confidence and energy. With a bit more good luck and a few more fortunate bounces of the ball the Pack would already be halfway to a bowl game invite with 10 games to go.

It has been a bit surprising the past three games, watching a bunch of guys that barely knew each other and likely couldn't have found Reno on a map less than six months ago, playing like an aggressive, cohesive, take-no-prisoners band of brothers right from the start.

The defense has been physical, fast and cocky right from the opening drive of the first game of the year. The offense has been just what Choate said it would be, a unit that would be patient, methodical and mistake-free, yet also have the ability to be explosive and aggressive when needed.

Brendon Lewis, the guy who looked afraid to throw the ball more than five yards downfield a year ago before simply becoming a scared house cat and running to safety, now looks like a quarterback that can win games consistently. The Pack has also turned a pair of castoff running backs from other programs (Savion Red and Patrick Garwo) into the Second Coming of James Butler and Don Jackson. Receivers Cortez Braham, Jaden Smith, Marcus Bellon and Jace Henry get open, catch the ball and make plays.

Yes, of course, we are overreacting in a positive way to just three games, two of which are losses. But after the chaos and doom and gloom we've seen the last two years, well, the last three games have breathed life and energy into everything silver and blue.

We'll find out together how all of this will end up this season as the games, injuries and, undoubtedly, a few more narrow losses start to pile up.

But forget all that right now. Just sit back and bask in the glow, hope and promise of a revamped program finally headed in the right direction.

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The transformation of Lewis has been a welcome sigh of relief for Pack fans. Yes, go ahead, it's OK to admit you weren't all that thrilled to learn last month he had beaten out highly touted transfer Chubba Purdy from Nebraska to become the starter.

The thought of Lewis, he of the two lonely touchdown passes all of last season, running the offense again was about as exciting as dealing with wildfires day after day. Nothing against Lewis, but he had a been-there, done-that feel to him already.

But Lewis looks like a different quarterback this season. He looks in charge of the offense, confident and bold. He had two touchdown passes in the first half of the first game this year against SMU. He now sits at five after finding Cortez Braham for a score this past Saturday against Georgia Southern.

Nobody is saying Carson Strong's Wolf Pack record for single-season touchdown passes (36 in 2021) is now in jeopardy. But opposing defenses now have to respect Lewis' arm as well as his legs. Lewis is already a clean and efficient 54-of-81 this year for 561 yards, five scores and, here is the best part, no interceptions. He's on pace for a 2,400-yard, 22-touchdown season. And don't forget his 208 rushing yards are on pace for about 900 yards.

Lewis passed for 271 yards and ran for 97 against Georgia Southern last Saturday. A quarterback who can flirt with 400 total yards running and throwing in a game isn't a quarterback that should be looking over his shoulder at any highly-touted transfer on the sideline who might take his job.

Purdy's promise, athletic abilities and bloodlines are still very enticing. Maybe he does offer a higher ceiling than Lewis, after all. It hasn't been all lightning bolts and fireworks coming from Lewis this year. The offense has stagnated at times in all three games this year.

But Lewis has clearly earned the right thus far to be on the field and stay on the field. The last thing a rookie head coach wants to do is tinker with his team's leadership. It's obvious Lewis' teammates believe in him, and they all seem to be able to play well around him, which is all you can expect from a quarterback.

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The Pack defense has been even better than the offense. Choate brought in newcomers like defensive backs Kitan Crawford and Keyshawn Cobb and defensive linemen Kaden Johnson and Kristopher Ross and has revamped the defense. He's also given returning linebackers Drue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona, as well as defensive end Henry Ikahihifo, a huge energy burst to their careers.

It's not a perfect unit. The Pack has just two sacks and one interception through three games, and they are allowing an average of 25 points a game. There's certainly room for improvement. But it's been just three games, and the Pack has played three teams they really haven't known much about yet. Every game has been a work in progress and there have been a few letdowns in crunch time so far.

But Choate is old school all the way. He has a time-tested formula to keep games close and, so far, it is working. That formula is run the ball, limit your mistakes and eat clock on offense. That formula also involves a defense that is aggressive and isn't afraid to make adjustments.

That formula should be able to keep the Pack in every game this season, leaving the final score dependent mainly on how many mistakes (penalties, fumbles and interceptions) the Pack makes in a game.

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The state of Nevada's other Mountain West football team is also fairly happy about the way the 2024 season has gone so far. UNLV is 2-0 after beating Houston 27-7 on the road and Utah Tech 72-14 at home.

The Rebels have basically pounded and obliterated their two opponents on the ground. Quarterback Matthew Sluka leads the team in rushing (129 yards) but he is closely followed by Greg Burrell (117 yards), Michael Allen (105) and Kylin James (103). UNLV has run for 699 yards and six touchdowns in just two games.

But is it just another red mirage coming out of the desert down south? Sluka is just an unimpressive 14-of-30 for 232 yards through the air. He has five touchdowns but it’s doubtful he'll continue to find the end zone on one-third of his completions the rest of the year.

Ricky White III, who will likely play in the NFL someday, has seven catches for three touchdowns and two of Jacob DeJesus' four catches also have ended up in the end zone. That 5-of-9 scoring percentage (56 per cent) also isn't likely to continue. Odds are the Rebels will need for Sluka, a transfer from Holy Cross, to win games through the air and that might be difficult.

The Rebels will continue to churn out victories as long as they can run the ball at a school-record clip, chew up clock and control the pace of games. But it's 2024 and not the 1950s, 60s or 70s. There will come a time when the Rebels have to throw the ball to win and that is when we'll find out if all the excitement coming from down south is real or a mirage.

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Ashton Jeanty just might beat the odds and become the first Heisman Trophy winner from a non-Power Five conference (SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and the old Pac-12) since BYU quarterback Ty Detmer (Western Athletic Conference) in 1990.

The 5-foot-9 Jeanty has been unstoppable so far this year, leading the nation with 459 rushing yards yards and nine touchdowns in two games. He destroyed Georgia Southern for 267 yards and six scores in his opener and might have been even more impressive this past Saturday with 192 yards and three touchdowns against Oregon.

Jeanty didn't just emerge this season. He was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year last year with 1,347 yards and 14 touchdowns. ESPN, The Athletic, Associated Press, CBS Sports, Phil Steele and Athlon all put him on preseason All-America teams this summer.

Jeanty, who was born in Florida and played high school football in Texas, now has 2,627 yards and 30 rushing touchdowns for his three-year career. He already has in his sights the Boise State single-season record for rushing yards and touchdowns (Jay Ajayi with 1,823 and 28 in 2014). San Diego State's Rashaad Penny owns the Mountain West single-season yards rushing record (2,248 in 2017) while Kapri Bibbs of Colorado State owns the conference's rushing touchdown record (31 in 2013).

It's not likely Jeanty will collect enough votes to win the Heisman. It's almost impossible for someone who plays the bulk of his games out West at night against mid-major schools to convince the Power Five-centric Heisman voters to give him their support.

Oregon is the only team on Boise State's schedule this year with a Power Five roster unless, of course, you count Oregon State and Washington State from the Power 2.

The Wolf Pack will take on Jeanty at Boise State on Nov. 9. Jeanty has only faced the Pack once in his career, getting 73 yards and a six-yard, third-quarter touchdown in a 41-3 Boise State victory in 2022. Jeanty was a Boise State backup in 2022 as a freshman behind George Holani (115 yards against Nevada).

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Jeanty, of course, is the cream of the crop of Mountain West running backs this season. But San Diego State's Marquez Cooper is seventh in the nation with 276 yards and Nevada's Savion Red is 10th with 254 yards.

Colorado State's Justin Marshall has 173 yards while New Mexico's Devon Dampier is at 164. Utah State's Rahsul Faison (132), Boise State's Sire Gaines (132) and San Jose State's Floyd Chalk (130) are all also over 125 for the season. And that's just the running backs. Nevada's Lewis (208 yards) and UNLV's Sluka (129) are also showing that Mountain West quarterbacks can run.

None of this should scare the Wolf Pack all that much. The Pack defense has fared well against opponents' ground games this year, allowing 111 yards per game on the ground. The Wolf Pack allowed just 42 rushing yards on 19 carries to Georgia Southern this past Saturday.

Pack linebackers (namely Drue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona) are strong against the run and the secondary isn't afraid to stick its nose near the line of scrimmage. Stopping the run might be the key stat of this entire Wolf Pack season.