Not automatic: Will Pack’s recent FCS struggles continue vs. EWU?

A look ahead to the Nevada Wolf Pack's football game on Saturday against the Eastern Washington Eagles at Mackay Stadium:

KICKOFF: Noon at Mackay Stadium.

RECORDS: Nevada (1-3, 0-0 in Mountain West); Eastern Washington (1-2, 0-0 in Big Sky).

HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN: The game can be seen on Nevada Sports Net and heard on 105.7 FM.

POINT SPREAD: Nevada is favored by 9.5 points.

AT STAKE: The Wolf Pack will be looking for its first victory (0-2) at home this season. Nevada, once one of the most successful home teams in the nation, has gone 2-13 in its last 15 games at Mackay Stadium. It's a slide that involves three head coaches:  Jay Norvell (0-1 in 2021), Ken Wilson (2-10 in 2022, 2023) and Jeff Choate (0-2 this year), dating back to a 41-39 three-overtime loss to Air Force on Nov. 19, 2021. Eastern Washington is hoping to snap its two-game losing streak. The Eagles have gone 2-13 in their last 15 games away from its home in Cheney, Wash.

BOTH TEAMS STRUGGLING: Nevada and Eastern Washington have struggled mightily in recent years with both teams hitting tough times at about the same time. The Wolf Pack has gone 5-24 since former coach Jay Norvell left the program after the end of the 2021 regular season. Eastern Washington has gone 8-18 since the final game of the 2021 regular season. Neither team has won as many games since the end of the 2021 regular season (two-plus years) as it did during the 2021 season alone. Eastern Washington was 10-3 in 2021 and has won eight games since while Nevada was 8-5 in 2021 and has won five games since.

THE RIVALRY: Nevada leads, 8-1. The Pack went 4-1 against Eastern Washington when both teams were in the Big Sky together from 1987-91. The last time the two teams met was in the 2010 season opener at Mackay Stadium, a 49-24 Nevada victory. Tight end Virgil Green, now the Pack's tight ends coach, caught seven passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the 2010 victory. Both teams went on to arguably their best seasons in school history in 2010. Nevada went 13-1 while Eastern Washington was 13-2 and won the FCS (Division I-AA) national title.

CAN PACK CLAIM MYTHICAL NATIONAL TITLE? The win over Eastern Washington in 2010 was the first (and only) Nevada victory over a team that would win the FCS title later in the same season. The Pack had gone 0-7 against eventual FCS national championship teams, losing to Eastern Kentucky in 1979, Boise State in 1980, Idaho State in 1981, Southern Illinois in 1983, Montana State in 1984 and Georgia Southern in 1986 and 1990. The losses to Eastern Kentucky, Southern Illinois and Georgia Southern all came in the I-AA playoffs, while the loses to fellow Big Sky Conference teams Boise State, Idaho State and Montana State came in the regular season.

THE HEAD COACHES: Jeff Choate is 1-3 and in his first season at Nevada. Aaron Best is 49-34 and in his eighth season as the Eagles’ coach. The 46-year-old Best played at Eastern Washington (1996-99) and was an Eagles assistant coach (2000-06 and 2008-16) before becoming head coach. The only year he has spent away from Eastern Washington since high school was when he was the Toronto Argonauts' offensive line coach in 2007.

THEY'VE MET BEFORE: Choate and Best have squared off against each other as head coaches twice before. Best's Eastern Washington Eagles whipped Choate’s Montana State Bobcats in 2017 (34-17) in front of 18,667 fans in Bozeman, Mont., and in 2018 (31-19) in front of 11,301 in Cheney, Wash. Eastern Washington was ranked No. 5 in the FCS in 2018 when it faced Montana State and No. 10 in 2017.

A CLASH OF THE CLASSES: Nevada has lost its last two games against FCS teams, falling to Idaho (33-6) last year and Incarnate Word (55-41) in 2022 under former head coach Ken Wilson. The Pack is 3-3 in its last six games against FCS teams, also losing to Idaho State (30-28) in 2017 under coach Jay Norvell and beating Portland State (72-19) in 2018, Weber State (19-13) in 2019 and Idaho State (49-10) in 2021. Eastern Washington has gone 11-30 against FBS (Division I-A) schools in its history. Their last three victories against FBS schools came in 2021 (35-33 in overtime against UNLV and coach Marcus Arroyo), 2016 (45-42 over Washington State and coach Mike Leach and assistant Ken Wilson) and 2013 (49-46 over Oregon State and coach Mike Riley).

EAGLES MIGHT HAVE STAGE FRIGHT: The Wolf Pack has attracted crowds of over 21,000 just once over its last 16 home games (24,578 against UNLV in 2023). Saturday's crowd at Mackay, though, should still catch the Eagles' attention. The three crowds the Eagles have played in front of this year (at home against Monmouth and Drake and on the road at Southeastern Louisiana) have totaled just 14,377 combined. Eastern Washington, though, has played in front of a big crowd in the recent past. Last year, a crowd of 41,031 saw them lose at Fresno State; 22,546 saw them lose to North Dakota State in Minneapolis; and 20,897 saw them lose at Montana State. The Eagles lost in front of 72,462 at Florida and 47,289 at Oregon, both in 2022. The last time the Eagles won a game with a crowd of at least 15,000 in attendance was in the 2021 season opener at UNLV's Allegiant Stadium (21,970). Before that it was against Choate's Montana State Bobcats in 2018 (18,667) in Bozeman, Mont.

WHEN EASTERN WASHINGTON HAS THE BALL: The Eagles' offense is led by quarterback Kekoa Visperas, who is 67-of-82 for 695 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. Tuna Altahir has rushed for 226 yards and Malik Dotson has 127 yards on the ground. Wide receiver Efton Chism has 28 catches for 321 yards and four touchdowns with 12-173-3 coming against Monmouth in the season opener. Almost half of Altahir's 226 rushing yards also came against Monmouth (108). The Eagles beat Monmouth, 42-27, for their lone victory this year.

WHEN NEVADA HAS THE BALL: Quarterback Brendon Lewis is 69-of-103 for 675 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. All three interceptions came last week in a 27-0 loss at Minnesota. Lewis is also second on Nevada in rushing with 207 yards. Savion Red leads the Pack on the ground with 277 yards. Patrick Garwo has 110 yards and a team-high two scores on the ground. Lewis' favorite targets so far have been wide receivers Cortez Braham (20 catches, 227 yards, two TDs), Jaden Smith (15-241-0) and Marcus Bellon (11-116-1) and tight end Jace Henry (7-49-2). Just 17 of Lewis' completions have gone to running backs this season.

FEW DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKERS: The defenses of both Nevada and Eastern Washington have struggled to come up with many game-changing plays this season. Nevada's defense has just three sacks and two interceptions in four games while Eastern Washington has three sacks and one interception over three games. Eastern Washington has allowed 30 points a game this year while Nevada has allowed 25.5.

PACK FOOTBALL

Who: Eastern Washington (1-2) at Nevada (1-3)

When: Saturday, noon

Where: Mackay Stadium

TV: NSN

Radio: 105.7 FM (John Ramey, Mike Edwards)

Line: Nevada by 9.5

Series: Nevada leads, 8-1