2021 Nevada Wolf Pack football team explained

Year:	2021
Team:	Nevada Wolf Pack
Sport:	football
Conference:	Mountain West Conference
Division:	West Division
Short Conf:	MW
Record:	8–5
Conf Record:	5–3
Head Coach:	Jay Norvell
Hc Year:	5th
Hc Games:	regular season
Head Coach2:	Vai Taua
Hc Games2:	interim, bowl game
Off Coach:	Matt Mumme
Oc Year:	5th
Off Scheme:	Air raid
Def Coach:	Brian Ward
Dc Year:	2nd
Def Scheme:	Multiple
Captain:	Carson Strong
Captain2:	Jermaine Ledbetter
Captain3:	Lawson Hall
Captain4:	Sam Hammond
Bowl:	Quick Lane Bowl
Bowl Result:	L 24–52 vs. Western Michigan

The 2021 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno, in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolf Pack were led by fifth–year head coach Jay Norvell and played their home games at Mackay Stadium. They competed as members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Maxwell Award^[1]		WR	SR
		QB	JR
Chuck Bednarik Award^[2]	Lawson Hall	LB	FY
Davey O'Brien Award^[3]	Carson Strong	QB	JR
Fred Biletnikoff Award^[4]		WR	GS
	Romeo Doubs	SR
		TE
Rimington Trophy^[5]	Tyler Orsini	OL	GS
		TE	SR
Jim Thorpe Award^[6]	Berdale Robins	DB	FY
Lou Groza Award^[7]	Brandon Talton	PK	JR
Paul Hornung Award^[8]	Romeo Doubs	WR	SR
Manning Award^[9]	Carson Strong	QB	JR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[10]

Mountain West media days

The Mountain West media days were held on July 21–22, 2021, at the Cosmopolitan in Paradise, Nevada.

Media poll

The preseason poll was released on July 21, 2021. The Wolf Pack were predicted to finish in first place in the MW West Division.^[11]

West

1	Nevada	141 (19)
2	San Jose State	121 (5)
3	San Diego State	96
4	Fresno State	85 (1)
5	Hawaii	56
6	UNLV	26

Mountain

1	Boise State	148 (23)
2	Wyoming	115 (2)
3	Air Force	104
4	Colorado State	72
5	Utah State	47
6	New Mexico	39

Preseason All-Mountain West Team

The Wolf Pack had four players selected to the preseason All–Mountain West Team; three from the offense and one from the specialists.^[12]

Offense

Romeo Doubs – WR

Carson Strong – QB

Cole Turner – TE

Specialists

Brandon Talton – PK

Schedule

Source: ^[13]

Personnel

Depth chart

†

As of August 15, 2021

Game summaries

At California

See also: 2021 California Golden Bears football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
CAL –3	52.5^[14]

Statistics	Nevada	California
First downs	19	17
Total yards	373	330
Rushing yards	61	153
Passing yards	312	177
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	27:42	32:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing		22/39, 312 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing	Toa Taua	10 carries, 37 yards
Receiving		3 receptions, 94 yards
California	Passing		25/38, 177 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Damien Moore	15 carries, 79 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Jeremiah Hunter	2 receptions, 35 yards

Idaho State

See also: 2021 Idaho State Bengals football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
NEV –35	56.5^[15]

Statistics	Idaho State	Nevada
First downs	18	26
Total yards	283	586
Rushing yards	141	145
Passing yards	142	441
Turnovers	5	0
Time of possession	32:49	27:11

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Idaho State	Passing	Tyler Vander Waal	10/17, 107 yards
Rushing	Malakai Rango	10 carries, 72 yards
Receiving	Xavier Guillory	5 receptions, 54 yards
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	34/43, 381 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing	Toa Taua	9 carries, 103 yards
Receiving		7 receptions, 89 yards, 2 TDs

At Kansas State

See also: 2021 Kansas State Wildcats football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
NEV –1.5	51.5^[16]

Statistics	Nevada	Kansas State
First downs	14	22
Total yards	331	398
Rushing yards	25	269
Passing yards	306	129
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	29:00	31:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	27/40, 262 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Devonte Lee	10 carries, 24 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		7 receptions, 121 yards
Kansas State	Passing		7/10, 123 yards, 1 TD
Rushing		23 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Daniel Imatorbhebhe	1 reception, 68 yards, 1 TD

At Boise State

See also: 2021 Boise State Broncos football team and Boise State–Nevada football rivalry.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
BSU –3.5	59^[17]

Statistics	Nevada	Boise State
First downs	18	24
Total yards	393	410
Rushing yards	130	22
Passing yards	263	388
Turnovers	0	6
Time of possession	28:01	31:59

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	25/38, 263 yards, 1 TD
Rushing	Toa Taua	12 carries, 124 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving	Justin Lockhart	5 receptions, 94 yards
Boise State	Passing		34/47, 388 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing	Cyrus Habibi–Likio	10 carries, 46 yards
Receiving	Stefan Cobbs	10 receptions, 132 yards, 2 TDs

New Mexico State

See also: 2021 New Mexico State Aggies football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
NEV –31.5	61.5^[18]

Statistics	New Mexico State	Nevada
First downs	25	27
Total yards	452	532
Rushing yards	27	69
Passing yards	425	463
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	32:21	27:39

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
New Mexico State	Passing	Jonah Johnson	38/62, 425 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Juwaun Price	10 carries, 37 yards
Receiving	Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda	5 receptions, 76 yards
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	25/32, 377 yards, 6 TD, INT
Rushing	Toa Taua	7 carries, 28 yards
Receiving	Melquan Stovall	7 receptions, 155 yards, TD

Hawaii

See also: 2021 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
N/A	N/A

Statistics	Hawaii	Nevada
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Hawaii	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Nevada	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At Fresno State

See also: 2021 Fresno State Bulldogs football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
FRES –3.5	N/A

Statistics	Nevada	Fresno State
First downs	30	24
Total yards	501	474
Rushing yards	47	205
Passing yards	476	256
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	34:03	25:55

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	49/61, 476 yards, 4 TD, INT
Rushing	Toa Taua	12 carries, 62 yards
Receiving	Romeo Doubs	19 receptions, 203 yards, TD
Fresno State	Passing		26/38, 256 yards, 2 TD
Rushing		23 carries, 134 yards, TD
Receiving	Keric Wheatfall	5 receptions, 84 yards, TD

UNLV

See also: 2021 UNLV Rebels football team and Fremont Cannon.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
N/A	N/A

Statistics	UNLV	Nevada
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UNLV	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Nevada	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

San Jose State

See also: 2021 San Jose State Spartans football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
N/A	N/A

Statistics	San Jose State	Nevada
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
San Jose State	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Nevada	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At No. 22 San Diego State

See also: 2021 San Diego State Aztecs football team.

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SDSU –2.5	45

Statistics	Nevada	San Diego State
First downs	19	20
Total yards	358	362
Rushing yards	8	186
Passing yards	350	176
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	26:32	33:28

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	34/48, 350 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Toa Taua	9 carries, 31 yards
Receiving	Romeo Doubs	9 receptions, 127 yards, 2 TD
San Diego State	Passing	Lucas Johnson	21/34, 176 yards, TD
Rushing	Greg Bell	16 carries, 104 yards
Receiving	Elijah Kothe	6 receptions, 71 yards

Air Force

See also: 2021 Air Force Falcons football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
N/A	N/A

Statistics	Air Force	Nevada
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Air Force	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Nevada	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At Colorado State

See also: 2021 Colorado State Rams football team.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
N/A	N/A

Statistics	Nevada	Colorado State
First downs	22	20
Total yards	528	443
Rushing yards	226	230
Passing yards	302	213
Turnovers	0	5
Time of possession	28:56	31:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nevada	Passing	Carson Strong	17/22, 288 yards, 4 TD
Rushing	Avery Morrow	5 carries, 88 yards, TD
Receiving	Tory Horton	4 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD
Colorado State	Passing		15/24, 185 yards, 2 INT
Rushing		1 carry, 69 yards, TD
Receiving	Trey McBride	6 receptions, 113 yards

Notes and References

1. Web site: Doubs and Strong on Maxwell Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
2. Web site: 2021 Bednarik Award Watch List: Kyle Hamilton, Kayvon Thibodeaux top names to watch. Pro Football Network. July 30, 2021.
3. Web site: Strong on Davey O'Brien Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. July 30, 2021.
4. Web site: Cooks, Doubs and Turner on Fred Biletnikoff Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
5. Web site: Orsini on Rimington Preseason Watch List and Turner on John Mackey Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
6. Web site: Robins on Jim Thorpe Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
7. Web site: Talton on Lou Groza Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
8. Web site: Doubs on Paul Hornung Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 2, 2021.
9. Web site: Strong on Manning Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 22, 2021.
10. Web site: Strong on Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Preseason Watch List. University of Nevada Athletics. August 22, 2021.
11. Web site: Boise State, Nevada Picked to Win 2021 Mountain West Football Divisional Titles. Mountain West Conference. July 30, 2021.
12. Web site: 2021 Mountain West Football Preseason All-Conference Team. Mountain West Conference. July 30, 2021.
13. Web site: 2021 Football Schedule. University of Nevada Athletics. May 30, 2021.
14. Web site: Nevada Wolf Pack vs California Golden Bears. Odds Shark. August 19, 2021. en.
15. Web site: Idaho State Bengals vs Nevada Wolf Pack. Odds Shark. September 8, 2021. en.
16. Web site: Nevada Wolf Pack vs Kansas State Wildcats. Odds Shark. September 13, 2021. en.
17. Web site: Nevada Wolf Pack vs Boise State Broncos. Odds Shark. September 20, 2021. en.
18. Web site: New Mexico State Aggies vs Nevada Wolf Pack. Odds Shark. October 5, 2021. en.