Nevada Preview – 69 Days Until Kansas Football

The Jayhawks travel to Reno in September to take on a Wolf Pack team that is not up to its usual level of success.

The Kansas Jayhawks’ first road test of the 2023 season is out west in Reno, Nevada to take on a Nevada program that has a strong recent history but struggled a season ago.

Pre-Game Notes

This is the first meeting between the Kansas and Nevada football programs and wouldn’t have happened if Houston wasn’t coming to the Big 12. As KU Athletics pointed out in the release when announcing the game, Kansas was originally scheduled to face Houston for the second consecutive year as a non-conference opponent, but with the Cougars entering the conference, KU needed a new non-con matchup. Nevada will then make a trip to Lawrence during the 2029 season.

The Mike Plank Four-Down Scouting Report

First Down

The Wolf Pack have been a solid program for most of the 2000s. From 2005-2021, Nevada reached 14 bowls in 17 seasons, and that includes making it to four straight bowl games (and winning two) from 2018-2021. But the man that got them to the most recent stretch, Jay Norvell, left for Colorado State after the 2021 season. Replacing him was first-year coach Ken Wilson, who went 2-10 with Nevada last season, including 0-8 in the Mountain West Conference. The two wins were against New Mexico State and Texas State to start the season.

Second Down

Nevada’s offense in 2022 was comparable to some of the pre-Lance Leipold Kansas offenses that fans suffered through over the past decade. The Wolf Pack averaged just 18.8 points per game and were held to seven points or less three times. The running game was decent with Toa Taua racking up 911 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, but the passing game was rough with Nate Cox and Shane Illingworth only completing 55% of their combined passes for 185 yards per game.

Third Down

To Nevada’s credit, the Wolf Pack have been busy in the transfer portal and have some skill coming in, especially on offense. Former Colorado quarterback Brendon Lewis is now in Reno, as well as two former four-star recruits that were at Oregon – Adrian Jackson and Sean Dollars – and a former four-star tackle and three-star receiver from USC.

Fourth Down

On defense, Nevada does have a talented pass rusher in Drue Watts, who was second on the team with nine tackles for loss and three sacks in 2022 and was fourth on the team in tackles. Then, the Wolf Pack brought in three-star safety Tre Weed (three interceptions and five pass deflections last year) from Eastern Washington to help bolster the secondary.

Matchup On Paper

Coach Ken Wilson is a defensive mind, but that defense was not good last season. The Wolf Pack gave up 30 points per game and was especially gashed on the ground, allowing 164 yards and two rushing touchdowns per game. That obviously doesn’t bode well against Kansas, who not only has two great backs (Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw) but a mobile quarterback in Jalon Daniels and a movable chess piece in Jason Bean.

Nevada was fairly balanced on offense last year in terms of attempts per game, but it’s hard to say what it will look like with an overhauled roster. The big question will be timing. By week three of the season when Kansas comes to town, how well are those new pieces from the transfer portal gelling and establishing themselves? Kansas by far has the big advantage in terms of continuity and returning production.

Final Whistle

This isn’t a buy game against an FCS team, but it’s definitely one Kansas needs if it wants to reach a bowl game for the second straight year. Two years ago, any win on the road, regardless of opponent, would have been a massive victory. Now, this is a spot where KU should look like the dominant team and replicate its early road success from last year (against WVU and Houston).