Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 87. Nevada
Chris Ault, Colin Kaepernick, and The Pistol Offense
The year was 1976. Nevada, coming off a 3-8 year in Division II, hired a little known assistant from UNLV to be their football coach. He had returned to his alma mater where he played QB just 8 years prior. Chris Ault. Ault oversaw 2 transitions: From Division II to Division 1-AA in 1978, then again to Division 1-A in 1992. Ault was a wild success, running his patented pistol offense, making the Division 1-AA playoffs 7 times in 14 years, with an overall record of 122-47-1. Their final year in 1-AA, 1991, they overcame a 35 point 2nd half deficit against Weber State to win 55-49. Backup QB Chris Vargas led the comeback, and would become known as “The Comeback Kid”. He also donated part of his lungs to his brother-in-law in 2000. Be like Chris Vargas.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
| 12 | Nevada | 2010 | 32.831 | 13-1 |
| 31 | Nevada | 1996 | 8.179 | 9-3 |
| 33 | Nevada | 1995 | 7.733 | 9-3 |
| 34 | Nevada | 2020 | 7.056 | 7-2 |
| 34 | Nevada | 1994 | 6.337 | 9-2 |
| 29 | Nevada | 2005 | 5.411 | 9-3 |
| 52 | Nevada | 2009 | -1.018 | 8-5 |
| 55 | Nevada | 2021 | -2.971 | 8-5 |
| 51 | Nevada | 2006 | -3.695 | 8-5 |
| 66 | Nevada | 2018 | -7.539 | 8-5 |
| 49 | Nevada | 1993 | -8.115 | 7-4 |
| 60 | Nevada | 2008 | -8.404 | 7-6 |
| 68 | Nevada | 2014 | -10.285 | 7-6 |
| 69 | Nevada | 2011 | -10.406 | 7-6 |
| 67 | Nevada | 2003 | -12.153 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Nevada | 1992 | -12.975 | 7-5 |
| 60 | Nevada | 1998 | -13.089 | 6-5 |
| 74 | Nevada | 2012 | -15.548 | 7-6 |
| 75 | Nevada | 2015 | -16.831 | 7-6 |
| 72 | Nevada | 1997 | -19.971 | 5-6 |
| 85 | Nevada | 2019 | -20.016 | 7-6 |
| 81 | Nevada | 2007 | -21.387 | 6-7 |
| 73 | Nevada | 2002 | -22.812 | 5-7 |
| 93 | Nevada | 2013 | -31.474 | 4-8 |
| 96 | Nevada | 2016 | -32.042 | 5-7 |
| 96 | Nevada | 2004 | -35.568 | 5-7 |
| 109 | Nevada | 2017 | -36.45 | 3-9 |
| 98 | Nevada | 1999 | -37.94 | 3-8 |
| 95 | Nevada | 2001 | -38.935 | 3-8 |
| 128 | Nevada | 2022 | -54.907 | 2-10 |
| 111 | Nevada | 2000 | -59.726 | 2-10 |
+------+--------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 8991 (87th)199-177 record
7 conference titles
6-11 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
26 NFL players drafted
Nevada’s been in the FBS since 1992, so 31 seasons played since 1983. They were previously in the FBS (Division 1) from 1946-50, but that doesn’t fall under the 40 year timeline here. In their 31 seasons, they’ve made 17 bowls, which is 55% of the time. 7 titles means they win their conference 23% of the time. 5 titles came under Ault, the College Football Hall of Famer and easily the greatest coach in school history. Top NFL players include QB Colin Kaepernick, WR Nate Burleson, and OT Joel Bitonio.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2000 (2-10 overall, 1-7 WAC)
New conference, new coach, new lows. Nevada moved from the Big West to the WAC with Chris Tormey, who previously went 32-23 at Idaho. There were early struggles, with a 7-36 loss to Oregon, 10-41 to #22 TCU, and 14-45 to Colorado State. They did get a 35-28 win over Wyoming. The season quickly got away from them though, after a 7-38 loss to rival UNLV. Cormey would go 0-4 against UNLV in his 4 years, which was inexcusable. Nevada got a late season win over Rice, but finished off with a brutal 3-38 performance vs Tulsa. Nevada finished last place in their new conference. Sophomore WR Nate Burleson was a breakout player though, with 921 receiving yards. Burleson went on to be an All-American in 2002, leading the nation in catches with 138, for 1629 yards and 12 TD. He was drafted in the 3rd round in 2003 and went on to have a solid NFL career and is an even better media personality than football player.
5. 1994 (9-2 overall, 5-1 Big West)
Chris Ault was in his 18th season at the time, with 1st year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino. The two made magic happen, ranking 3rd in the nation with 37.6 PPG. Nevada started 9-1, with the only loss to Boise State, who was in Division 1-AA at the time. Boise would join Division 1-A in 2 years, but in 1994, was a division below and went 13-2 and made the title game. Nevada had rolled through the rest of the Big West, mostly beating teams that finished with losing records, but did beat 6-5 Pacific 38-26. Heading into the final week, Nevada had already won a share of the Big West title, but faced rival UNLV, who was 5-4 (4-1 Big West) and looking to get a share themselves. In the most hyped game between the two ever, UNLV pulled off the upset, winning 32-27 in a game now known as the “Red Defection”, which I talked about in UNLV’s post. Nevada still finished the year 9-2, with a share of the Big West title. QB Mike Maxwell led the NCAA in passing TDs, throwing for 3537 yards 29 TD 15 INT. RB Marcellus Chrishon ran for 1000+ yards in just 9 games, and WR Alex Van Dyke, a future 2nd round pick, caught 98 balls for 1246 yards and 9 TD.
4. 2020 (7-2 overall, 6-2 Mountain West)
Nevada was expected to be a solid team in 2020, returning talented young QB Carson Strong. Because of covid weirdness, their schedule was anything but regular, and ended up playing all 8 regular season games against Mountain West opponents. Because of this, there was little room for error. They did as well as they could, starting 4-0, set to face 3-1 San Diego State, who was the division favorite. There were no divisions this year because of covid, but SDSU was still a favorite to qualify for the title game. A 26-21 lead heading into the 4th for Nevada held for the final 15 minutes, and they improved to 5-0 with a conference championship appearance in sight. At 6-1, they’d unfortunately lose 20-30 to an upstart 5-0 San Jose State team that would go on to win the Mountain West. Nevada still made a bowl, beating 6-5 Tulane 38-27 to finish 7-2, and 34th in my rankings. QB Carson Strong won Mountain West OPOTY, completing 70% of passes for 2858 yards, 27 TD, and just 4 INT. Many were talking about him as a future 1st round pick heading into 2021. RB Toa Taua, brother of legendary Nevada RB Vai, had a solid year with 675 rushing yards in 8 games, earning 2nd Team All-MWC. Toa went on to have a consistent 5-year career in which he amassed 3997 rushing yards, 4th in school history only to his brother, Chris Lemon, and Colin Kaepernick. Strong formed a strong connection with WR Romeo Doubs, now on the Green Bay Packers, who had 1000+ receiving yards and 9 TD in just 9 games. Overall, 10 players made 1st/2nd team all-conference.
3. 1995 (9-3 overall, 7-0 Big West)
This was right after the 1994 season, where Nevada went 9-2 but lost on the final day to rival UNLV, forced to share the conference title. They left no doubt in ‘95, outpacing UNLV 55-32 en route to a 7-0 Big West season and sole owners of the title. In week 3, 2-0 Nevada hosted Gary Pinkel’s Toledo, losing 35-49 in what previewed the bowl game later on. After then dropping a game to SDSU to fall to 2-2, Nevada averaged a whopping 48.4(!) PPG in their last 7 regular season games, going 7-0 with wins over 2nd placed Southwestern Louisiana and 3rd placed Utah State. That set up a rematch with Toledo in the bowl, who was now #25 and 9-0-1. In the first overtime game in college football history, Toledo won again, this time closer at 40-37. Gary Pinkel completed an undefeated season with the Rockets, while Nevada finished 9-3. The offensive numbers were again staggering, even better than 1994. Nevada ranked 3rd in the nation in PPG with 43.4. QB Mike Maxwell led the NCAA in passing yards with 3611 (in just 9 games!) and 33 TD to 17 INT. WR Alex Van Dyke had an unbelievable year, with 129 catches for 1854 yards and 16 TD. In just 11 games! If he played a 13 game season like teams do today, his stats would extrapolate to 152 catches for 2191 yards and 19 TD.
2. 1996 (9-3 overall, 4-1 Big West)
As you can tell, Nevada was balling from 1994-96. New head coach Jeff Tisdale, a former All-American QB for Nevada in the 70’s, took over for Ault, who continued in his role as Athletic Director, which he had been in since 1986. There was no drop off offensively, averaging 42.9 PPG (2nd in the nation), but the defense gave up 8 less PPG, going from 31.2 allowed in 1995 → 23.8 in 1996. QBs John Dutton and Eric Bennett alternated throughout the year, coaches trying to decide who was the right fit to take over for Mike Maxwell. Both were solid, and combined for 3907 passing yards 34 TD 11 INT. Nevada started 1-2 with losses to Pac-10 opponents Oregon and Cal, but then started to wipe through the schedule. Nevada went 7-1 the rest of the way in the regular season, with 25+ point wins over UNLV, Boise State, North Texas, New Mexico State, Utah State, and Arkansas State. The only Big West loss was 15-24 to Idaho, who finished 3rd in the conference. Nevada tied with Utah State at 4-1, sharing the conference title, but got the better of them in a 54-27 win. An 18-15 win over 8-3 Ball State in the bowl clinched Nevada’s first ever bowl win, and they now have 5 more since. LB Mike Crawford nabbed the game-sealing interception, and was the game’s MVP, logging 14 tackles and a forced fumble to go with the INT.
1. 2010 (13-1 overall, 7-1 WAC)
I said that Kansas might be the team with the most obvious “best” season, but Nevada’s up there too. This was a dream season, almost like a Hollywood script. Nevada was a very good team entering 2010, picked to finish 2nd in the WAC, but EVERYONE was picking Boise to win the conference. Not just the conference, but to possibly contend for a national title. That’s what the Broncos did, starting 10-0 and #3 in the nation, getting as high as #2 at one point. Back in Reno, Nevada expectedly started 2-0, setting up a Friday night game hosting Cal. I remember watching it, a Cal fan at the time, hoping the Bears would improve to 3-0, but Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua ran all over our defense, posting 299 rushing yards between the two of them in a 52-31 win. A 27-13 win at BYU the next week put Nevada in the AP Top 25 at 4-0. They’d beat up on bottomfeeders UNLV and San Jose State before heading to Hawaii, but lose a trap game to the upstart Rainbow Warriors, who won 27-21 with almost no one watching the 11:30 PM EST start time game. Nevada kept their focus though, and won 2 more to get to 8-1 and back up to #21. A win over 6-2 Fresno State, a traditional WAC power, was huge, with the Wolfpack taking a 35-34 lead with 5 minutes remaining. After a 52-6 win over New Mexico State, the Wolfpack were 10-1, and #19 in the nation, having one of the best seasons in school history.
Then came the Boise State game. Nevada had finished 2nd in the WAC for 2 straight years, unable to get over the Bosie hump. Boise State was the class not just of the WAC, but of all the non-AQ schools in the BCS era. They were the team that finally had a chance to break not into just a BCS bowl, but the national title game. Nevada was the home team and wasn’t going to just lie down, but this Boise team was, at the time, the best non-Power 6 team we’d ever seen. Boise didn’t disappoint, galloping out to a 17-0 lead early. Taua cut it to a 10 point deficit in the 2nd quarter, but Boise RB Doug Martin immediately responded with a 51 yard TD run to send it into halftime at 24-7. With the offense stalling, Kaepernick finally broke off an 18 yard TD run on 3rd and 6 with 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter to make it 24-14. Following a defensive stop, Nevada got the ball back to start the 4th. Receiving an end-around lateral 12 yards behind the LOS, with 3 tacklers to beat, WR Rishard Matthews evaded them all and took it 44 yards to the house. 24-21. With 5 minutes to go, Nevada made it 24 all. Boise, who hadn’t scored all half, put the ball in Doug Martin’s hands and let him do the work, taking a screen pass 79 yards for the go-ahead TD. In response, Kaepernick drove the length of the field, 15 seconds to go…Touchdown, Nevada! With 13 seconds left! Will they go for 2…? No.
Boise State ball with 9 seconds to go, both teams preparing for OT. Kellen Moore throws up a PRAYER for Titus Young, nearly 60 yards in the air…and Young LAYS out for the catch, down to the Nevada 10. 1 second left, 26 yard FG, Boise with one of the best kickers in school history, game over. Except it wasn’t. Kyle Brotzman hit it wide right. OVERTIME. The stadium was shaking. 3rd & goal in overtime for Boise, incomplete. Brotzman comes back out, this time from 29. WIDE LEFT. As Joe Tessitore put it, “this is turning into a disaster”. On the other side, Nevada kicker Anthony Martinez lined up for a 34 yard FG for the biggest win in school history. Right down the middle. Nevada wins it 34-31 in OT, pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the 2010s and winning a share of the WAC title, against all odds. Nevada won their last regular season game against Louisiana Tech and the bowl against Boston College to finish 13-1 and #11 in the AP Poll.
The offense averaged 41.0 PPG while the defense gave up just 21.4. Kaepernick won WAC OPOTY, throwing for 3022 yards 21 TD 8 INT with 1206 rushing yards and 20 TD on 7.0 YPC. Taua was 1st Team All-WAC with 1610 rushing yards and 19 TD, finishing his career as Nevada’s all-time leading rusher with 4588 yards. DE Dontay Moch was in contention for WAC DPOTY, with 8.5 sacks and 13.5 TFL. Overall, this turned out to be a loaded Wolfpack team, with 9 players drafted over the next 3 years, including Kaepernick, who led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance.
5th Quarter
Do you remember that insane 2010 game vs Boise, and that Nevada team with Kaepernick/Taua? What do you think about Nevada in general, with the success they’ve had running the pistol and Chris Ault’s legacy?
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