Nevada — Mountain West
HC
Jeff Choate · Mackay Stadium · Reno, NV · 27,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.03 / 0.19
2025
Class rank
#98
class of 2026
Returning PPA
36%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (3–9)
Statistical comps — 2025 Nevada's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (14 in / 21 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Jaylen Webb | S | ← Boise State | ★★★ |
| Donnie Cheers | WR | ← Southeast Missouri State | ★★★ |
| Ethan Newman | IOL | ← Memphis | ★★★ |
| Poasa Utu | LB | ← Oklahoma State | ★★★ |
| Chris Kalu | DL | ← Western New Mexico | |
| Selman Bridges | CB | ← Arkansas | ★★★★ |
| Jose Balver-Mendoza | OT | ← Montana | |
| Jeremy Naborne-Owens | LB | ← Colorado State | |
| + 6 more |
Origins
Ault invented the Pistol offense here, which the NFL then borrowed, and Colin Kaepernick ran it for four years. The stadium bears Ault's name and he coached in it across three separate tenures.
Founded 1874 · Founded in Elko as the state university, moved to Reno in 1885 · first football 1896 · defined by Chris Ault
All-time record
All-time
262–289–7
1915–2025
Win %
47.6%
82 seasons played
Winning seasons
34
41% of seasons
By level: FBS 246–249–3 (1915–2025) · ii/iii 4–29–4 (1925–1940) · D-II 0–2 (1969–1974) · FCS 12–9 (1978–1991)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2010 | 13 | 1 | Western Athletic |
| 1994 | 9 | 2 | Big West |
| 1948 | 9 | 2 | FBS Independents |
| 1947 | 9 | 2 | FBS Independents |
| 2005 | 9 | 3 | Western Athletic |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1915 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 262 | 65% |
39% | 113 of 136 | 6.2 | 15% |
| 2nd down | 175 | 57% |
33% | 125 of 136 | 4.3 | 7% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 34 | 68% |
68% | — | 3.6 | 3% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 43 | 21% |
23% | — | 3.1 | 5% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 49 | 29% |
18% | — | 5.9 | 12% |
| 4th down | 18 | 50% |
56% | — | 4.0 | 17% |
131 drives · 26% ended in points · 6.9 plays and 38.8 yards per drive · 0.18 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 11 | Utah State |
End of 3rd quarter. |
38 | 4.38 |
| 12 | San José State |
(12:29) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 C.Jones pass complete short right to #41 C.Ramseur caught at … |
30 | 4.14 |
| 11 | Utah State |
(04:24) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Purdy pass complete deep middle to #20 C.Ramseur caught at… |
41 | 3.99 |
| 3 | Middle Tennessee |
Chubba Purdy pass complete to Ky Woods for 47 yds for a TD (Joe McFadden KICK) |
47 | 3.61 |
| 3 | Middle Tennessee |
Herschel Turner run for 64 yds to the MTSU 11 for a 1ST down |
64 | 3.56 |
| 14 | UNLV |
(14:56) Shotgun #13 C.Purdy rush middle for 58 yards gain to the UNLV17 (#4 A.Powdrell), o… |
58 | 3.50 |
| 8 | New Mexico |
Carter Jones pass complete to Marshaun Brown for 20 yds to the UNM 25 for a 1ST down |
20 | 3.38 |
| 7 | San Diego State |
Carter Jones pass complete to Daijon Calimon for 20 yds to the SDSU 34 for a 1ST down |
20 | 3.34 |