A look back at some key moments, numbers and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 29-24 loss to the SMU Mustangs last Saturday at Mackay Stadium in the season opener:
KEY CALL
The Wolf Pack led 24-13 with about nine minutes left to play when SMU faced a third-and-2 play from its own 10-yard line. Then the Mustangs opened their playbook and changed the course of the game. Quarterback Preston Stone threw a 49-yard pass down the right sideline to tight end RJ Maryland for a first down at the Wolf Pack 41-yard line. The play fueled SMU’s offense for the rest of the game as the Mustangs scored 16 points in just 6:43 to secure the win.
KEY ERROR
Nevada still led 24-21 with eight minutes left when Ashton Hayes fumbled an SMU kickoff in the end zone and brought the ball down at the 1-yard line. Hayes called a fair catch on the play, dropped the punt and picked it up at the 1-yard line when his knee hit the ground. SMU was able to pin Nevada running back Savion Red in the end zone two plays later and score a safety to cut the deficit to 24-23 with 7:19 left. The safety was a big reason the Wolf Pack offense only had the ball three times in the game’s final 10 minutes while trying to protect a 24-13 lead.
KEY PLAYERS
Maryland, the son of former NFL defensive lineman Russell Maryland, took over the game in the second half. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior hadn’t caught a single pass in the first half, leaving the Mustangs trailing 17-10 at halftime. However, Maryland caught three passes on SMU’s first five plays of the second half as the Mustang offense came to life. Maryland caught eight passes for 162 yards in the second half. Two of his catches were arguably the game’s most important plays. He caught the 49-yard pass that started SMU’s comeback midway through the fourth quarter and later caught a game-winning 34-yard pass with 1:18 left for his only touchdown. “Unfortunately for Nevada, they played man coverage against RJ, and they just can’t do that,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said.
KEY FIGURES
Nevada’s offense had the ball 36-17 while SMU had it just 23-43. However, Nevada’s offense managed just 298 yards and 16 first downs while SMU had 408 yards and 22 first downs. Nearly a third (five) of Nevada’s first downs came on SMU penalties. Despite controlling the ball for over 12 minutes, the Packs’ offense only had the ball for two more plays (71-69). SMU had 11 plays of 15 yards or more while Nevada had two. One of Nevada’s big plays was an 18-yard gain on a trick play when wide receiver Jaden Smith connected with fellow wide receiver Marcus Bellon for 18 yards.
KEY MOMENT
The Wolf Pack led 24-13 with about twelve minutes left to play when the referees assessed a strange penalty to Nevada. The Pack moved the ball on its first drive of the fourth quarter and appeared to be in position to extend its lead when it faced a third-and-10 attempt at the SMU 29-yard line. Nevada quarterback Brendon Lewis then threw an incomplete pass that likely would have set up the Pack to attempt a 46-yard field goal attempt. However, the referees whistled “trip” against Wolf Pack running back Sean Dollars as he went after a pass. Dollars actually just grazed an SMU defensive end with his upper body and continued his pass route. SMU accepted the penalty (thus pushing the Pack out of field goal range), giving the Pack a third-and-25 attempt at the SMU 44-yard line. The Pack punted two plays later and SMU scored 16 points in the final eight minutes to win the game.
IMPORTANT HALF-TIME ADJUSTMENT
Despite the close score, SMU dominated the second half, outscoring Nevada 19-7. The Mustangs went on offense in the second half and controlled the tempo of the game, tiring Nevada’s defense. SMU had one drive of 25-plus yards in the first half, but four drives of 40-plus yards in the second half. SMU starting quarterback Preston Stone, who completed 3 of 9 passes for 45 yards and an interception in the first half (and was benched for two drives), completed 14 of 21 passes in the second half for 209 yards and a touchdown. He gave up more than half (eight) of his passes and most of his yards (162) in the second half to tight end RJ Maryland.
KEY PACK DEFENDER
The Wolf Pack was credited with seven SMU passes intercepted. Linebackers Drue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona combined for three of those. Watts had nine tackles and Mateialona had eight, leading the Pack. Defensive back Chad Brown intercepted Preston Stone’s first pass of the game. Defensive end Henry Ikahihifo stood out with four tackles, two for loss. Ihahihifo also came to the aid of a teammate by slamming SMU’s Justin Medlock to the ground after Medlock punched Nevada’s Kris Ross’ helmet, setting the tone that the Pack would not allow SMU to intimidate them on their own field.
KEY FINDING
The Wolf Pack, debuting with a new coaching staff and an almost entirely new roster, was simply overwhelmed in the home stretch by a team with far more playmakers. The Wolf Pack offense, led by quarterback Brendon Lewis, was conservative for much of the game. Lewis ran well (77 yards on 18 carries) and matched his 2023 season total with two touchdown passes, but his 14 completed passes only yielded 132 yards (9.4 per catch). Lewis did lead the Pack to three touchdowns, but one of those was a three-play, 9-yard run and another was kept alive by an SMU personal foul when one of the Mustangs spit on a Pack player on a fourth-and-15 play from the Pack 28. The Pack’s two main running backs (Sean Dollars and Savion Red) combined for just 69 yards on 23 carries (3.0 per carry). The Pack had five rushing first downs and six passing first downs. When it was time to put the pedal to the metal and rev the engines in the fourth quarter to defend a 24-13 lead, the Pack simply ran out of gas in the tank.
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL NOTE
The Wolf Pack blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead in a game it lost for the first time since the New Mexico Bowl on December 15, 2012 (the final game of Chris Ault’s coaching career). The Pack led Arizona 45-28 in the New Mexico Bowl 12 years ago before losing 49-48. The Wolf Pack also blew a 31-20 fourth-quarter lead against South Florida in the same 2012 season before losing 32-31.
KEY QUOTES
“We took a step forward. The team we had last year would have given up, but we fought for four quarters.”
— Nevada wide receiver Cortez Braham
“This is our new team and we are here. Nevada is here. We are here to compete. We are going to win some games and we are going to be a force in the Mountain West.”
— Nevada linebacker Drue Watts
“I have a lot of trouble with moral victories. This was an opportunity for us at the beginning of my tenure to make a statement, to win a statement, and now there is great disappointment that we didn’t do that, not just for the men in our dressing room, but for our staff and our fans.”
— Nevada head coach Jeff Choate
Next
The Wolf Pack (0-1) will play on the road for the first time this season on Saturday (4 p.m.) at Troy, Ala. Troy, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference, was 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the Sun Belt last year and won the conference championship. The Trojans also went 12-2, 7-1 in 2022.
