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Athlon Sports
Nevada Football: 2024 Wolf Pack Season Preview and Prediction
By Athlon Sports,
5 hours ago
Nevada is rebuilding, and while the team may improve, the win-loss record may not thanks to a difficult schedule that features five non-conference games against bowl teams. The wide receivers are an unknown, and Choate is trying to develop youth along both lines. A bowl game appears to be at least a year away.
New Wolf Pack head coach Jeff Choate feels good about his quarterbacks room. Brendon Lewis has the early lead on the starting job again coming out of spring ball after improving his decision-making. AJ Bianco, who eventually took Lewis’ job in 2023, is running No. 2, but former Florida State and Nebraska quarterback Chubba Purdy (Brock’s brother) was healthy for the final week of spring and will compete in the fall as well.
At running back, returning starter Sean Dollars ran for 527 yards and six TDs last year and will share the primary carries with Pat Garwo III, a sixth-year senior transfer from Boston College who had a 1,000-yard season for the Eagles in 2021.
The wide receiver room will feature some transfers. Cortez Braham Jr. (West Virginia) played sparingly for the Mountaineers, but he looks like the No. 1 option. Marshaun Brown had a solid spring game.
Left tackle Isiah World is the top offensive lineman and an all-league candidate in a group that has some experience.
Sixth-year defensive end Henry Ikahihifo is an athletic edge who will be an all-league candidate thanks to his ability to disrupt the offense and rush the passer. The former tight end is in his second stint with Nevada and also spent a year at Cal. The other end, Kaden Johnson, had a strong spring after playing in 35 games the last four years at Wisconsin. The Wolf Pack are looking for depth on the interior behind Thomas White and Mackavelli Malotumau.
The two starting linebackers return in Drue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona, the two leading returning tacklers.
A player to watch on the backline is Kitan Crawford, who came over from Texas with Choate after developing into an elite special-teams player. for the Longhorns. The secondary is experienced and should be the strength of the defense.
New Nevada coach Jeff Choate served as co-defensive coordinator at Texas from 2021-23. He was previously the head coach at FCS Montana State, leading the Bobcats to two playoff appearances.
Jason Bean&solReno Gazette Journal&solUSA Today Network
Previewing Nevada’s Specialists for 2024
Matthew Killam will take over the placekicking duties after handling primarily kickoffs for Nevada in 2023. Punter Guy Gillespie is a junior college transfer who averaged 39.9 yards per kick. Crawford, who blocked a punt and field goal in his career at Texas, will be given an opportunity to return punts, while running back Ashton Hayes will return kicks.
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