Nevada Wolf Pack
Report Card
Offense: F | Defense: F | Special Teams: C | Meeting/Exceeding Expectations: F
Ken Wilson’s second year at the helm is flirting with outright disaster.
Though the Wolf Pack restocked its roster with aggressive movement in the transfer portal last off-season, it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference since the program is in the midst of a losing streak that has reached 15 games. Depending on your belief in advanced efficiency metrics, Nevada is 115th in overall FEI and 128th in SP+. They are 132nd out of 133 FBS teams with -2.34 net points per drive and -33.9% of net available yards per drive, and they’re 133rd with -4.25 net yards per play. Will things get better?
You really have to feel for Brendan Lewis, who didn’t get a lot of help in his time as a quarterback at Colorado and isn’t getting much help now. He’s been far and away the team’s most proficient runner, averaging 6.4 yards per carry after adjusting for sacks but, per Pro Football Focus, his 2.3% big-time throw rate is 13th out of 17 qualifying Mountain West QBs while his 7.2% turnover-worthy throw rate and 46.1 overall grade both rank last.
His offensive line has not been good, though. Offensive tackles Isaiah World and Frank Poso have combined to allow 31 pressures, 21 hurries, and eight hits in just over 200 pass-blocking snaps. They’ve also struggled mightily to open running lanes with any consistency since Sean Dollars and Ashton Hayes have averaged 3.23 yards per carry and, according to CollegeFootballData.com, withstood a shocking 31.8% havoc rate.
The real pain, though, stems from a defense that has fallen off a cliff from last season. Nevada has allowed 39 plays of 20 or more yards, the most in the Mountain West, owing mostly to a dreadful secondary that has given up a 76.4% completion rate and 11 yards per attempt in the first half of 2023. For the sake of context, that’s roughly the equivalent of getting lit up like you’re facing 2019 Joe Burrow every week.
Again, will things get better? There’s a non-zero chance that the Wolf Pack finishes the season with no wins, and if that’s the case, you have to imagine there will be some serious changes in Reno come January.
Head of the Class: Jaden Dedman, CB
The Wolf Pack defense’s decline has been dire, but the sixth-year senior Dedman has done just about everything possible to stem that tide. Among Mountain West defensive backs who have played at least 200 snaps, he ranks sixth with 8.1 yards per attempt allowed. On Nevada’s roster, his 70.3 overall PFF grade is second.
One Player Deserving of More Attention: AJ Bianco, QB
2023 already looks like a lost season, so how much more time will Nevada need to give Bianco an extended audition under center? Though he’s mostly seen time in mop-up duty so far, the redshirt freshman from Hawaii has outpaced Brendon Lewis by yards per attempt (9.2 to 4.8), completion rate (64.7% to 59.4%), big-time throw rate (11.1% to 2.3%), and turnover-worthy play rate (2.5% to 7.2%).
Midseason Grades By Team
Air Force | Boise State | Colorado State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego State | San Jose State | UNLV | Utah State | Wyoming
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