[mm-video type=playlist id=01fb7dafw2b08817yr player_id=none image=https://mwwire.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Nevada Football: Ranking 2022’s Opposing Quarterbacks
Who are the best quarterbacks that the Wolf Pack will defend against in 2022?
Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire
Is most of the challenge in conference play?
12. New Mexico State – Diego Pavia or Dino Maldonado
Last year’s starter, Jonah Johnson, departed the program through the transfer portal, so new head coach Jerry Kill has some work to do to identify his new starting quarterback. Maldonado is a holdover from 2021 who flopped against rival New Mexico but performed better against FCS South Carolina State, but Pavia seems to have the upper hand after leading New Mexico Military Institute to the National Junior College Athletic Association title last season and impressing in spring.
11. Incarnate Word – Kevin Yeager or Lindsey Scott
The Cardinals offense erupted last year under Cameron Ward and rode that all the way to the FCS playoffs, but Ward is at Washington State now and the race to replace him is far from settled. Yeager ended 2021 as Ward’s backup and appeared in four games, but Scott’s edge is that he started for Nichols State last year and proved to be uniquely dangerous for the Colonels. He threw for 2,083 yards and six touchdowns with eleven interceptions, but he also led the team in rushing with 1,074 yards and scored nine times on the ground.
10. UNLV – Cameron Friel or Doug Brumfield or Harrison Bailey
The Wolf Pack have certainly benefited from UNLV’s quarterback chaos more often than not over the years and 2021 was no exception. Friel played perhaps his worst game of the year against Nevada, so while he might be the reigning conference freshman of the year, he’ll have to earn the QB1 job again against a healthy Brumfield and Tennessee transfer Bailey.
9. Texas State – Layne Hatcher
In terms of passer rating, the Bobcats haven’t ranked in the top half of the Sun Belt since finishing first back in 2014, but Hatcher’s arrival from Arkansas State might just turn that around. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because he split time with current Utah State quarterback Logan Bonner in 2019 and 2020, but his numbers were decidedly more mixed after he beat James Blackman for the job last season: A 58.1% completion rate, 7.1 yards per attempt, and 19 touchdowns against 13 interceptions on 341 attempts.
8. Hawaii – Brayden Schager or Cammon Cooper
Schager saw the field ahead of schedule when Chevan Cordeiro got hurt, but he had his moments in three weeks as the starter. He helped rally the Warriors against Fresno State before a rough game against Nevada, but then he picked himself up and had his best overall game against New Mexico State.
Is that enough to earn the job again in a new offense? That will probably depend on beating out Cooper, who saw limited playing time at Washington State in a similarly wide-open passing attack.
7. Colorado State – Clay Millen
Talk about a sore subject. Millen almost certainly would’ve been the front-runner to start for the Wolf Pack had he not chosen to follow Jay Norvell to Fort Collins instead. The hype surrounding the redshirt freshman is real, but it’s been a decade since the Rams have turned to a quarterback like him, when injuries forced Conner Smith into action.
6. San Diego State – Braxton Burmeister
Aztec quarterbacks don’t typically go off but the tandem of Lucas Johnson and Jordon Brookshire improved down the stretch last season, so the bar isn’t under ground like you might expect. There are some expectations for Burmeister, then, which start with improving a completion rate that has actually decreased with the more action he’s seen since 2018.