NEVADA WOLF PACK O:7 D:7

The Wolf Pack won a total of nine games last season, won a co-share of the WAC Championship, and won its first bowl game since 1996. All in a days work for HC Chris Ault and his staff, but he doesn’t want his squad reading to many press clippings about their fantastic ’05 campaign. There’s still work to be done if Nevada wants to be taken seriously in the WAC, and this Pack has just the squad on hand to be another contender in ’06. QB Jeff Rowe is back for his senior campaign, and will be the field general of the “Pistol offense” conjured up by HC Ault. He passed for 2925 yards with a 21-10 TD/INT ratio last season, and should only see those numbers improve this year. RB Robert Hubbard looks to pick up where he left off last season rushing for 741 yards and 11 TDs, and he’s got a more experienced O-Line paving his way. WR Caleb Spencer is the #1 guy in the WR corps, and should also improve on the 67 receptions he hauled in a year ago. Some of the key players from last years attack that averaged 34 PPG are now gone, but this is still a very potent attack and will only get better once the new guys get enough reps. Defensively, the Wolf Pack returns seven starters and is very experienced and talented in the front seven. The major question mark comes within the secondary, but the improved play upfront should help the Pack’s defense drastically cut down on the 32 PPG it allowed in ’05. Special teams play has really killed this team over the years, so hopefully the coaching staff has figured something out in the off-season to shore up its deficiencies. Nevada had the benefit of coming out of nowhere last season, so it’s hard to believe they’ll be able to sneak up on anybody this year. That being said, they have a very talented roster on both sides of the ball and the coaching to possibly pull a WAC Championship repeat if everything falls into place. We’ll get a tremendous read on this team right out of the gate as they open up their 2006 campaign with a crucial road date in Fresno.