Oregon State Football Opponent Preview: Nevada

With the start of the 2024 season just around the corner, BeaversEdge kicks off the first in an opponent preview series diving into all 12 of Oregon State's opponents in 2024...

Next up on the schedule is a road matchup against the Nevada Wolfpack...

THE GAME

Date: Saturday, October 12th

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Mackay Stadium - Reno, NV

TV: CBSSN

Oregon State 2023 record: 8-5 (5-4 Pac-12)

Nevada 2023 record: 2-10 (2-6 Mountain West)

Nevada Head Coach: Jeff Choate (1st season, 28-22 overall)

Nevada 2023 Recap

The 2023 season was nothing short of a massive disappointment for the Wolfpack, going 2-10 for the second straight season. The Nevada brass felt they had seen enough of the Ken Wilson experiment over two seasons and gave him the boot at the end of the season, hiring Texas co-defensive coordinator Jeff Choate.

In terms of the season, Wilson and Co made a slight improvement as the Wolfpack actually won two Mountain West games compared to year one, but the results were still so lopsided they had to begin to look in another direction.

They opened the year with a pounding at USC's hands, then turned around the next week and saw Gevani McCoy and the Idaho Vandals (a Big Sky team) hand them their lunch at home.

The Wolfpack were slightly more competitive in the following weeks against Kansas, Texas State, and Fresno State, but all were still defeats. They exited the bye with a blowout loss to UNLV before finally putting things together the next two weeks.

Both of Nevada's wins came over the next two wins, defeating San Diego State 6-0 and New Mexico 34-24. That winning streak was short-lived as they closed the season with four straight losses against Hawaii, Utah State, Colorado State, and Wyoming.

The hard times were somewhat new for the Wolfpack, as they had consistently been one of the sneaky-good teams in the Mountain West for the past 15-20 years. They had reached a bowl game in 14 of the last 19 seasons and they'll be looking to Choate to reinvigorate the program...

Best Win: vs San Diego State 6-0

Worst Loss: vs Idaho 33-6

2023 Schedule

Nevada 2024 Outlook

After saying enough was enough, the Wolfpack hired a coach with solid head coaching experience in Texas co-defensive coordinator Jeff Choate.

While the hire may take time to fully show its benefits, I think this was a shrewd move from the Wolfpack leadership. Choate oversaw a complete rebuild at Montana State, turning a down Bobcat program into an 11-win squad and an FCS finalist in his final season in Bozeman.

He elected to depart the program after not having football in the COVID-cancelled 2020 campaign, electing to throw his name into a bigger hat. He was hired by Steve Sarkisian at Texas as one of the Longhorns' co-defensive coordinators along with Pete Kwiatkowski.

After helping lead the Longhorn defense, and also coaching inside linebackers for three seasons, he decided to take the Nevada job.

The rebuild ahead of Choate is going to be a significant one, even with some portal reinforcements, and that's good news for Nevada's opponents, including Oregon State.

Offensively, the Wolfpack return former Colorado transfer Lewis at quarterback, but he's coming off a season where he threw for just 1,113 yards and two touchdowns against six interceptions.

He improved in the spring per reports, but that lack of sample size is why Choate went and got former Florida State and Nebraska signal-caller Chubba Purdy.

The younger brother of Brock, Chubba didn't get many opportunities to show what he could do at either of his previous stops, so I imagine this will be a good QB battle between two guys who are hungry to prove they can play.

At running back, former Oregon back Sean Dollars is back for his final campaign after rushing for nearly 600 yards and six touchdowns a season ago.

Defensively, it's going to be a tough season for the Wolfpack...

They've got some nice talent at linebacker with Drue Watts and Tonkiaki Mateialona, but there are question marks on the defensive line and the secondary. Choate's background is defense, so they might be able to get the most out of this unit, but in year one it could be a real struggle stopping teams.

Season Projection: 4-8

Key Players: QB Brendon Lewis, QB Chubba Purdy, RB Sean Dollars, S Kitan Crawford, OL Isiah World, DE Henry Ikahihifo

Early Prediction

While Oregon State's last trip to Reno was certainly memorable for all the wrong reasons, don't expect any drama in this matchup this time around.

Outside of Idaho State, Nevada is probably one of the easier games on the Beavers' schedule as they're undergoing a full-fledged rebuild to kick off the Choate era.

It's hard to count away games as wins before the season has already started, but as we currently stand, I'd be shocked if the Beavers struggle with the Wolfpack in any regard.

They should have a distinct advantage in the trenches, at the skill positions, and even at quarterback, regardless of who wins the job.

Nevada was bad in just about every aspect last season, and as we saw when OSU began a rebuild from the bottom, that first year can be just as frustrating as the final year before you lean into a rebuild.

Look for the Beavers to be able to do whatever they want offensively in this matchup, crossing the 40-point threshold and keeping the Wolfpack to just a pair of their own scores.

This is one of the few games on the Beavers' schedule I feel very confident projecting as a near-guaranteed win... Look for Trent Bray's squad to roll...

PREDICTION - Oregon State 41, Nevada 14

Previously

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