Nevada Football Midseason Report
At the halfway point of the season, here is a report on the Wolf Pack Football team.
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Nevada Football Midseason Report
The Nevada Wolf Pack have played six games which means they are at the halfway point of the 2018 football season.
After six games, the Wolf Pack are currently 3-3 which is the record I expected they would have at this point of the season. The Wolf Pack had a chance to be 4-2 but with Ty Gangi out with an injury and a sputtering offense, Nevada was doomed as they fell to Fresno State 21-3 last Saturday night in Reno.
In this mid-season report for the Nevada Wolf Pack, we see how (and if) the preseason expectations have changed, the team projections for the final six games of the season and the biggest surprise and biggest disappointment at the midway point of this season.
Have Preseason Expectations Changed?
To be honest, my preseason expectations for Nevada have not changed at all. I predicted the Wolf Pack to be a bowl eligible team in 2017 and at 3-3, being bowl eligible is still within reach.
I projected that the Wolf Pack would be one of the best offenses in the Mountain West and they are fifth in the conference in total offense and sixth in the conference in rushing and passing offense. In summation, my preseason expectations of Nevada have so far have been met, they just have to achieve bowl eligibility. Can they reach that goal? We shall see.
Win/Loss Projections for The Final Six Games
(October 13th) Boise State-Loss
(October 20th) at Hawaii-Win
(October 27th) San Diego State-Loss
(November 10th) Colorado State-Win
(November 17th) San Jose State-Win
(November 24th) UNLV- Win
Biggest Surprise
The front seven of Nevada’s defense has been to me the surprise so far this season. A unit that went into the season with a slew of question marks has been a pleasant surprise at the season’s halfway point. Led by players like Gabe Sewell and Malik Reed, the defense has really stepped up their performance thru six games. The Wolf Pack are fifth in the Mountain West in rushing defense (last year Nevada finished seventh in the conference) and rank third the conference in sacks with 16 total sacks (only Boise State and Hawaii are better than Nevada in this category).
The Wolf Pack are tops in the conference in tackles for loss with 53 tackles for loss which averages out to eight per game. This Nevada front seven is getting better each game (their improvement was on display in games against Air Force and Fresno State) and for Nevada to become bowl eligible, the Nevada front seven on defense must continue their improvement.
Biggest Disappointment
While the Nevada front seven has improved, the secondary has so far this season has not seen any improvements. The Wolf Pack pass defense is tenth in the Mountain West in pass defense as they give up an average of 256 yards in the air per game. The secondary for the season so far has only three interceptions which is not good to say the least.
With a unit that has some veteran players in Asauni Rufus and Dameon Baber, you’d think the Wolf Pack secondary would see some of the improvement gains the front seven have had but after six games, it is not the case. There is still time left in the season for the Wolf Pack secondary to improve time will tell to see if that happens.