The Nevada Wolf Pack’s (1-7, 0-4) Homecoming game ended in a 24-3 loss against the Boise State Broncos (6-2, 4-0) on Friday, Oct. 25.
The Pack started with the ball, but true freshman quarterback Carter Jones was quickly intercepted by 5th-year cornerback A’marion McCoy on the third snap of the game.
After forcing a Boise State punt, Nevada scored first by way of a 40-yard field goal by kicker Joe McFadden.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Broncos resumed their drive in the red zone, but were held to a field goal by a gritty goal-line stop by the Pack defense. Nevada defensive lineman Dylan Labarbera and safety Bishop Turner combined for back-to-back stops on 2nd and 3rd down.
After Boise State tied the contest, Jones was intercepted again while throwing a deep ball to Nevada wide receiver Marshaun Brown. The pass was picked off by Boise State cornerback Jeremiah Earby for his first interception of the season.
The Wolf Pack’s defense stalled the Boise State offense again, setting the Nevada offense up with a chance to score. However, they elected to try a fake field goal on 4th & 17, all while being in McFadden’s kicking range of 40 yards.
The Nevada defense was able to get the ball back again on the first play of the drive, when Turner intercepted Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen. They went four-and-out on the following drive and entered the half down 10-3.
The Wolf Pack mishaps continued late in the third quarter, as a muffed punt by DJ Warnell gifted Boise State the ball on the 6-yard line. Nevada seemed to have stopped the Broncos with strong goal-line defense, but an offside penalty negated the stop.
On the next play, Madsen scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper to extend the Broncos’ lead to 17-3.
After two long rushes by sophomore running back Herschel Turner to begin the fourth quarter, Jones threw his third interception of the game to Jeremiah Earby, which was his second INT of the game.
With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, Boise State running back Dylan Riley rushed up the middle to push their lead to the eventual final score, 24-3.
With this loss, Nevada extends their conference losing streak to 15 games, and now leads the nation in giveaways (21) with five turnovers on the night.
In a postgame press conference, Nevada football head coach Jeff Choate addressed the team’s ongoing turnover problem, saying, “You can’t turn the ball over like that and expect to win against a good team.”
The Wolf Pack’s next challenge will come on the road against the Utah State Aggies on Saturday. Nov. 8 at 4:30 p.m.
