2005
The Pistol debuts
Chris Ault unveils the Pistol offense in Reno, a formation that would spread across college football and into the NFL
Program prestige
Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IVProgram outlook
Program outlook
Chris Ault drew the Pistol offense up in Reno in 2005, and within a decade it was in every NFL playbook. Nevada gave the sport one of its defining formations — and has spent the fifteen years since asking whether it can ever get back to what that idea produced.
Since Sep 26: W 30-13 at UTEP; L 17-31 at North Dakota State; W 28-13 vs San José State; L 0-27 at UCLA. 3-5 this season.
Read the full essay — 4 more paragraphs
The 2010 Wolf Pack season is the reference point everything in Reno gets measured against. Thirteen wins. A WAC title. Colin Kaepernick running the Pistol to a 34-31 overtime win over No. 3 Boise State at Mackay Stadium on a night the high desert felt like the center of the sport. An AP top-15 finish. That team — the one that carried an idea from a Reno chalkboard to the national conversation — is the program's defining chapter, and it arrived the same year that chapter was essentially closing. Ault retired, the sustained Pistol era wound down, and the post-2012 years became a long, uneven descent toward the bottom of the Mountain West.
Jeff Choate went 3-10 in 2024 and 3-9 in 2025 (2-6 Mountain West) — two straight losing seasons at the bottom of the league for a program that once finished ranked. The wound is not the losing, exactly; losing years happen. The wound is the distance. Fifteen years is a long time to spend pointing at what the program used to be, and the internal fracture in Reno is honest: one faction clings to the Ault-Kaepernick era as evidence of the ceiling, and another looks at back-to-back three-win seasons and wants a clear-eyed conversation about what a rebuild actually requires in 2026.
The 2026 question is whether Choate's third year is the inflection point or another floor. A bowl game would be the first since 2022 and would do more than add a win — it would give the fanbase something to argue about beyond the gap between what Nevada invented and where Nevada is. The Pistol is still in use across the country. Mackay Stadium is still at altitude. The ingredient that made 2010 possible was a once-in-a-generation dual-threat quarterback running a once-in-a-generation idea. What 2026 will answer is whether the program has found either.
Through three games, Nevada is 1-2: a 49-14 home win over Western Kentucky, a 20-7 home loss to FCS Montana State on September 12, and a 27-20 loss at Middle Tennessee on September 19 as 3.5-point favorites. The inflection-point-or-floor question the season opened with remains open.
On the field
The Pistol is Nevada's permanent identity marker — Chris Ault's hybrid of the shotgun and the I-formation, a run-first, downhill attack that places the quarterback a few yards behind center rather than deep in the shotgun, preserving downhill run angles while retaining passing flexibility. In practice, the current Wolf Pack runs a more conventional Mountain West spread under Choate — the Pistol is the heritage, not necessarily the weekly formation. The altitude at Mackay Stadium (4,400 feet) is the home-field variable that still shows up in fourth-quarter conditioning late in the season.
Nevada has won 47% of its games since 1915 — 60% at home, 36% on the road.
265-294-7 all-time · 83 seasons · 1915–2026
Home
153-96-5
Away
105-186-2
Neutral
7-12
2 g
1910s
15%
1920s
16%
1930s
56%
1940s
10%
1950s
1 g
1960s
4 g
1970s
50%
1980s
61%
1990s
48%
2000s
53%
2010s
35%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Nevada’s 2014–2026 record is 65-90.
Jeff Choate
Jeff Choate is in year 3. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Jeff Choate · 2024–presentPrev: Ken Wilson (2022–2023)OC: David GilbertsonPrev OC: Matt Lubick (2024)DC: Kane IoanePrev DC: Kwame Agyeman (co) / Mike Bethea (co) (2022–2023)
3
years · era
Nevada and UNLV, meeting by meeting
Nevada leads the series 25-17-0 (since 1978); in the last 10 meetings, Nevada is 4-6
2025: UNLV won 42-17. After this game, Nevada led 25-17-0.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Nevada won, ▼ UNLV won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Nevada wins, down when UNLV wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1978. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Nevada history
- UNLV 34, Nevada 29Nov 24, 2018
- UNLV 33, Nevada 30Nov 30, 2019
- Nevada 17, San Diego State 13Nov 9, 2019
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2010
The Mackay Miracle
Nevada erases a 17-point deficit to beat No. 3 Boise State 34-31 in OT after a missed field goal — the program's signature night
Moment of the year · 2026
Lost 0-27 at UCLA
Week 9 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc.
2022–2025
Nevada has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.
Developing. Pipeline emerging.
3
picks · 0 in round 1
#132
Romeo Doubs
Wide Receiver · 2022 · 
Green Bay Packers · #17/468 final season
Green Bay Packers · #17/468 final season
#149
Cole Turner
Tight End · 2022 · 
Washington Commanders · #7/119 final season
Washington Commanders · #7/119 final season
#225
Kitan Crawford
Safety · 2025 · 
Arizona Cardinals · #73/537 final season
Arizona Cardinals · #73/537 final season
#118 all-time · 1 first-round picksthe talent factory →
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 3-5
Season standing · 2026 · 3-5Nevada is 3-5 — below .500 in FBS.
Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.
FBS sub-.500
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Mountain West standing · 2026
6th in the Mountain West
Nevada sits 6th of 10 in the Mountain West at 2-2. Mid-conference — moves up or down depend on rivalry results and the late-season closing run.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | 4-0 |
| 2 | Wyoming | 4-1 |
| 3 | North Dakota State | 4-2 |
| 4 | UNLV | 3-1 |
| 5 | Air Force | 3-2 |
| 6 | Nevada | 2-2 |
| 7 | San José State | 2-3 |
| 8 | Hawai'i | 1-4 |
| 9 | Northern Illinois | 0-4 |
| 10 | UTEP | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Jeff Choate
- Ken Wilson departs
- Hired Ken Wilson
- Hired Vai Taua
- Jay Norvell departs
- Vai Taua departs
- Hired Jay Norvell
- Brian Polian departs
Coordinator lineage
Nevada’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Nick Rolovich2016 · Tim Cramsey2017–2021 · Matt Mumme2022–2023 · Derek Sage2024 · Matt Lubick2025–2026 · David Gilbertson
Defense2014–2026
2014–2016 · Scott Boone (co) / Bill Teerlinck (co)2017–2019 · Jeff Casteel2020–2021 · Brian Ward2022–2023 · Kwame Agyeman (co) / Mike Bethea (co)2024–2026 · Kane Ioane
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Pistol Offense Invention (2005)
since 2005
more
Chris Ault invented the Pistol offense at Nevada in 2005 — a hybrid of shotgun + I-formation where the QB stands 4 yards behind center (vs 5-7 in shotgun). The scheme spread nationally + became the foundation of multiple modern offenses. Colin Kaepernick + the 2010 #11 AP run were Pistol-offense-defining moments. The scheme is permanent Nevada heritage.
Colin Kaepernick 2008-2010
since 2008
more
Colin Kaepernick (2008-2010) + the Pistol offense produced the program's all-time peak — 2010 13-1 + Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl + #11 final AP + the iconic upset of #3 Boise State (the 34-31 OT win that ended Boise State's BCS bid). Kaepernick's NFL career (49ers Super Bowl QB) added permanent legacy.
Mackay Stadium Altitude
since 1966
more
Mackay Stadium sits at 4,600 ft in Reno + faces unpredictable Sierra Nevada wind patterns. The altitude + wind + the Sierra mountain backdrop + the 30,000 capacity create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs. Visiting teams cite the wind as a particular field-goal hazard.
Cultural identity
2021 L
2020 W
2018 WReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
420
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Nevada 29-24
271
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Nevada 66-14
182
[Postgame Thread] Idaho Defeats Nevada 33-6
150
[Game Thread] SMU @ Nevada (8:00 PM ET)
All-time top community posts
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