Nevada finally gets a signature litmus test in its own building, and it's the reigning FCS national champion walking through the door.
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MTSTNEV
MTSTNEV
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Best BetMontana State
Montana State returns almost its entire national championship core, headlined by Justin Lamson and a defense that brings back its top 4 linebackers. Nevada is still sorting out a 3-man quarterback competition and is coming off a 3-9 season with a bottom-of-the-barrel scoring offense. The gap in continuity and proven production favors the Bobcats walking into Reno.
Montana State
+Defending FCS national champs, went 14-2 in 2025
+Justin Lamson back after 3,172-yard, 26-TD season
+Top 4 linebackers and All-American safety return
−First road test against a bigger, faster FBS roster
−No live snaps yet against this level of speed
Nevada
+Choate calls it a 'hump year,' program built for a step forward
+Offense and staff overhauled after 17.6 ppg season
+Thinner, retooled Mountain West offers more room to climb
−Went 6-19 overall, 2-13 in MW over Choate's first 2 years
−Quarterback job still unsettled entering the opener
−Offensive line and new scheme unproven in live action
This is exactly the kind of spot Jeff Choate has been building toward and dreading at the same time. He's called 2026 a 'hump year' for Nevada after going 6-19 overall and 2-13 in Mountain West play across his first 2 seasons, and the Wolf Pack open the year at home against Western Kentucky before turning around and hosting Montana State, fresh off a 14-2 run to the 2025 FCS title. There's no long runway to find an identity — Nevada still hasn't settled its quarterback race, with sophomore Carter Jones, veteran AJ Bianco and UCLA transfer Luke Duncan all in the mix this summer.
Choate spent the offseason gutting the offensive approach that produced just 17.6 points per game a year ago, swapping in a new coordinator and, in his words, building 'a bigger, stronger, more athletic, faster team.' That overhaul is unproven against live competition, and Montana State isn't a gentle way to find out what it's made of — the Bobcats bring back a defense that returns its top 4 linebackers and an All-American safety in Caden Dowler, who racked up 6 interceptions a season ago.
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MTST Montana State
NEV Nevada
On the other side, Montana State's calling card is Justin Lamson, the Stanford transfer who authored one of the best seasons in program history: 3,172 yards passing, 26 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions, plus 734 rushing yards and 16 more scores on the ground. He's got 5 of his top 7 pass catchers back, including All-American Taco Dowler, who piled up 77 catches for 1,025 yards and 7 touchdowns. This isn't a team replacing production — it's a team returning nearly all of it.
Montana State Bobcats
Nevada Wolf Pack
Sep 5?vs Western Kentucky—
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The counterargument for Nevada isn't nothing. The Mountain West is in flux with Boise State, San Diego State, Utah State, Fresno State and Colorado State all bound for the Pac-12, which thins out the gauntlet the Wolf Pack have to survive the rest of the fall. Choate has also managed to bring in players he says are a clear level up, and a home crowd at Mackay Stadium in a season-opening measuring-stick game is the kind of environment that can mask some of the growing pains, at least for a half.
Still, Montana State isn't just defending a title — it's doing it with an easier non-conference slate and its full core intact, which is the profile of a team that could be even better than the group that won it all. For Nevada, Saturday, September 12 is less about the final score and more about whether the retooled roster looks the part against a team playing a different level of football right now.
