The Fremont Cannon has stayed red four years running, and Nevada closes its season in Las Vegas looking for any way to change that story.
Bush’s Picks
NEVUNLV
NEVUNLV
OverUnder
Best BetUNLV
UNLV enters as the far more proven program — back-to-back 10-win seasons, a returning senior quarterback-running back duo, and four straight wins in this series. Nevada's offense finished near the bottom of the Mountain West last season and now leans on an unsettled quarterback competition, which is a tough combination to trust on the road in a rivalry environment. Back the Rebels to win the finale outright.
Nevada
+New OC aims to fix anemic offense
+Three-man QB battle includes UCLA transfer
+Fresh slate after ugly 3-9 season
−Finished 3-9, lost 4 straight Cannons
−Starting quarterback job still unsettled
−Blown out 42-17 in last meeting
UNLV
+Back-to-back 10-win seasons, first in school history
+Arnold-Thomas duo returns, 5 preseason All-MW picks
+Won 4 straight rivalry games, including 42-17 rout
−Season finale, playoff hopes could split focus
−Replacing depth pieces off a loaded roster
−Rivalry games notoriously unpredictable regardless of talent gap
Nevada's offense was toothless a season ago — a 17.6-points-per-game outfit that finished 3-9 — and head coach Jeff Choate responded by blowing up the offensive coordinator role and opening a three-man competition at quarterback. Sophomore Carter Jones, veteran AJ Bianco and UCLA transfer Luke Duncan will spend fall camp fighting for the job, and whoever wins it inherits a lineup that has to be sharper just to make this rivalry game competitive.
UNLV isn't rebuilding anything. Jackson Arnold and Jai'Den Thomas are both back for senior seasons, and the pair headline a Rebels group that tied for the Mountain West's most preseason All-Conference honorees with 5 selections. Thomas enters the year 8th in school history in rushing yards and 5th in touchdowns, and second-year coach Dan Mullen has UNLV positioned as a conference favorite after a 10-4 debut season.
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NEV Nevada
UNLV UNLV
That gap in personnel is exactly why the Fremont Cannon has stayed red four years running, capped by a 42-17 beatdown in Reno last November that clinched a share of the Mountain West title for UNLV. Rivalry games have a way of humbling favorites, but nothing in either program's offseason trajectory suggests Nevada has closed the distance.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nov 20?vs Hawai'i—
Nov 13?@ Northern Illinois—
Nov 6?vs New Mexico—
Oct 30?@ UCLA—
Oct 17?@ North Dakota State—
Oct 9?@ UTEP—
Sep 25?vs Air Force—
Sep 19?@ Middle Tennessee—
Sep 12?vs Montana State—
Sep 5?vs Western Kentucky—
UNLV Rebels
Nov 21?@ San José State—
Nov 14?@ New Mexico—
Nov 7?vs Wyoming—
Oct 31?vs Northern Illinois—
Oct 17?@ Air Force—
Oct 10?vs North Dakota State—
Oct 3?vs California—
Sep 25?@ Akron—
Sep 12?@ North Texas—
Sep 5?@ Hawai'i—
Aug 29?vs Memphis—
Recent form.
This one also closes out both teams' regular seasons on Saturday, November 28, with the trophy and old-fashioned rivalry pride on the line. UNLV's bigger-picture goal is a Group of Six playoff push, so there's a real chance the Rebels arrive with their focus split before ever kicking off in Las Vegas — the kind of letdown spot that has burned deep rosters before in this series.
Nevada's motivation is simpler: end a miserable four-game skid in the rivalry and give a retooled roster something to build on. Whichever quarterback wins the summer battle needs to be sharper than anything Wolf Pack fans saw a season ago, because Arnold and Thomas aren't walking through that door forgiving.
