SMU begins its first campaign as a Power Four program Saturday as it travels to face Nevada in Week 0’s primetime slot. Though it’s been a while since the Mustangs and Wolf Pack have met, these two teams do have some history with one another.
They were each members of the WAC from 2000-04 and played one another each year in that span. Nevada held a 3-2 record in those five games with all three of its wins coming consecutively from 2001-03. When SMU left for Conference USA ahead of the 2005 season, its brief series with Nevada was put on hiatus until 2009.
There, the Mustangs met the Wolf Pack in the Hawaii Bowl and cruised to a 45-10 victory, their first postseason win since 1984. Since then, SMU has largely been on an upward trajectory — barring a rough first few years in the AAC — and are coming off an 11-win season under coach Rhett Lashlee in which it won its first American title.
Nevada, meanwhile, has struggled since former coach Jay Norvell — who took the program to four straight bowl games from 2018-21 — left for Colorado State three years ago. The Wolf Pack are 4-20 in two seasons since.
Nevada vs. SMU: Need to know
SMU enters new era: Saturday will be SMU’s first official game as an ACC program. The Mustangs are making their transition to the Power Four ranks for the first time since the dividing line between FBS levels was drawn. Running with the big dogs isn’t entirely unfamiliar territory for SMU — it used to share the Southwest Conference with the likes of Texas, Texas A&M and Arkansas — but it is still a big adjustment in the modern era. Saturday will at least give SMU a taste of its wonky new travel schedule.
Nevada breaking in a new coach: Turns out Saturday is for new beginnings. Nevada will take the field for the first time under new coach Jeff Choate, who spent the last three seasons as Texas’ co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Prior to that, he was Montana State’s coach from 2016-20. The Bobcats improved every year under Choate, culminating in a 2019 season in which they went 11-4 and made it to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Maybe he can build the Wolf Pack back after two straight 2-10 campaigns.
Keep an eye on SMU’s quarterbacks: Lashlee already confirmed that Preston Stone, who was the team’s starter through 2023 until he broke his leg late in the year, will get the start Saturday against Nevada. But Lashlee also said that Kevin Jennings, who filled in admirably when Stone went down with the injury, will also play. Although a healthy Stone may be hard to unseat, it’s clear that Lashlee wants to test both of his quarterbacks before the schedule really gets going. Too many options isn’t a bad problem to have when both are effective.
How to watch Nevada vs. SMU live
Date: Saturday, Aug. 24 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Mackay Stadium — Reno, Nevada
TV: CBS Sports Network | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
Nevada vs. SMU prediction, picks
SMU is a dark horse to compete for the ACC, and the Mustangs will certainly want to make an impression in their first game of the year. Simply put, Nevada should be overmatched in this one — even if it has home-field advantage. Choate has quite the rebuild ahead of him. This could be looked at as Year 0 for the Wolf Pack. Lashlee, meanwhile, enters his third year as SMU’s coach and returns a lot of production off of 2023’s 11-win team. This should be a nice tune-up game for SMU before it gets into the meat of its 2024 slate. Pick: SMU -25.5
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