2021 G5 Preview: Nevada Is The Most Chaotic Team In America
If you're looking for a fun MWC squad, these are your guys.
ICYMI: This is a part of The Outside Zone’s full 2021 G5 preview series, which last looked at Toledo. You can find a master list for all of the previews here.
The Mountain West has been operating with a “fun deficiency” in the last few years. After looking like the most competitive and intriguing Group of Five conference back in 2018 – as the American began its rebuild following the departures of several top coaches – the MWC almost immediately fell back, ceding its crown to the rebuilt AAC and a rising Sun Belt.
Unfortunately, that’s the nature of these conferences. A run of entertaining play is going to lead to attrition in the coaching and player ranks, and the Mountain West was hit hard after its brief run at the top. Utah State lost Matt Wells to Texas Tech and missed in hiring his replacement. Wyoming lost Josh Allen to the NFL and hasn’t found a new quarterback since. Fresno State lost Jeff Tedford to retirement. San Diego State lost Rocky Long to a similar situation. Hawaii lost Nick Rolovich and replaced him with Waluigi.
Meanwhile, in-house, programs like Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV either fell off or never really caught on, in the case of the latter under the highly touted Tony Sanchez. CSU replaced Mike Bobo with one of the least interesting coaches in America, and the latter two are still firmly in the rebuilding process. The only stable programs in the conference, Air Force, Boise State, Nevada and San Jose State have picked up the slack, with each putting up strong showings in recent years, but this league has just been throttled by turnover.
Entering 2021, it seems like things are starting to turn around again. Those four stable programs are in good places, with the latter three all looking like serious contenders, even with a new coach at Boise State (perhaps even because of that new coach). San Diego State and Fresno State hired native sons that can recruit their asses off. Utah State grabbed an established G5 winner; Wyoming has its best defense in years all returning. The bottom of the conference (CSU, UNLV, is still weak and seems to be primed to add Hawaii, but either Utah State or New Mexico looks ready to take its place in the middle class of the league.
Still, quality does not a fun conference make. I like San Jose State and Wyoming’s defense-first-second-and-third approach, but I’m a sicko. The people like offense, and there’s been a pretty serious lack of that in this league beyond Boise State and Fresno State. The good news for 2021: Nevada is bringing the goddamn heat, and pushing the conference’s fun quotient firmly into “watchable” territory again for the first time since 2018.
That was true in 2020, too. The Wolf Pack built a killer passing attack around Carson Strong’s big arm and a deep receiving room, paired it with an aggressive defense (and an awesome front), and nearly rode that all the way to a division title, coming up just short against San Jose State. It was a deeply exciting team to watch, led by some of the most chaotic and talented players in college football.
And… they’re all back for 2021. If my math is right, Nevada returns 21 of its 22 starters, including Strong, every one of those receivers, two capable halfbacks, the entire offensive line, the best defensive tackle in the conference, the best linebacker in the conference, and all but one member of the secondary. Head coach Jay Norvell is back too and has quietly built one of the most explosive offenses in America, checking in at No. 8 in explosiveness on that side of the ball last season. If the Wolf Pack can be a bit more efficient on the ground (82nd in rushing play success rate last year) and take a small step forward on defense, they’re probably the favorite to take the MWC West, even with San Jose State in a similar spot from an experience perspective.
The Running Game
We’ll start with the weaker of two points on the offense, because the passing game needs little in the way of explanation, and is going to be more about “admiring some guys” because of how obscenely talented it is. Nevada’s rushing attack wasn’t terrible last season, it just struggled at times with staying on track. That’s usually a line issue, and I think that’s true here, which means that another year of continuity could be a big deal for patching up some of those soft spots that defenses were able to exploit last season, which forced Nevada into a few too many difficult passing downs, even for Strong.
Outside of that, it’s pretty much all good news for the Wolf Pack. Starting halfback Toa Taua returns, as does change-of-pace back Devonte Lee. Both players are stronger than they are fast and got caught in the backfield a bit too often, but provided a ton of explosiveness – even more so than the electric passing attack did.
I think Taua is the better of the two, specifically for this system, but it really isn’t by a whole lot. Nevada runs from a lot of zone blocking looks, and Taua is the quicker of the two backs, which helps him to hit those holes before they close up. Neither showcased great vision last season, but I think that Taua gets a slight nod there as well. Plus, he runs like his ass is on fire, and we love that for him.
I love this play to show off… well… all of that. Don’t get the wrong idea, Nevada isn’t often running from under center, but it does so here to get the extra blocker on the field in the form of the fullback. It’s a standard inside zone look, but that fullback adds an extra layer, allowing the halfback to make a play by reading and adjusting to the linebackers, rather than just flying into a hole and hoping for the best.
Lee is, as mentioned, the stronger of the two. At 5-9, 235 pounds, he’s the ideal shape for a running back and leans fully into it. He runs like he’s mad at the defenders for trying to tackle him. Nevada usually plops him into its gap looks because he’s not great at hitting the zone holes, which is probably going to prevent him from being a bellcow, but he’s a great No. 2 and a ton of fun to watch. If these halfbacks can get a step better, while the line improves as a group and gets a little more cohesive, Nevada will have the pieces for a top 40 rushing attack to pair with its top 10 passing game. That alone would be enough to compete in the Mountain West, but the defense here is obviously no slouch either.
The Passing Game
This is what you all came for, and what you’ll turn Nevada games on for this fall. The running game will probably be good, as will the defense (and I’m going to pitch that they’re worth watching because of one guy alone in just a minute), but the best part of this team is the passing game, which might honestly be the most exciting in the entire country this fall.
We’ll start at the top, with the head of the offense. Strong has one speed. He throws the ball hard, and he greatly prefers to throw it as far as he possibly can. The Allen comparisons for strong G5 quarterbacks are tired, and Strong isn’t that kind of athlete, but it’s not an unfair comparison when looking at his arm strength. As a college passer, Strong is quite a bit more accurate than Allen was, too.
Thankfully for us, unlike Wyoming, Nevada accepts this and plays into it. This offense is designed around Strong and his wide receivers exclusively. Nevada has built its system with deep passes and bombastic receivers in mind. There’s usually at least one deep shot option on every play, with Romeo Doubs and Tory Horton serving as the experts in the field. Doubs is the more experienced of the two, but both players are go route machines that, despite checking in at 6-2, make all of their best plays vertically.
Here’s Horton again, blowing past a Fresno State defender on a post, while slot maniac Melquan Stovall runs a dig to draw the playside safety away from Horton, leaving his cornerback on an island – not a place that you want to be against these receivers.
And here’s Doubs dusting a San Diego State cornerback, again left in single coverage.
That’s what I love about this Nevada passing attack. It’s not complex, it’s not trying to lie to you. There are decoys from players like Stovall, and star tight end Cole Tucker demands plenty of attention as well, but those are purely on the surface. They’re designed to make a defense hesitate, but they often feel like an afterthought or something that Nevada is doing just because it knows that you’re supposed to do that.
In reality though, Strong could yell to the defense before the play that he’s going to uncork his shoulder and throw it behind them, to a receiver that’s going to run faster and jump higher than anyone that they have. This is an offense completely untethered from the rules or expectations of modern football. Who gives a shit about planning, let’s throw it deep.
The Defense
The Nevada defense doesn’t do much that I’m interested in schematically, but I have to mention defensive tackle Dom Peterson, at least briefly.
Here he is, ragdolling a right guard.
Here he is, sending that same right guard to the shadow realm.
And here he is, completing the trifecta and ending this poor young man’s life.
Please watch this perfect football team.