RENO, Nev. – The Nevada football schedule has been announced and features four of the first six games at home at Mackay Stadium, including early showdowns with top-20 foe Arizona and cross-state rival UNLV.
Overall, Nevada will take on five teams that played in bowl games a year ago. The Wolf Pack will play home games in four of the first six weeks and five of the first eight weeks of the season.
“We are excited by the release of the 2015 schedule today,” third-year coach Brian Polian said. “I believe that the schedule is fair and will present a number of challenges, both on the road and here in Mackay Stadium. I think our fans will be pleased with two home games in the month of September and three in the month of October and I hope those early season home games help us fill the stadium.
“My only disappointment is that the conference could not find a way to set the UNLV game for either Nevada Day weekend or for the last weekend of the season. That being said, I know that scheduling is a very complicated process and I have no doubt that the atmosphere will be electric for our rival, no matter when the game is played.”
Nevada will open on Thursday, Sept. 3 when it plays host to UC Davis at Mackay. It will mark the 54th game all-time between the schools but just the second since 1989.
The Wolf Pack will then host Arizona, which finished last season ranked in the top 20 nationally. The Wildcats edged the Pack last year, 35-28, in Tucson.
Nevada will then leave town for a pair of long road trips as it takes on Texas A&M on Sept. 19 and Buffalo on Sept. 26. The game against the Aggies will mark Nevada’s first-ever game against an SEC school and the Buffalo game will mark the first time Nevada has played a game in the state of New York.
The conference season opens with the Battle for the Fremont Cannon in Mackay Stadium as UNLV comes to town on Oct. 3. The cannon currently resides in Cashell Fieldhouse as Nevada beat the Rebels 49-27 last year to reclaim possession of the trophy for the ninth time in the last 10 years.
The Wolf Pack will then take on a pair of opponents from the Mountain Division with New Mexico coming to town Oct. 10 and a trip to Laramie to face Wyoming on Oct. 17.
Nevada will return home to play host to Hawai`i on Oct. 24 before the team’s only bye week comes on the Oct. 31 weekend.
The Pack begins the closing stretch on Nov. 7 at defending West Division champion Fresno State before returning home for the final regular season home game and Senior Day on Nov. 14 against San Jose State.
A pair of road games close out the regular season on Nov. 21 at Utah State and Nov. 28 at San Diego State.
The 2015 schedule will play out over 14 weeks, concluding on Sat., Dec. 5, with the Mountain West Football Championship Game to be played at the home stadium of the highest-ranked of the two divisional champions.
Nevada will open spring drills on March 30 with the annual Silver and Blue Spring Game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 at Mackay Stadium.
Season tickets for the 2015 schedule are now on sale. To place your $50 season ticket deposit, please call the Wolf Pack Ticket Office at (775) 348-PACK (7225) or click here to order online. Tickets start at just $99 for adults and $55 for youth (8th grade and younger). Season ticketholders for the 2015 season will receive priority in selecting seats after the upcoming renovation of Mackay Stadium, which will open for the 2016 season.
Today’s release represents the first phase in the 2015 football schedule process. Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports Network and ESPN will now initiate a selection procedure which will include the shifting of some games involving Mountain West teams to Thursdays and Fridays. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times, along with the picks for regional partner ROOT SPORTS and the Mountain West Network powered by Campus Insiders. As such, all dates are subject to change.
The 2015 MW football membership includes Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming in the Mountain Division and Fresno State, Hawai‘i, Nevada, San Diego State, San José State and UNLV in the West Division.
