Our schedule previews here at Gophers Nation roll on with Minnesota's third opponent of the 2024 season, the Nevada Wolfpack.

The September 14 matchup between the Golden Gophers and Wolfpack will be the first in history, Nevada holds a 2-7 record against the Big Ten all-time with wins over Purdue and Northwestern.

The Golden Gophers have had great success against Mountain West Conference foes as well with a 14-3 record all-time, dropping games to San Jose State, San Diego State, and Hawaii. Notably, their most common opponents have been Colorado State (4-0) and San Jose State (3-1).

The Wolfpack are coming off a 2-10 season under head coach Ken Wilson, which eventually resulted in the dismissal of Wilson from the program, following back-to-back 2-10 campaigns. As the record would indicate, it was a dismal season for the Wolfpack.

Previous Schedule Previews: North Carolina | Rhode Island

After starting the season off with a 66-14 loss at USC, the Wolfpack would fall to FCS opponent Idaho, one week later 33-6. It was the second of six straight losses to start their season; they would also drop games to Kansas, Texas State, Fresno State, and UNLV.

In late October, the Wolfpack would finally get on the board in the win column with a 6-0 win over San Diego State and a 34-24 win over New Mexico. However, the good feelings would not stay around for long in Reno as they would lose each of their last four games to Hawaii, Utah State, Colorado State, and Wyoming to finish 2-10.

On top of their poor record, the Wolfpack posted the nation's 129th scoring offense averaging just 17.3 points per game while their defense ranked 118th in the nation, allowing 33.4 points per game.

Now at the helm of the Nevada Wolfpack program is 53-year old Jeff Choate. The Columbus, Ohio native and former standout at Montana Western is now in his second stint as a head coach in college football. He previously served as the head coach at FCS Montana State from 2016 through 2020, going 28-22 including 18-14 in Big Sky play.

For the past three seasons, Choate was the co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Texas. He also has spent time in his coaching career at Utah State, Eastern Illinois, Boise State, Washington State, Florida, and Washington.

Washington last season recorded 13 tackles including five tackles for loss and one sack for Nevada. He transferred to Hawaii this offseason.

Toney is a major hit to Nevada's secondary, as he was the program's No. 2 tackler last season with 67 tackles. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack. He also recorded two interceptions, returning both for touchdowns while recording one pass breakup. Toney is now with TCU.

The Wolfpack's top wide receiver, Campbell, now with South Carolina recorded 31 receptions for 594 yards and two touchdowns last season.

It was a busy offseason for Jeff Choate in the transfer portal bringing in 17 players including three players ranked inside the Rivals top 1000 transfers.

A former top tight end prospect, Andrew Savaiiaea will look to make his impact at Nevada after not appearing in any games in two seasons with Florida.

A productive running back over five seasons with Boston College, Garwo will finish his career at Nevada after recording 440 carries for 1,912 yards, and 11 touchdowns with the Eagles. He also had 46 receptions for 318-yards.

In two seasons at West Virginia, Braham recorded 17 receptions for 164 yards.

Other portal additions:

QB Chubba Purdy - Nebraska

DL Kitione Tau - Bowling Green

LB Kaden Johnson - Wisconsin

OLL Snoop Leota-Amaama - Virginia

RB Savion Red - Texas

WR Cortez Braham - West Virginia

DB Keyshawn Cobb - West Virginia

DE Solomanie Bambara - Buffalo

OL Spencer Lovell - Kansas

OL Jakobus Seth - Washington State

RB Ky Woods - Texas

DB David Mallinger - West Virginia

This is a Nevada team that Minnesota should be able to handle with quite a bit of ease. It's a program in need of a serious rebuild and simply will not have the pieces to compete with the Golden Gophers from start to finish.

The quarterback position is especially interesting for the Wolfpack heading into fall camp. Quarterback Brandon Lewis struggled in 2023 but outside Chubba Purdy, who has struggled in his career at both Florida State and Nebraska, there are no real answers on the Nevada roster. If Jeff Choate and his offensive staff can't figure out the quarterback position, it's going to be an especially long season for Nevada.

Additionally, the Wolfpack get their 2024 season started a week earlier than most with a week zero game against SMU and will be playing in their fourth of five straight games to start the season against the Gophers which will have already included a trip to Troy two weeks earlier.

We expect the Gophers to open up in this game as at least a three or four touchdown favorite.

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