When Boise State joined the WAC in 2001, all of the elements were in place for Nevada to become the Broncos' chief rival.
History. Proximity. Competition for recruits. Strong personalities on the sidelines. The conference even moved the game to the end of the season.
It seemed like a can't-miss idea.
It turned into a dud.
Why? Because every time the blue and orange jerseys come out of the tunnel, the Wolf Pack fold.
Boise State has outscored Nevada 294-59 over the last six years, including a mind-boggling 170-21 in the first half.
Three times, including last year, Nevada has failed to score a touchdown against Boise State's first-team defense.
Twice, Boise State has won by at least 40 points.
Once, in 2005, the schools shared the WAC title — but Boise State won the head-to-head meeting by five touchdowns.
Never, not in six years of WAC games, has Nevada finished closer to Boise State than 31 points.
The Pack will try again Sunday night at Bronco Stadium, with a national audience watching on ESPN. They have committed at least three turnovers in the past four meetings with the Broncos.
"The three years I've been involved, we haven't been close," said Nevada coach Chris Ault, whose teams have been worked over145-42 since he took over in 2004. "You pick up the game tape and you can see the mistakes we made. They were mistakes that Boise made you pay for."
The Broncos, of course, downplay their dominance. They don't wantto brag and they don't want to relax.
And they know that whatever the score, the emotions of this game are befitting a rivalry. There's an underlying animosity, one that bubbled to the surface in 2005 when the Broncos lashed out at the Wolf Pack after a big win in Boise for allegedly talking trash during recruiting.
"We prepare for this game almost with more enthusiasm and better focus than almost any other game of the season because in our mind it is a rivalry," Boise State senior safety Marty Tadman said, "just because of the talking that's gone back and forth for years, the history and stuff like that."
Most of that recent history includes some lavish Boise State celebrations, several of them on the field at Mackay Stadium — the Wolf Pack's home.
The Broncos wrapped up WAC championships or unbeaten regular seasons in 2002 in Reno, in 2003 at home against Nevada, in 2004 in Reno and in 2006 in Reno.
Last year, the Broncos' fans stormed the field in Reno and carried tailback Ian Johnson off the field when Boise State clinched a berth in the Fiesta Bowl.
"You'd hate for that to happen on your field," Johnson said. "We went out there and played a really good game and the next thing you know everyone's celebrating, ‘Fiesta! Fiesta!'
"And if you're going to the Fiesta, you've gotta party."
A party on the other team's field?>
Maybe this is a rivalry, after all.
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