Ask a Nevada writer: NFL-caliber passing attack leads old rival against Boise State
Some rivalries never fade.
When Boise State hosts Nevada on Saturday (1:30 p.m., FS1), it will be the first time the teams have met since 2018, when the Broncos held on for a 31-27 win in Reno. But the rivalry spans five decades and four conferences, and it has included almost too many great games to remember, some of which ended in heartbreak for BSU — notably, the 34-31 overtime loss that ruined a perfect season in 2010.
Boise State went 4-0 against Nevada during first-year head coach Andy Avalos’ playing career, and the Broncos are 30-13 all-time against the Wolf Pack.
The Broncos will face a player with Boise State bloodlines on Saturday. Tory Horton — brother of former Boise State cornerback Tyler Horton — is a wide receiver at Nevada. His chances of getting on the field this weekend increased greatly when the Wolf Pack announced Monday that wide receiver Elijah Cooks is out for the season.
Tory Horton burst onto the scene at Nevada last season as a true freshman, when he hauled in three of his five touchdown catches in a win over Fresno State. This season, he has nine catches for 172 yards.
Tyler Horton was a two-time first-team All-Mountain West pick as a cornerback at Boise State from 2015 to 2018.
Chris Murray, Nevada beat writer for Nevada Sports Net, sat down with the Idaho Statesman this week to add some historical perspective to the rivalry between the Wolf Pack and Boise State, and to preview Saturday’s game at Albertsons Stadium.
How do players and fans in Nevada view this game?
To me, it’s Nevada’s best rivalry. If you ask fans, they’re obviously going to point to the UNLV game because that’s the in-state rivalry and there’s a gigantic Fremont Cannon on the line in that game. There’s no trophy on the line in this game, but look at the history of this matchup. Nevada and UNLV have played 46 times, and two times the game has been decided by a field goal or less. Nevada and Boise State have played 43 times, and 14 were decided by a touchdown or less, and six of those were by three points or fewer.
There’s been a four-overtime game. There’s been a three-overtime game that determined who went to the FCS National Championship. There was the one-overtime game in 2010, when Nevada ranked No. 18 in the nation and Boise State ranked No. 3. There was maybe a Rose Bowl bid on the line for Boise State. There has been high stakes and really exciting games.
You have the fact that they were in a lot of conferences together, from the Big West to the Big Sky to the WAC to the Mountain West, and it really is a shame they don’t play every year. I asked Nevada head coach Jay Norvell if he preferred they played every year and he said absolutely, because of what this game means to the fan base.
What makes quarterback Carson Strong a lock as an NFL Draft pick?
He has a lot of the intangibles that you want in terms of the love of the game, work ethic, study habits and leadership skills, but it comes down to 6-foot-4 and an NFL arm. This is a guy who can make all the throws at the NFL level. Even in the loss to Kansas State two weeks ago, there were three or four throws where you’re like, “There are a lot of NFL players who can’t make these throws.”
Not only the arm strength, but the accuracy and the ability to get the ball out quick is there, and his release is really, really strong. His deep ball accuracy was something that he really showed last year. He had four passes of over 50 air yards. The rest of the FBS combined had four.
I think he’s going to be a first- or second-round draft pick. Can he be No. 1 overall? I think it comes down to that athleticism question and it comes down to the medical issue. He had a significant knee injury in high school that made him miss his entire senior season. He had two knee surgeries this offseason, one right before the start of fall camp.
What makes wide receiver Romeo Doubs such a deep threat?
That’s his greatest strength, for sure. When he got out to a crazy start last year, it was because he was beating everyone deep. You look at his first five games last year, and he had nine touchdowns and was averaging 170 yards a game. That said, he’s only had one 100-yard game since, and that was against Kansas State. Teams have found ways to slow him down, and Cooks was supposed to open some things up this year.
(Nevada) has played Doubs in the slot some this year, and he had a 50-yard catch against Kansas State. He’s a former high school quarterback, and coach Norvell has compared him to Jerry Rice on several occasions. Norvell was on staff with the Raiders when Jerry Rice was there, and what he’s referring to is Doubs isn’t going to go run the fastest 40 time, but when you put him on the field, he’s faster than everybody he’s around. So Nevada’s goal is always to get one or two deep shots to him per game. They have the arm at quarterback and they have the speed from Romeo. It’s can they scheme themselves in position where they can get Romeo in one-on-one situations?
What does Nevada lose with Cooks out for the season?
They lose a lot. The good thing for Nevada is that position is deep enough that they can afford a loss of an all-conference player because of Romeo and Cole Turner, who is basically a wide receiver they stick in the slot and call a tight end. I asked Carson Strong who needs to step up with Elijah out of the mix, and he said it’s got to be Romeo and it’s got to be Cole. He said we need our stars to go out there and play like stars.
Elijah is the most physical wide receiver Nevada has. He high-points the ball really well, and this is a kid who had almost 1,000 yards as a sophomore and unfortunately has been injury-plagued the past couple years.
Tory Horton — the brother of former Boise State cornerback Tyler Horton — is the guy who is next on the depth chart. He’s a 6-3 kid who scored three touchdowns against Fresno State as a true freshman last year. There’s also a kid named Justin Lockhart, who is the nephew of (former NBA star) Shaquille O’Neal, so he has good genes and can beat you down the field. Nevada isn’t going to run out of tall, fast wide receivers. Elijah just had a different level of experience and physicality.
I actually think the more important injury might be Tyson Williams. He’s a kid who started 22 games at strong safety for Nevada, and he suffered a twisted knee in the Wolf Pack’s last game and is probably going to be out for about a month.
You look at Nevada’s secondary, and it’s a position, to me, that was the biggest question mark coming into the year. They played a Cal team that doesn’t throw the ball a lot. They played an Idaho State team, which lost its starting quarterback to injury, and they played a Kansas State team that was starting its backup quarterback and only had to throw the ball 13 times. So this secondary has not been tested against a good passing team, and I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge for this defense in this game. And they’re going to go into it without probably their best player in the secondary.
Nevada’s defense ranks No. 14 in the country against the pass and has posted 10 sacks. Why is the Wolf Pack so good in those areas?
Coach Norvell has put a lot of emphasis on getting to the quarterback. His message to the team this year was, “I’ve seen a lot of NFL games, and the way you win in the NFL is getting pressure on the quarterback.” Unfortunately for Nevada, the run defense has taken a step back. They struggled to stop the run against Cal. They struggled to stop the run against Kansas State, allowing 269 yards.
I think one of the reasons the passing numbers are so good is because teams haven’t necessarily had to throw the ball. They’ve run it so well they haven’t had to test the secondary. Nevada has two really good defensive linemen in Dom Peterson and Sam Hammond, both of whom were All-Mountain West players last year. They have the ability to get to the quarterback. They also have a pass-rushing specialist in Tristan Nichols, who is a 6-4 kid and is very good at getting to the quarterback as well. Pass rush has not been the issue. Run defense has been the issue.
What is going to decide this game?
I think I’m going to pick Boise State to win, but Nevada to cover (BSU is favored by 6.5 points). You take away Elijah Cooks and you take away Tyson Williams and you throw in the fact that Nevada has not been very good against the run. I know that’s not Boise State’s strength, but the defense hasn’t quite been there, and the offense hasn’t taken the step I thought it would take this year.
Nevada is 2-18 all-time at Boise State. It hasn’t won there since 1997. The movie “Titanic” hadn’t been released back then. I’m still leaning toward Boise State, but I do think this may be Nevada’s best opportunity in years.
Boise State is a solid team, but it’s not the Top 25 juggernaut it’s been year in and year out. This is probably the best personnel Nevada has had on offense since 2010, when they put 13 players in the NFL. Carson Strong said the Wolf Pack’s goal is to prove they’re the best team in the Mountain West, and to do that, they have to beat Boise State. But nobody on Nevada’s roster was alive the last time Nevada beat Boise State (in Boise), and they’re ready to change that history. I lean Boise State because I’ve seen way too many of these matchups, and it always comes down to Nevada throwing a Hail Mary as time is about to expire, and the Hail Mary is not complete.
NEVADA AT BOISE STATE
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis). That’s channel 146 on Sparklight, 219 on DirecTV and 150 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 2-2; Nevada 2-1
Series: Boise State is 30-13 all-time against Nevada, and the Broncos have won six in a row against the Wolf Pack.
Vegas line: Boise State by 6.5
Weather: High of 75 degrees, 1% chance of rain, 5 mph winds
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
