The Wolf Pack has also produced two Academic All-Americans: David Heppe (P, 1982) and Erick Streelman (TE, 2002)[5] Nevada's football history began on October 24, 1896.

"But," the University of Nevada yearbook Artemesia would report five years later, "the team learned something about football by watching the Belmont boys play."

The entire front page of the Daily Nevada State Journal was given to coverage of the game, and the banner headline read: "California's Proud Colors Lowered by the Doughty Eleven from Sagebrushdom".

[8] Steckle's picture appeared on the front page, and the paper praised his efforts in turning Nevada into a football power:Out of the eighty students of the N.S.U.

In April 1919, Ray Courtright was hired to serve as director of athletics and head coach of the football, basketball, baseball and track teams.

Courtright's 1919 Nevada team outscored its opponents 450 to 32, including scores of 132–0 over Pacific, 102–0 over the Mare Island Marines, and 56–0 over UC Davis.

"[16] At the end of the 1919 season, the Reno Evening Gazette wrote:It was a good move when the students and regents decided last spring to go east and get one of the best men to come to Nevada and build up a football team.

"[20] Jim Aiken left Akron to take over Nevada's football program in 1939, and served as head coach for seven seasons, compiling a record of 38–26–4.

[25] The initiative, however, failed, and in October 1957, McEachron supported the players in their petition for a renewal of free room and board for the team during the season.

[28] In November 1960, Trachok canceled a six-hour flight to Denver in favor of a 32-hour bus ride after a plane crash killed sixteen players from California Polytechnic.

Nevada had a record of 9–7 in the I-AA playoffs during their time in the Big Sky and in 13 years of membership, the Wolf Pack won four conference titles (1983, 1986, 1990, 1991).

[43] Backup sophomore quarterback Chris Vargas led a second-half Nevada comeback of 41 unanswered points to win the game.

[45] Following the 1999 season, Idaho head coach Chris Tormey moved south from his alma mater on the Palouse to lead Nevada, which was leaving the Big West to join the WAC.

In 2005, the Wolf Pack won a share of the Western Athletic Conference title after defeating an AP top 25 ranked team for the first time in school history, the No.

In 2007, the Wolf Pack and the Boise State Broncos played in a historic game on October 14, setting a new NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record for total points scored with 136.

Boise State won the game 69–67 in the second half of the fourth overtime period, when Broncos LB Tim Brady stopped Nevada's freshman QB Colin Kaepernick on the mandatory two-point conversion attempt.

Led by future NFL second-round draft pick Colin Kaepernick, Nevada would win a share of its first WAC title since 2005, only losing one game against Hawaii on its way to a 13–1 record.

The Wolf Pack defeated power conference foes California, BYU on the road, and Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Boise State won the game, capping off an undefeated regular season and giving the Broncos a berth into the Fiesta Bowl.

On the last play of the game, Boise quarterback Kellen Moore threw a hail mary to receiver Titus Young, who dove and caught the ball close to the goal line with one second left.

Extreme drama would ensue, as Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a chip-shot field goal from straight ahead, sending the game into overtime.

Nevada beat Boise State 34–31, ending the Broncos' chances of playing in the Rose Bowl, and at the time, a potential BCS National Title.

[66] The "Aggie-Pack" battle would regularly have old-fashioned rooters buses travel 146 miles (2.5 hours) down I-80 for this rivalry that was regularly "a battle for West Coast small-college supremacy ... in fact, the mid-November 1977 Nevada-UCD matchup drew 12,800 fans to Toomey Field, which still stands as a home attendance record ... and yes, the crowd-pleasing Aggies prevailed, 37-21 ..."[67] Nevada leads the series 30-21-3 as of 2024.

[78] The fact that the Wolf Pack, a much smaller program from a lower division, held powerhouse Cal scoreless in Berkeley makes this final score one of the most interesting in college football history.

The Wolf Pack would play 3 overtimes periods for the second playoff game in a row, and would win 59–52 after running back Ray Whalen scored a touchdown.

With the play of Crawford, plus the energy Bennett was able to give the offense off the bench in the second half, Nevada was able to win their first bowl game in 48 years.

In the fourth quarter, the Wolf Pack scored a rushing touchdown when receiver Rishard Matthews broke through the defense on a reverse to cut the deficit to three at 24–21.

BSU's Moore then completed a Hail Mary pass downfield to the Nevada 9-yard line with 2 seconds left, but Bronco kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a 26-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.

3 Boise State and Louisiana Tech to claim a share of the WAC title, Nevada entered the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl ranked No.

Defenses dominated most of the game, as even Nevada's high-powered offense only scored one touchdown, on a 27-yard pass from Colin Kaepernick to a wide open Rishard Matthews in the first quarter.