1987 Nevada Wolf Pack football | |
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Conference | Big Sky Conference |
Record | 5–6 (4–4 Big Sky) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Mackay Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 5 Idaho $^ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 10 Weber State ^ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montana | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boise State | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nevada | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Arizona | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho State | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Washington | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montana State | 0 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1987 Nevada Wolf Pack football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada, Reno during the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Nevada competed as a member of the Big Sky Conference (BSC). The Wolf Pack were led by 12th-year head coach Chris Ault and played its home games at Mackay Stadium. [1] [2] The team was ranked No. 1 early in the season but finished with a 5–6 record – the program's first losing season under Ault.
The Wolf Pack finished the 1986 season with a 13–1 record and 7–0 in BSC play to finish in first place, losing the Division I-AA semifinals against the eventual national champion Georgia Southern. The Wolf Pack returned 12 starters from the 1986 team and was ranked No. 1 in pre-season selections by Division I-AA sports information directors and by Don Heinrich's College Football '87 magazine. [3] The team was also a near-unanimous, pre-season pick to repeat as the Big Sky champion. [4]
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 12 | at Eastern Washington | No. 6 | W 40–26 | [5] | |||
September 19 | No. 7 UC Davis* | No. 1 | W 34–17 | 15,630 | [6] | ||
September 26 | at Montana | No. 1 | L 29–41 | 8,200 | [7] | ||
October 3 | at UNLV* | No. 6 | L 19–24 | [8] [9] | |||
October 10 | Montana State | No. 19 |
| W 31–13 | 13,903 | [10] | |
October 17 | 1:00 p.m. | at Idaho | No. 11 | L 28–38 | 15,100 | [11] | |
October 24 | Stephen F. Austin* |
| L 7–9 | 14,577 | [12] | ||
October 31 | Idaho State |
| W 40–19 | 11,236 | |||
November 7 | Boise State |
| L 31–36 | 18,150 | [13] [14] | ||
November 14 | Weber State |
| L 15–38 | 11,143 | [15] [16] | ||
November 21 | at Northern Arizona | W 40–39 | 10,123 | [17] | |||
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Placekicker Marty Zendejas broke the Division I-AA career kick-scoring record previously held by brother Tony Zendejas. [18] Zendejas finished his college career with 385 points scored and was the only Division I-AA player selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team honoree on the 1987 All-America college football team. [19]
Junior running back Charvez Foger led the team with 1,132 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. [20] His career total of 3,200 rushing yards ranked third in Big Sky history at the end of the 1987 season. Foger was named to the All-Big Sky football team for the third consecutive season in 1987. [19] Foger concluded his college career in 1988 with 4,486 rushing yards, the third best mark in Division I-AA history.
Jim Zaccheo, a junior college transfer from California, won the starting quarterback job after pre-season competition with Andy Genasci. [21] He led the team with 2,158 passing yards. [20]
Split end Tony Logan set school records with 64 catches, 1,099 receiving yards, and 12 receiving touchdowns. He was selected as a second-team player on the All-Big Sky team. [19]
On defense, Scott Lommori led the team with 125 total tackles. [20] Senior linebacker Jeff Davis led the team with 12 sacks and 20 tackles for loss and was a unanimous selection for the All-Big Sky team. Sophomore defensive back Bernard Ellison had six interceptions and seven deflections and was also a first-team All-Big Sky selection. [22]