Nevada football fighting for Mountain West crown in 2020

Nevada football has an excellent chance to compete for the top spot in West division but it needs to develop their air raid offense more.

The Mountain West remains one of the top non-Power Five conferences with the AAC. Some of the top consistent teams include Boise State, San Diego State and Nevada. This season could be the first time that the Wolf Pack could win the Mountain West for the first time since they joined the conference in 2012.

The Wolf Pack has gained traction with Jay Norvell in their fourth year as their head coach. Through the three seasons under Norvell, the Wolf Pack has accounted for an 18-20 record with two straight winning seasons (15-11; 9-7 in conference play).

Last year, the Wolf Pack accounted for a 7-6 record (4-4 in conference play) while experiencing some ups-and-downs throughout the season. The Wolf Pack had big wins against the Purdue Boilermakers in week one with a 34-31 score and a 17-13 win on the road against the San Diego State Aztecs (two-game streak against SDSU). There were also some disappointing losses by Nevada that includes a 54-3 loss at home to Hawaii, a 33-30 overtime loss at home to UNLV and a 30-21 loss to the Ohio Bobcats in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

For Norvell and his team, they will need the upcoming 2020 season to gain more traction and become a more legitimate threat in the Mountain West. Losing time from the spring practices due to the pandemic of COVID-19 did not help the Wolf Pack sort out their problems of finding efficient starters and installing more stability on both sides of the ball.

There is an all-conference caliber on both sides of the ball for the Wolf Pack as they will be the experienced and talented players needed to get the team to their 13th bowl game in 16 seasons.

With Hawaii rebuilding under a new head coach and San Diego State trying to stabilize its offense, now is the time for the Wolf Pack to make the jump at the West division.