RENO — The University of Nevada football team has been picked second in the West Division in the Mountain West’s Preseason Poll, which was announced by the conference.
San Diego State was picked first in the West Division and received 19 of the 21 first-place votes.
The Wolf Pack received the other two first-place votes and was second, clear of Hawai`i (third) and Fresno State (fourth). San José State was fifth with UNLV placed in sixth place.
On the Mountain Division side, Boise State was the runaway pick for first place, garnering all but one first-place vote.
Wyoming narrowly edged Air Force for second place. Utah State was fourth, followed by Colorado State and New Mexico.
This matches Nevada’s highest predicted finish for the Wolf Pack since the Mountain West went to divisional play in the 2013 season as the Wolf Pack was also picked second in 2016. Nevada was predicted second in 2012, its first year in the league.
The Mountain West’s planned virtual media days for next week have been postponed and the league is announcing its preseasons predictions and honors this week.
The 2020 Preseason All-Mountain West team will be announced on Wednesday.
The Pack is scheduled to open the 2020 season on Aug. 29 against UC Davis at Mackay Stadium.
Nevada is planning for reduced capacity at Mackay Stadium this season due to the COVID-19 outbreak and season-ticketholders will be the first group accommodated in reduced-capacity scenarios.
To place a deposit for a season ticket, go to NevadaWolfPack.com or call (775) 348-PACK.
The Nevada football team landed a pair of standouts on the 2020 Preseason All-Mountain West team, which was announced Wednesday by the league.
Junior defensive end Dom Peterson and sophomore kicker Brandon Talton were named to the 28-member team.
The team is voted on by a selected group of media members covering the league’s member institutions.
Peterson, from Harbor City, Calif., was named first team All-MW in 2019 for the first time in his career after proving to be the Wolf Pack’s most dominant defensive lineman last season.
The then-sophomore ranked second in the conference and led Nevada with 15.0 tackles for loss, 14 of them being solo. Peterson also led the team and ranked second in the MW with nine sacks.
He recorded at least one tackle for loss in all but one game in 2019 and had his best performance of the year in a 21-10 win over New Mexico, where he recorded four solo tackles, three for loss and two sacks.
He was also named to the preseason All-MW first team by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Magazine last month and he earned a spot on the watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Nagurski Award earlier this week.
Talton, from Vacaville, Calif., burst onto the scene in 2019 as he walked on to the Wolf Pack program as a true freshman and made his collegiate debut in historic fashion, drilling a 56-yard field goal to complete a comeback win over Purdue at Mackay Stadium.
He began his rookie season making the first 13 field goal attempts of his career and finished the year hitting 21-of-25. He was named to the preseason All-MW first team by Athlon Sports and All-MW second team by Phil Steele Magazine.
He was also named to the watch list for the Lou Groza Award earlier on Wednesday.
Nevada has had at least one honoree on the Preseason All-Mountain West team each year since joining the conference in 2012.
This marks the fourth season in a row that Nevada has had two or more honorees.
