1987 Nevada Wolf Pack football team
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.
Preseason
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]
Schedule
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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Key players
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]
References
- ^ "Nevada Football 2018 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno. 2018. p. 136. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ "Nevada Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ "Pack is the pick of the Sky". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 4, 1987. pp. 1E, 3E.
- ^ "UNR tries to buck Big Sky tradition". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 4, 1987. pp. 2E.
- ^ "No. 6 Pack grounds Eagles: UNR rushes for 393 yards in 40-26 victory". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 13, 1987. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "No. 1 Pack racks up No 2: Record crowd watches UNR, 2-0, top Davis". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 20, 1987. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Grizzlies devour the best of I-AA". The Missoulian. September 27, 1987. pp. 19, 23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rebels win battle of Nevada". Reno Gazette-Journal. October 4, 1987. pp. 1B, 2B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Wolf Pack may have learned a lot in loss to UNLV". Reno Gazette-Journal. October 4, 1987. p. 2B.
- ^ "Ault lights fire under Pack". Reno Gazette-Journal. October 11, 1987. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Friesz chills Reno". The Spokesman-Review. October 18, 1987. pp. D1, D5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dead-eye Texan beats Pack". Reno Gazette-Journal. October 25, 1987. Retrieved February 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Wolf Pack rally falls short". Reno Gazette-Journal. November 8, 1987. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "No ifs, this was another exciting UNR-Boise game". Reno Gazette-Journal. November 8, 1987. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pack's at a loss in '87". The Reno Gazette-Journal. November 15, 1987. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pack turns '87 season into a stinker for Ault". Reno Gazette-Journal. November 15, 1987. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jacks go sour in second half". Arizona Daily Sun. November 22, 1987. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Zendejas: Pack's ace in hole". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 4, 1987. p. 3E – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Pack Player make All-Big Sky". Reno Gazette-Journal. December 2, 1987. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Nevada Football 2018 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno. 2018. p. 108. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- ^ "The big question at UNR: Who's the quarterback?". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 6, 1987. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pack puts 2 on All-Big Sky defense". Reno Gazette-Journal. December 3, 1987. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.