Penn State kicks off its season on Saturday as a heavy favorite, welcoming Nevada to Beaver Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. start time.
Head coach James Franklin said the Nittany Lions will use the first three games against the Wolf Pack, FIU and Villanova to test the team’s depth, rotating in backups and third-stringers, assuming the team is able to establish an early lead.
Here’s everything to know about Nevada heading into kickoff.
Head coach: The Wolf Pack are led by head coach Jeff Choate, who’s entering his second season with the program. He has five seasons of previous head coaching experience, leading FCS Montana State from 2016-2020. Choate had a 28-22 record with Montana State and went 3-10 in his first season in Reno.
Other stints include Boise State, Washington State, Florida, Washington and Texas as an assistant. Choate was rumored to be in contention for the Boise State head coaching gig before Spencer Danielson landed the role.
When asked about Penn State on Monday, Choate praised Franklin for the strides he’s made since arriving in State College.
“We’re going and playing a James Franklin-coached Penn State team that, when I look at his trajectory and what he’s been able to accomplish there, I’m not sure he gets the full amount of credit,” Choate said. “This is a team that’s gone from very good to elite, and when you look at it in all three phases, this is a team that’s built for a national championship run.”
Coordinators: The Nevada offense is powered by the mind of David Gilbertson, who enters his first year as offensive coordinator after working with the quarterbacks and wide receivers last season. His previous stints include Akron as a passing game coordinator under former Penn State OC Joe Moorhead and Oregon as an analyst.
Defensively, Kane Ioane is at the helm for his second season. He spent time with Choate at Montana State in 2016. Prior to Nevada, Ioane was most recently the co-defensive coordinator at Boise State from 2021-23.
Standout players: During his Monday press conference, Franklin said he’s been impressed with quarterback Chubba Purdy (13), wide receiver Marcus Bellon (18), linebacker Stone Combs (33), defensive tackle Thomas Witte (99), defensive end Dylan Labarbera (32), edge rusher Jonathan Maldonado (9) and defensive back Murvin Kenion III (5).
Purdy is the younger brother of former Iowa State and current San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. He’s entering his sixth collegiate season and second at Nevada after two years with Florida State and two at Nebraska.
Despite a wealth of experience, Purdy hasn’t seen more than 57 pass attempts in any season, and is stepping into a full-time starting role for the first time. He was slated to start last season before injury issues.
“I just really took care of my body before and after practice (this offseason),” Purdy said Wednesday. “Really heavy on stretching, cold tub, whole bunch of stuff that went into it. I feel really healthy, really good.”
Bellon, formerly at UTEP, stands at just 5-foot-7 but is the team’s leading returner. He finished last season with 39 receptions for 522 yards and four touchdowns, adding nine punt returns for 74 yards.
Record: The Wolf Pack finished last season with a 3-10 record. The NCAA allows teams that play on the road at Hawaii to schedule an extra nonconference game, leading to an unusually long regular season.
Despite the poor record, the team secured a win against Oregon State and had six one-score losses, including a narrow defeat vs. SMU. Its only matchup against a Big Ten opponent was a 27-0 loss to Minnesota.
Series history: Penn State and Nevada have never met before, though the Nittany Lions hold a 6-0 all-time record against teams from the Mountain West Conference, most recently beating Boise State in last year’s Fiesta Bowl.
Prediction: Penn State 41, Nevada 6
Nevada is a better team than people give it credit for, coming up just short in several games last season and adding a heavy influx of transfers this offseason to fill holes. The defensive front is formidable for a Mountain West school, and Purdy has flashed his athleticism at times throughout his lengthy tenure despite struggling to stay healthy.
The Nittany Lions have good depth at most positions, but backups are backups for a reason, and if Franklin is eager to get the starters off the field, the points may stop rolling in during the second half.
Penn State should win this game comfortably, but Nevada is good enough to cover the 43.5-point spread.
