Welcome to the 2025 college football preseason
Offseason hibernation is over. The days are getting longer, but time is getting shorter until Ireland gets introduced to Farmaggedon. Now is the time to start learning about teams for the 2025 season, whether it’s the new QB for the reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes or who has the best chance to win Conference-USA. This series will cover my top 100 preseason college football rankings for 2025 as we count down 100 days until Week 0. We will dive into a new team each day as we draw closer to the college football season.
Countdown to Kickoff: Day 93
Coming in at No. 93 in our 2025 preseason rankings: Nevada Wolf Pack.
Nevada is coached by Jeff Choate, who is in his 2nd year with the program and finished last year with a record of 3-10 and 12thin the Mountain West.
Nevada returns only 29% of production from the 2024 team: 33% on the Offense and 26% on the Defense. According to 247Sports, the Wolf Pack finished the 2025 cycle landing 29 recruits and ending the recruiting cycle with the 88th overall ranked class, which was good for 4th in the Mountain West. Along with their high school recruiting, Louisiana has brought in 26 players through the transfer portal and has a portal ranking of 111. 58% of the 2025 roster will be made up of new additions.
Offensive Coordinator David Gilbertson, heading into his first year with the program, will lead the offense that put up 20.9 points per game last season (111th nationally). The Wolf Pack finished 2024 with 65.4 plays per game (100th) and a pace of 28.3 seconds per play (113th). The offense averaged 34.8 runs (86th) for 150.4 per game (77th), along with 28.5 pass attempts (87th) for 212.5 yards per game (82nd). The offense was a balanced attack, with a 53%-47% run-pass play call split. The overall offensive success rate was 45%.
Up front, Nevada brings back 47% of its offensive line production from last year, including two clear-cut starters for 2025. With the departure of 2024 starting quarterback Brendon Lewis to Memphis, Chubba Purdy will compete with AJ Bianco for the starting position during fall camp. In 2024, Lewis finished with 26.4 fantasy points per game. In 75% of games, Lewis passed for at least 158 yards and 1 touchdown to score at least 25.15 fantasy points, with a season high of 40.65 and a low of -3.4. The new starting quarterback will be tasked with improving the team’s 45% passing success rate from last season.
The Wolf Pack will rely on pass catcher Marcus Bellon to step up this year with the departure of the top 2 receivers from 2024. 2024 leader Jaden Smith totaled 849 yards and 7 touchdowns and led the team with 62 receptions last year. In 75% of his games, he caught at least 4 passes for 35 yards and scored 11.4 fantasy points. His best game was against San Jose State, where he caught 6 passes for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Caleb Ramseur and transfer Herschel Turner look to fill the 64.7% of carries abandoned by Savion Red and Brendon Lewis. Red’s skillset, mixed with the game script, led him to 119 carries, 687 yards, and 8 touchdowns. Red finished with 11.4 fantasy points per game. Jackson surpassed 3.1 fantasy points in 75% of his games, totaling 30 rushing yards in those starts.
Nevada enters 2025 with the 95th-ranked strength of schedule. The Wolf Pack will play in front of their home fans 6 times, with back-to-back home games in Weeks 2 and 3.
Our model predicts a 5-7 record for the Wolf Pack. Our model gives the team a 75+% win expectancy in 0 games, a 50-75% win expectancy in 3 games, a 25-50% win expectancy in 4 games, and a <25% win expectancy in 5 games.
According to their conference championship odds of +1100 at DraftKings, the Wolf Pack are predicted to finish 11th in the Mountain West.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to return tomorrow as we continue the countdown with Team 92.
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Returning Production for all teams can be found at Punt and Rally
Stats for all players can be found at College Football Team Stats | TeamRankings.com
