The Nevada-UNLV football rivalry might come with the most acclaim, but the Wolf Pack’s series with Boise State has delivered the most great games with 15 of the schools’ 46 matchups decided by a touchdown or less, including six games by three points or fewer/overtime. Nevada and Boise State could be playing for the last time when they face off Friday at Mackay Stadium with the Broncos headed to the Pac-12 next season and the Wolf Pack remaining in the Mountain West.
With this year’s matchup on the horizon, here are the 13 best games played between the teams since the series began in 1971 (Boise State leads, 32–14).
13. 2021: The Wolf Pack entered this game 2-18 all-time at Boise State, losing nine straight to the Broncos on the blue turf. That streak was snapped behind an explosive offensive performance led by Carson Strong and Toa Taua in Nevada’s 41-31 win. Strong threw for 263 yards and a touchdown while Taua added 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. He also caught seven passes for 44 yards. The Wolf Pack defense created three turnovers after intermission, including a strip sack of Hank Bachmeier on the first play of the second half that led to the go-ahead touchdown. This game marked the seventh time Nevada has scored 40 or more points against Boise State (the Wolf Pack is 5-2 in those games).
12. 2009: Colin Kaepernick versus Boise State’s defense delivered epic games. They were so epic all four of his games against the Broncos are on this list. The 2009 affair was the most lopsided, and Kaepernick’s least effective. He was held to 172 yards, although he did throw three touchdowns. Nevada trailed 20-0 after the first quarter before rallying within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Wolf Pack ultimately lost, 44-33, as Kellen Moore threw a career-high five touchdowns, three to fill-in fullback Dan Paul. In Kaepernick’s four games against Boise State, the Wolf Pack averaged 42 points, surpassing 31 in each game. Boise State allowed just 15 points per game in non-Nevada games during Kaepernick’s four-year tenure.
11. 2018: The 2018 matchup had five lead changes and two ties before Boise State prevailed, 31-27. A Tyler Horton 99-yard interception return for the touchdown in the first half helped the Broncos even the score before intermission. A 41-yard touchdown pass from Brett Rypien to A.J. Richardson in the third quarter gave Boise State a 31-24 lead. Ramiz Ahmed’s 28-yard field goal narrowed Nevada’s deficit to four before the Wolf Pack came up empty late. Nevada went three-and-out after getting the ball on its own 48. Boise State then went on a 17-play, 61-yard drive that sucked up 8 minutes, 20 seconds, including a great throw by Rypien on fourth-and-8 from the Nevada 39. The Pack didn’t get the ball back until 6 seconds remained.
10. 2012: This was the first game played between the schools at Mackay Stadium after the 2010 classic, and it was almost equally thrilling. Per usual, Boise State was ranked and got up early, leading 17-0 at halftime. Per usual, Nevada rallied back but ultimately fell short, a key play being tight end Zach Sudfeld’s third-quarter fumble just before he crossed the goal line for a touchdown that would have pulled the Wolf Pack within 24-14. Nevada still had a chance to win late, but Cody Fajardo’s Hail Mary from the Wolf Pack 42-yard line as time expired was incomplete, Nevada’s desperation last-second chance at a win falling short. That’s been a theme in their series since the turn of the century.
9. 1997: Nevada is 3-18 all-time in road games at Boise State, one of its rare victories coming in 1997 when John Dutton led a 56-42 Wolf Pack win by passing for a series-record 557 yards and five touchdowns while Trevor Insley hauled in 217 receiving yards. Dutton’s 557 passing yards were a program record at the time and remain the second most in a game for a Nevada quarterback behind David Neill’s 611 versus New Mexico State a year later. Nevada’s only other road wins at Boise State came in 1986 (21-16) when the Wolf Pack was the No. 1 ranked team in the FCS and the 41-31 win in 2021.
8. 2008: Nevada was down 24-3 at halftime but came within a Hail Mary of sending this one to overtime thanks to some big defensive plays. The Wolf Pack intercepted Moore three times, returning two of them for touchdowns in the third quarter (one was by Jerome Johnson, the other by Josh Mauga, with both players reaching the NFL). Down by 17 points with less than eight minutes to go, Nevada moved within 41-34 before three Kaepernick pass attempts from the Boise State 31-yard line fell incomplete, a Mackay miracle falling short. Despite his three interceptions, Moore threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns while Kaepernick was limited to 19-of-50 passing (38 percent) while accounting for 311 yards and a touchdown.
7. 1991: This marked Nevada’s last season in the FCS with both schools soon to join college football’s top division. The 1991 contest was a defensive struggle that was tied 7-7 in the fourth quarter before a Rick Schwendinger field goal and Nevada special teams score off a muffed punt put the Wolf Pack up 17-7. Boise State quarterback Travis Stuart scored on an 8-yard keeper with 5:20 remaining to trim the deficit to 17-14 before Schwendinger missed a 37-yard field goal with 1:37 left. Boise State quickly completed five passes to set George Buddy up for a 41-yard field goal that was blocked by Nevada’s Mike Black (it went off his facemask) as time expired to prevent overtime and seal Nevada’s 17-14 win.
6. 2014: There have been a lot of high-scoring games in this series but few were as wild as this 2014 affair, which Boise State ultimately won, 51-46. Fajardo had a big game, passing for 306 yards, rushing for 71 more and accounting for all five of Nevada’s touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). But he also threw a career-high four interceptions, which led to 28 Broncos points. Boise State quarterback Grant Hedrick (26-of-31, 346 yards, three TDs) was nearly perfect, but Nevada had the final possession. Down five points with 2 minutes, 3 seconds left, Nevada had the ball on its 46-yard line with a chance to win but couldn’t find the end zone, a last-second Hail Mary from the Boise State 37-yard line falling incomplete.
5. 1979: Played in Reno, Boise State came from behind twice before having to withstand a late push from Nevada. After a Frank Hawkins 1-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds left, Nevada went for two rather than settling for a tie but was stopped inches short of the goal line. The Wolf Pack recovered an onside kick and got within field-goal distance, but Fernando Serrano missed a 47-yarder to seal Boise State’s 28-27 win. Nevada got the last laugh (sort of). Boise State was put on probation for illegal scouting against Northern Arizona from the 1978 season, and, as a result, Nevada earned the western postseason bid, losing in the FCS semifinals to Eastern Kentucky.
4. 1973: This was the third game of the Nevada-Boise State rivalry but the first instant classic. Nevada beat Boise State, 23-21, scoring on the last play of the game to stun the No. 6-ranked Broncos, who committed a penalty on what would have been the last play of the game. That penalty gave Nevada, which was still a Division II independent program at the time, one final shot. The Wolf Pack capitalized to beat Boise State for the first time (the Broncos were 2-0 in the series). This was Jerry Scattini’s only win over Boise State, as the Wolf Pack coach went 1-4 against the Broncos before being fired after the 1975 season and being replaced by Chris Ault, who would go 8-18 against Boise State (all other Nevada coaches are 6-14).
3. 2007: As good as the 2010 Nevada-Boise State game was, this might be the most exciting contest in the rivalry’s history. It also was Kaepernick’s introduction to America. In his first college start, the fresh-faced freshman completed 11-of-26 passes for 243 yards and rushed 14 times for 177 yards. He accounted for five touchdowns, but Boise State prevailed, 69-67, in four overtimes in the highest-scoring game in FBS history at the time. The teams combined for 1,266 yards (639 for Nevada; 627 for Boise State), but it was a defensive stop that won the contest. With Nevada forced to go for two in the fourth overtime, Boise State’s Tim Brady sacked Colin Kaepernick to seal the Broncos’ win.
2. 1990: During the 1990 regular season, No. 6-ranked Boise State beat No 2-ranked Nevada, 30-14, but the rematch later that season would go the Wolf Pack’s direction. In the only playoff game between the schools, Nevada beat Boise State, 59-52, in three overtimes to advance to the Division I-AA title game, the only time the Wolf Pack reached the FCS championship round. Nevada fullback Ray Whalen ran for 245 yards and three touchdowns on a school-record 44 carries. It was the second straight three-overtime win for the Wolf Pack, which beat Furman in three overtimes one week prior. The fans celebrated by tearing down the goal posts.
1. 2010: No. 19 Nevada beat No. 3 Boise State, 34-31, in overtime in the greatest game in Wolf Pack football history. The game, dubbed Blue Friday by Ault, featured more twists and turns than San Francisco’s Lombard Street and captivated a national ESPN audience. This was the best Wolf Pack team ever against the best Broncos team ever, and it came down to the field-goal kickers. Kyle Broztman missed two short ones, one at the end of regulation and another to open overtime, before Anthony Martinez drilled the game-winning 34-yarder. Nevada trailed 24-7 at halftime but rallied back to tie the game at 31 on a Kaepernick to Rishard Matthews touchdown with 13 seconds left. A Moore deep bomb to Titus Young set up a potential game-winning 26-yard field goal by Brotzman, which he missed before also missing a 29-yarder in overtime. While Boise State has owned this series, this Wolf Pack win kept Boise State out of the Rose Bowl.
Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.