By Ken Ables with photography by the late Ernie Anderson.
With San Diego State moving to the PAC-12 next year, the Aztecs will be facing five of the eight teams staying in the Mountain West this season. First up: the Nevada Wolf Pack, Saturday in Reno.
The Aztecs are also playing Mountain West holdovers Wyoming, Hawaii, San Jose State and New Mexico this year. Air Force and UNLV are not on the 2025 schedule. Will we ever see them again? Maybe.
The Aztecs and Wolf Pack are meeting for the 17th time, with the Aztecs winning 9 of the previous 16. The teams played four times before the Wolf Pack joined the MW in 2012. The two teams have met every year since, except for 2024. Most often times than not, the game has held a lot of indicators of how each team’s seasons advance or decline.
Here are my top five SDSU-Nevada football games…
2012 in Reno
The Aztecs made their first trip to Reno since 1945. And what a game it was! It was a clash of two completely different styles: Nevada with its Pistol offense and the 2012 NCAA rushing leader at the time vs. Rocky Long’s 3-3-5 defense.
A touchdown with :05 left in the second quarter gave Nevada a 10-6 lead at the half. The Wolf Pack scored first in the third quarter, giving them a 10-point lead. The Aztecs answered, but so did the Wolf Pack, who led by 10 again (31-21), with 7:46 left in the game. And that’s when things got exciting.
Aztec QB Adam Dingwell – filling in for Ryan Katz, who suffered a broken leg in the first quarter – drove the Aztecs down the field, connecting on several third-and-longs, and hit TE Gavin Escobar in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:34 left in the game. 31-28 Nevada.
The Aztecs then forced a Wolf Pack three-and-out and got the ball back at the Aztec 20 with :50 left and no timeouts. No problem. Adam led the Aztecs to the Nevada 17 with three seconds left. Chance Marden kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie the game at 31. On to overtime.
Nevada had possession first, scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point. 38-31 Nevada, Aztec ball. On the second play, Adam Dingwell hit Gavin Escobar for a 21-yard touchdown. 38-37 ‘Pack; extra point to come.
Rocky Long didn’t want multiple overtimes; the Aztecs were going for two! If a play worked once, it should work twice, right? So they ran it again. This time Adam Dingwell hit Adam Roberts in the left corner of the end zone. Conversion good.
Final score: Aztecs 39, Wolf Pack 38. Two postgame quotes that live on in Aztec lore to this day: “Scared money don’t make no money” and “I couldn’t have done it without myself.”
2015 in San Diego
After a 1-3 non-conference schedule, the Aztecs started winning once the Mountain West games started. Going into the final regular season game, the Aztecs were on top of the West division of the MW, with Nevada coming to Qualcomm Stadium for the season finale, and home field in the MW conference championship game at stake.
Starting QB Maxwell Smith was injured early in the game and replaced by redshirt freshman Christian Chapman. Donnel Pumphrey scored on a 72-yard run with 1:21 left in the second quarter to give the Aztecs a 21-14 lead at the half.
The second half was all Aztecs, outscoring the Wolf Pack 10-0 for a 31-14 win. The MW championship game was coming to the Q! Two Aztec RBs gained 100+ yards: 154 and 2 TDs for Donnel; 112 and 1 TD for Chase Price.
2016 in Reno
This game was not close – a 46-16 Aztec road victory – but it was memorable. The Aztecs rushed for 474 yards and four touchdowns and came two yards short of having two RBs gain 200 yards in the game.
Rashaad Penny rushed for 208 yards and two TDs; Donnel Pumphrey added 198 yards and 1 TD; Juwan Washington, 70 yards and a TD. And that wasn’t all the scoring. QB Christian Chapman hit WR Micah Holder and TE David Wells for TDs. John Baron II kicked two FGs. And three Aztec interceptions certainly helped.
2017 in San Diego
Rashaad Penny broke Marshall Faulk’s Aztec single-game all-purpose yards record with 429 vs. Nevada: 222 rushing (2 TDs), 131 kickoff return (1 TD), 70 punt return (1 TD), 6 receiving. The kickoff and punt return TDs gave Rashaad 8 kickoff and 9 kick return TDs, both NCAA records.
Many players would be hard pressed to have career numbers better than Rashaad Penny’s four-game totals vs. Nevada: 866 total yards and 7 touchdowns.
2021 in Carson
In 2021 the Aztecs and Wolf Pack met in a mid-November game at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson. Both teams were 4-1 in MW play and this game had conference championship game implications.
The Aztecs led the entire game until the Wolf Pack took a 21-20 lead with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter. Matt Araiza kicked a 35-yard FG with 1:21 to give the Aztecs a 23-21 lead.
Nevada’s drive for a game-winning score was stopped when Patrick McMorris broke up a Wolf Pack pass on fourth and two with :42 left. RB Greg Bell rushed for 104 yards and QB Lucas Johnson was 21-24 for 176 yards and 1 TD. The Aztecs advanced forward to the Conference Championship game and this victory was crucial in that fact.
Will Saturday be the last Aztec-Wolf Pack game? Hard to say. They played four non-conference games before Nevada joined the MW. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two teams appear on future schedules, but I would be surprised if any more are played in Reno.
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