Nevada opened their Mountain West contest against San Jose State with a defensive statement, forcing early three-and-outs from the Spartans on back-to-back drives. The Pack struck first just over two minutes into the game when Nakian Jackson intercepted a Walker Eget pass and returned it for a touchdown, giving Nevada a 7-0 lead.
The momentum continued as Murvin Kenion III forced a fumble recovered by Nevada, setting up a precise passing touchdown from Carter Jones to Chubba Purdy. By the end of the first quarter, Nevada led 14-0, and the Pack defense had already created two turnovers.
Nevada’s offense showed no signs of slowing in the second quarter. Key connections to Dakota Thomas and Marcus Bellon moved the team across midfield, leading to a 30-yard screen pass touchdown from Jones to Caleb Ramseur, extending the lead to 21-0. Moments later, Kenion III intercepted his second pass of the day and returned it to the San Jose State 13-yard line. On the very next snap, Purdy punched it in on a quarterback draw, making it 28-0. Joe McFadden capped the half with a field goal, and Nevada carried a commanding 31-0 advantage into halftime.
The Pack continued to dominate in the second half. San Jose State managed only a field goal to open the third quarter before Nevada answered with an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Ramseur, stretching the lead to 38-3. Kenion III intercepted Eget for the third time in the third quarter, further highlighting the Pack’s defensive dominance.
Nevada added another score in the fourth quarter when freshman Dominic Kelly capped a drive with a rushing touchdown following a clutch 25-yard 4th-down completion from Jones to Dakota Thomas. San Jose State threw their fourth interception of the game soon after, this time to Bryson Snelling. Chubba Purdy later entered at quarterback and helped set up a field goal by McFadden. Ky Woods scored the final touchdown of the game with a 99-yard kick return, 55-10 the final.
Jones completed 84% of his passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, while Ramseur rushed for 128 yards and added both a rushing and receiving score. The Wolf Pack defense forced five turnovers, including Jackson’s pick-six, in one of Nevada’s most productive outings in recent memory.
With this dominant performance, Nevada finally snapped a 749-day conference win drought and looks to carry their momentum into next week’s matchup at Wyoming in Laramie.