Nevada Wolf Pack football picked third in Mountain West’s West division

Senior tackle Jake Nelson and sophomore running back Toa Taua were selected to the Mountain West’s Preseason All-Conference team on Tuesday.

The announcement was made by the league at its annual media event at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Southern Nevada.

Nevada, coming off an 8-5 record in 2018, was picked third in the West Division by the media panel. Fresno State was picked to win the West, followed by San Diego State. Hawaii was fourth, following by UNLV and San Jose State.

Taua was the Mountain West’s Freshman of the Year in 2018 after bursting on the scene with 872 rushing yards last season. He’s been named to the national watch lists for the Maxwell Award (national player of the year) and Doak Walker Award (top running back) for the upcoming season.

Nelson, a senior, was an honorable mention All-Mountain West selection a year ago. He’s started 25 games in his career and last year led the Wolf Pack to a ranking of 14th nationally in pass protection as the Union allowed just 1.17 sacks per game.

Boise State was the top pick to win the Mountain Division with Utah State as the only other Mountain team to receive first-place votes. The rest of the Mountain Division was: Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State and New Mexico.

The preseason honorees and the media poll were announced Tuesday morning by the Mountain West as the league opens up its two-day media summit.

Third-year head coach Jay Norvell along with team representatives wide receiver Kaleb Fossum and linebacker Lucas Weber will take part in league social media initiatives and meet with members of the media Wednesday.

Season tickets for the 2019 season are available for as low as $99 and three-game mini-plan packages are also on sale now for as low as $42. Single-game tickets for all six home games are also available now with prices as low as $17 per game, with discounts available for children and seniors. Call 775-348-PACK or visit NevadaWolfPack.com.