Despite being a betting-line favorite, Nevada getting $1 million to play at Kansas State
BY CHRIS MURRAYWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2021
Nevada will play in Kansas State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium for the first time ever. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
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If this has happened before in college football, it's got to be rare.
Despite being a betting-line favorite Saturday at Kansas State, the Nevada football team is getting a $1 million pay day from the Wildcats. The Nevada-Kansas State contract was signed in 2017, and this game will mark the fourth time in program history the Wolf Pack will get a seven-figure check for playing a game, joining contests with Texas A&M in 2015 ($1.5 million), Northwestern in 2017 ($1.3 million) and Notre Dame in 2016 ($1 million). Nevada has five future $1 million-plus games on the schedule.
In each of its first three $1 million-plus games, Nevada was a big underdog, including a 32-point underdog at Texas A&M, a 27.5-point underdog at Notre Dame and a 24-point underdog at Northwestern. Nevada went 0-3 in those games, all double-digit losses. But the Wolf Pack is favored by 2 points at Kansas State, in part because the Wildcats will be without starting quarterback Skylar Thompson, who suffered an injury in last week's game against Southern Illinois. This is the first matchup between Nevada and Kansas State, which both began playing football in 1896.
The Wolf Pack has an opportunity to make history this week, something fifth-year coach Jay Norvell has stressed to his team. Nevada has never beaten two Power 5 opponents in one regular season, but with its season-opening win at Cal, the Wolf Pack could accomplish that Saturday in Manhattan, Kan. Nevada did beat two Power 5 teams in 2010, but one of those victories — Boston College — was in a bowl game.
"No Nevada team has ever beaten two Power 5 teams in the regular season, so to do something that has never been done before at Nevada is a real goals of ours," Norvell said during his Monday press conference. "We feel like we're capable."
With the win at Cal, Norvell improved to 3-4 against Power 5 teams at Nevada, including a 3-1 record in his last four games versus the Power 5. Norvell could even his record against Power 5 teams with a win Saturday, which also could help push Nevada toward inclusion in the Top 25. The Wolf Pack is receiving votes in both major polls and has only been ranked in two seasons in its history (1948 and 2010).
"If you do want to be ranked, you've got to go out and play well in games like this and win," Norvell said. "It's out there for us. We have a lot of our goals that are out there for us. This team has talked openly about that. I think that's OK. I really do. We're certainly capable, and it's all about how we practice, it's all how we prepare and it's all about how we collectively go out and execute on Saturdays, and so it's a great opportunity."
Norvell has played games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium before as an assistant coach in the Big 12 and said there's typically a great game-day environment there. He's excited about his team getting the chance to play in a Big 12 stadium, something Nevada has only done a couple of times in its history.
"I told the kids the other day, 'These games are going to go by so fast, and when you get out of school, you're going to remember going to Cal, you're going to remember going to Kansas State and playing in a great atmosphere,'" Norvell said. "These are the games they'll look back and know they'll really remember. We can do something about it now. We can prepare properly, we can get ourselves ready to play and then we can go out and and do something about it on Saturday. It is important, and the kids are well aware of what it means. We're looking forward to it."
