Nevada Football: Pack to play Western Michigan in Quick Lane Bowl

Clear your schedule. Mark your calendars. Get your coffee ready. It’s bowling season!

The Nevada Wolf Pack, who are participating in their fourth straight bowl game at 8-4, will be playing in the Quick Lane Bowl against the Western Michigan Broncos (7-5), it was announced Sunday. The game is scheduled for Dec. 27 at 8 a.m. PST at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.

Nevada is 7-11 all-time in bowl games, though it’s won in three of its last four bowl games. The Broncos, however, are 1-9 in 10 career bowl games. Their lone bowl victory came in a 45-31 win over Middle Tennessee in the Bahamas Bowl in 2015. The Quick Lane bowl marks their sixth bowl across their last eight seasons.

Western Michigan, in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), is No. 25 in the nation in rushing offense (202.3 ypg), No. 38 in passing offense (261.3), No. 14 in total offense (463.9) and No. 49 in scoring offense (30.8) — tallying 30 points in five of their 12 games.

The offense is spearheaded by two good running backs in La’Darius Jefferson (185/836/10) and Sean Tyler (164/1104/9) with a rising quarterback in Kaleb Eleby (3,115 yards, 21 TDs, 5 INTs).

Western Michigan’s defense is led by MAC defensive player of the year Ali Fayad, a defensive end. He racked up 35 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 16.0 tackles-for-loss, eight quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 12 games. Ralph Holley, who totaled 5.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles-for-loss, plays on the other side of Fayad.

The Broncos began their 2021 season 4-1, including victories over Pitt (44-41), San Jose State (23-3) and Buffalo (24-17), their first MAC win of the season. They followed by dropping three of their next four, but have picked up victories in two of their last three games over Akron (45-40) and Northern Illinois (42-21).

This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.