page_title: Nevada Wolf Pack football
section_title: Chris Ault era (1976–1992, 1994–1995 and 2004–2012)
hierarchical_section_title: Nevada Wolf Pack football / History / Chris Ault era (1976–1992, 1994–1995 and 2004–2012)
caption_attribution_description: English: Christ Ault, head football coach for the University of Nevada Reno Wolf Pack introduces Cmdr. Marc Behning, left, commanding officer of the Ohio-class fleet ballistic-missile submarine USS Nevada (SSBN-733) to his team. The submariners are part of a namesake visit taking place during Reno Navy Week. Navy Weeks are designed to show Americans the investment they have made in their Navy and increase awareness in cities that do not have a significant Navy presence.
context_page_description: The Nevada Wolf Pack football program represents the University of Nevada, Reno in college football. The Wolf Pack competes in the Mountain West Conference at the Football Bowl Subdivision level of the NCAA Division I. It was founded on October 24, 1896 as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada.
  The Wolf Pack's home field is Mackay Stadium, located at the north end of its campus in Reno, having been moved from it original location which opened on October 23, 1909. The "new" Mackay Stadium saw its first game 54 years ago on October 1, 1966 with a seating capacity of 7,500 and has undergone several renovations. The stadium currently seats 30,000 and has played to crowds in excess, but decreased its capacity to 26,000 by the 2016 season to increase the quality of the experience in the stadium and later increased its capacity to 27,000 by the 2017 season and 30,000 by the 2018 season. The elevation of its playing field is 4,610 feet above sea level.
  Nevada has had three individuals inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. They are coach Chris Ault, running back Frank Hawkins and former coach Buck Shaw.
context_section_description: The winningest coach in school history is Chris Ault who was hired in 1976 after spending 3 years as assistant coach at UNLV under head coach Ron Meyer. Both Ault and Meyer left UNLV on the same year. He was the head coach for Nevada for 28 seasons and was involved with Nevada football for 40 years before stepping down as head coach after the 2012 season. His record as Nevada head coach ended at 233 wins, 109 losses and 1 tie. Ault won 10 conference titles in the Big Sky, Big West and Western Athletic Conference. The only problem was his 2–8 bowl record. Ault brought popularity to the Pistol Offense when he implemented it after returning to the sideline during the 2004 season. Since then, the Pistol Offense has been used by multiple teams at every level of football including the NFL. Ault also served as the Nevada Athletics Director from 1986 to 2004 and played quarterback for Nevada from 1965 to 1967. In 2002, Ault was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The field at Mackay Stadium was named Chris Ault Field in 2013 in appreciation for his numerous accomplishments.
  The Wolf Pack competed in Division I-AA since the formation of that division in 1978, moving up from Division II and were undefeated as in the regular season. Before joining the Big Sky Conference in 1979, Nevada competed in the Far West Conference and was an independent in football for a decade. Nevada played in the Division I-AA playoffs in its first two seasons, when just four teams were selected. They returned to the national semi-finals in 1983 and 1985, when the playoffs included 12 teams and 1986 with a 16-team field. The Wolf Pack reached the national championship game in 1990 and the quarterfinals in 1991.
  In its 14 years in Division I-AA, Nevada made the playoffs seven times, and went undefeated during the regular season three times (1978, 1986, 1991), compiling an overall record of 122–47–1 (.721). Nevada had a record of 9–7 in the I-AA playoffs during their time in the Big Sky and in 13 years of membership, the Wolf Pack won four conference titles (1983, 1986, 1990, 1991). During most of its I-AA era, the school was known as "Nevada-Reno," "UNR" or "Reno."
  In its final season in Division I-AA in 1991, the top-ranked Wolf Pack recorded what still stands as one of the biggest comebacks in Division I NCAA football history when they defeated Weber State 55–49, after trailing by 35 points in the second half at home. Backup sophomore quarterback Chris Vargas led a second-half Nevada comeback of 41 unanswered points to win the game. After the game, Vargas was given the nickname, "The Comeback Kid," and would become one of the greatest quarterbacks to play for the Wolf Pack.
  Nevada moved up to Division I-A in 1992 when it joined the Big West Conference. The change from Division I-AA to Division I-A brought a lot of excitement to Wolf Pack fans. That year, Nevada became the first NCAA football team to win a conference championship in its first Division I-A season. Nevada won the 1992 Big West title after beating Utah State in the final conference game of the season. Led by Vargas again coming off the bench, Nevada came from behind late in the 4th quarter to win, 48–47.
  In 2000, Nevada left the Big West and joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), hoping to upgrade its athletic program.
  In 2007, the Wolf Pack and the Boise State Broncos played in a historic game on October 14, setting a new NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record for total points scored with 136. Boise State won the game 69–67 in the second half of the fourth overtime period, when Broncos LB Tim Brady stopped Nevada's freshman QB Colin Kaepernick on the mandatory two-point conversion attempt.
  In 2010, Nevada would only lose one game against Hawaii on its way to a 13–1 record beating ranked California and Boise State teams, along with beating BYU on the road and Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Led by Colin Kaepernick, Nevada would win a share of its first WAC title since 2005, and would ruin #4 Boise State's certain invitation to a BCS game.
  On August 18, 2010,
caption: Chris Ault
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:09:16 16:00:05", "Image ExifOffset": "142", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:09:16 14:17:34", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:09:16 14:17:34", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "477741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2827819/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "73", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "873600/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1456000/471", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}