How to watch: SMU at Nevada on CBS Sports Network

The SMU Mustangs embark on their first season in the ACC on Saturday with a 7 p.m. CT matchup on the road in Reno against the Nevada Wolf Pack. High off of the team’s first conference title since 1984, coach Rhett Lashlee returns for Year 3 with an 18-9 record as he and the Mustangs exit the AAC.

SMU has faced Nevada six times in team history, taking three victories, including the 2009 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, which was their last meeting. The Wolf Pack finished the 2023 season with a 2-10 overall record. After a coaching change, they are now under the leadership of first-year head coach Jeff Choate who took over the team after serving as co-defensive coordinator at the University of Texas.

The game between SMU and Nevada will broadcast and stream on the CBS Sports Network with radio coverage on 96.7FM The Ticket.

How to watch SMU at Nevada

When: Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 at 7 p.m. CT
Location: Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada
TV: CBSSN
Radio: The Ticket – KTCK 96.7 FM/1310 AM

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Odds for SMU vs. Nevada (via BetMGM)

Though it’s not expected to be one of the most competitive Week 0 games, SMU’s matchup against Nevada will still garner numerous eyeballs as the Mustangs make their grand entrance into the ACC. The Las Vegas odds suggest a lopsided outing in Reno.

Spread: SMU -24.5
Total: O/U 56.5
Moneyline: SMU -3000, Nevada +1300

Lashlee: ‘It’s about us’

The Nevada football program’s revamp this offseason gives the Mustangs the unique challenge of facing almost a complete unknown. That’s why the team’s preparation for Week 0 has been focused, first and foremost, on its own schemes and strategies.

“It’s an easy answer to say, it’s about us,” Lashlee said this week. “We’ve got to go out and take care of us and be excited to play. We’ve got to be disciplined… They’ve got a brand new head coach… two new coordinators (Matt Lubick, Kane Ioane) that weren’t coordinating last year places, and so you’re trying to piece it together.”

A decisive win over Nevada would start the Mustangs’ ACC era off on the right foot, but Lashlee doesn’t want his team looking too far ahead. It’s going to be a long season, and it won’t get easier after Week 0. 

“If you get too far removed from the present, you start thinking about the ACC,” Lashlee said. “We don’t play an ACC game until Sept. 28. You start thinking about the new facility that we move into next week… there’s a lot of excitement. 

“They feel the energy. But hopefully, we’ve done a good job, and we’ve tried to just worry about what we can control. We’ve got to beat Nevada. If we don’t beat Nevada, it’s not going to be near as fun moving into that new facility.”

SMU-Nevada Game Notes

• SMU is one of just six FBS programs to kickoff its season on Saturday, joining new ACC foes Florida State and Georgia Tech along with New Mexico and Hawaii.
• The Mustangs have never started a season as early as Aug. 24, and they’ve never before played two games before the end of the month of August.
• SMU kicks off the 2024 season with no ranking in the AP, however, the team has received 33 votes for the Top 25, coming in fourth among other teams receiving votes outside the Top 25.
• Lashlee’s Mustangs have won their season openers in each of his first two seasons as head coach by 24 points or more. SMU has won its last five season openers.
• Quarterback Preston Stone returns after leading the team to an 11-3 record last season. He threw for 3,197 yards with 28 touchdown passes and six interceptions. He also rushed for four more scores.
• Nevada will start redshirt junior QB Brendon Lewis for the second straight season. A transfer from Colorado, Lewis passed for 1,313 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 495 yards and four touchdowns while battling injuries last year.