The Nevada football team's game at Texas State on Sept. 29 has been slated as a television game and today we received word about which network will carry it. The game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network and will mark Nevada's first-ever appearance on the network, which is part of the ESPN family of networks.
Kickoff time for the game has yet to be announced and it might not be until mid-September until we know the exact time.
As of now, eight of Nevada's 12 games this season will be on television. We do anticipate additional television games and will release that information as soon as it is available.
Longhorn Network is available on Verizon FiOS TV, Grande Communications, Consolidated Communications, En-Touch Systems, E-Tex Communications, Bay City Cablevision, Mid-Coast Cablevision and Texas Mid-Gulf Cablevision. Longhorn Network is now available online to Verizon FiOS subscribers at LonghornNetwork.com. It will be available on tablets and on smartphones to fans with an affiliated video subscription in the near future.

Nevada's season opener at Cal on Sept. 1 is less than two weeks away and we wanted to try and clear up some of the confusion on the TV situation for the game.
The game will be televised on the newly launched Pac-12 Networks, which began broadcasting last week. As of today, none of the major cable providers in Northern Nevada (Charter, AT&T U-Verse, DirecTV or Dish Network) have signed on to carry the Pac-12 Networks yet.
Here is a link to the Pac-12 channel finder to check and see if your provider carries the networks.
If you are on Twitter, I'd suggest following Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News as he's been on top of most of news regarding the networks. Wilner indicated today that a deal with the Pac-12 Networks and DirecTV is getting closer.
While on the subject of television, Nevada currently has eight games scheduled for TV broadcast. We're still waiting for the start time and network for both the Texas State and Boise State games and we expect those, at the latest, roughly two weeks before each game. There also exists the potential for one or more of the four games not currently slated for broadcast to be picked up by television. More news on that as it becomes available.

There's a great story on SI.com today focusing on the career of ESPN broadcaster Joe Tessitore. The Nevada football program has played an interesting role in Tessitore's broadcasting career, going back to his first game he ever called at ESPN (Nevada-Louisiana Tech, 2004) to perhaps his (and Nevada's) most notable game in recent memory -- the overtime win over Boise State in 2010.

The Nevada Wolf Pack family lost a member recently with the passing of former football player Scott Benning on June 27 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Scott was a standout on the Wolf Pack's Big Sky Championship teams in 1990 and 1991 as a starting tight end.

A memorial service and Celebration of Life will be held on July 13, 2012, 11:00 a.m. at Saint Christopher's Catholic Church located at 1576 Curtner Avenue, San Jose, CA. with a reception following at the San Jose Elks Lodge #522.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation-Scott Benning Memorial Scholarship, Mail Stop 0162, Reno, NV 89577-0162. Checks can be made payable to University of Nevada, Reno Foundation.

Here is a link to Scott's full obituary.

Steve Greenberg and Matt Hayes of the Sporting News recently released rankings of all 124 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision football coaches, and Nevada's Chris Ault is listed as No. 23 in the nation on the magazine's list of the best coaches in the country.

Ault is second among Mountain West coaches, behind just Chris Petersen of Boise State (who was also second in the nation on the list). Ault and Petersen are the only two Mountain West coaches in the national top 25.

According to the rankings, "Chris Petersen is a carpet-bagger compared with Ault, who expertly piloted the Nevada program through multiple rises in altitude. The record since the Wolf Pack went FBS is sterling. Ault's team won 13 games in 2010--that's not easy."

Click here for the Sporting News' complete list of coaches and more information about how they selected their coaches.

One of the things that we plan to do from time to time on Inside Wolf Pack Athletics is update our fans on what some of our former student-athletes are doing now, and the first in the series is former wide receiver Marko Mitchell.

 

Mitchell played for the Wolf Pack football team from 2006-08 and electrified Nevada fans with his athletic catches. A first-team All-WAC selection in 2008, he ranks eighth in career receiving yards in the Nevada record book at 2,763 and turned in two of the top 15 single seasons in school history. After he earned his degree in general studies with a minor in human development and family studies in December of 2008, Mitchell was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent one season with the Redskins and was also a member of the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. He also spent time in the Canadian Football League.

 

Mitchell is now back on campus training and volunteering with the Wolf Pack, and he took a few minutes to answer a few questions for us:

 

Q: What are you doing now?

A: I'm still training. I'm hoping to get back in the league (the NFL). I've also been volunteering with the football team, helping out with the receivers. When I'm done playing, I want to get into coaching.

 

Q: What is your best memory from your time at the University of Nevada?

A: My best memories are the four-overtime game at Boise State in 2007 and the near comeback against Hawaii that season. I remember those games because of how highly rated those teams were in the nation. Everybody doubted us and we shocked them.

 

Q: What is the biggest transition from college football to the NFL?
A: The speed and tempo of the game and how fast it goes. That definitely was the biggest transition.

 

Q: What was the highlight of your NFL career?
A: I'd have to say my touchdowns and when we played the New England Patriots. That was my first time being star-struck by playing with Tom Brady and Randy Moss. On top of that, I had to stay focused and play the game myself.

 

Q: What did you learn at Nevada that has served you well in your professional career?
A: Hard work. No matter what is thrown your way, you can overcome it if you set your mind to it and work hard. That was definitely taught by my coaches, especially Coach (Scott) Baumgartner. He put a lot on my plate by making me the leader of the receivers. He knew that I was the most experienced guy and that I could handle it.

 

As Nevada prepares to move into the Mountain West Conference on July 1, a great source of news and information for Wolf Pack fans is Mountain West senior writer Mick McGrane.

McGrane writes a blog called McGrane's Take: Your Look Inside the Mountain West that highlights all of the member institutions as well as feature stories on student-athletes. He has covered the Mountain West since its inception in 1999 and spent 12 years as the beat writer for San Diego State football and basketball at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Most recently, McGrane just completed a series of previews on all of the Mountain West football teams that is definitely worth a look. His last preview was on the Wolf Pack.

Fans can subscribe to McGrane's blog via email or can follow him on Twitter: @MWCMick.

The San Diego Union-Tribune recently ran a great story, catching up with former Nevada football star quarterback John Dutton. Dutton is still playing professional football, gearing up now for the Arena season with the Cleveland Gladiators as a "neat way to fill the time between helping save the world."
For those who aren't aware, Dutton and his wife, former Wolf Pack swimming standout Terina (Cook) Dutton, has spent much of the past six years in Africa establishing ministries to help women and children.

Click here for the story from the Union-Tribune.