BYU vs. Nevada

BYU and Nevada first met in 1929 and have played 10 times; BYU leads the series 5–⁠3–⁠2. Over the last 10 meetings it’s BYU 5–⁠3.

BYU wins
5
Nevada wins
3
Ties
2
First meeting
1929
Longest streak
2 BYU
Current streak
1 Nevada
Last 10 meetings
BYU 5–⁠3
Most recent
2014

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1920s1–⁠0
1930s2–⁠0–⁠1
1940s0–⁠0–⁠1
2000s1–⁠1
2010s1–⁠2
Average margin
8.8 points; 6 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At BYU
1–⁠2–⁠2 BYU’s record at home
At Nevada
1–⁠4 Nevada’s record at home
Shutouts
1

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. BYU’s biggest win2001: BYU 52, Nevada 7by 45 points
  2. Nevada’s biggest win2010: Nevada 27, BYU 13by 14 points
  3. Upset2002: Nevada 31, BYU 28Nevada had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset2014: Nevada 42, BYU 35Nevada had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of BYU and Nevada, 1929 on13001500170019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Christian Stewart BYU39 of 63, 408 yards, 4 TD2014 Passing
Mitch Mathews BYU16 catches, 182 yards, 2 TD2014 Receiving

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1929 game

    1929 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Sep 30, 1929

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Oct 18, 2014Nevada 42, BYU 35at BYU
Nov 30, 2013BYU 28, Nevada 23at Nevada
Sep 25, 2010Nevada 27, BYU 13at BYU
Sep 14, 2002Nevada 31, BYU 28at Nevada
Sep 1, 2001BYU 52, Nevada 7at BYU
Sep 27, 1940BYU 6, Nevada 6at BYU
Oct 21, 1939BYU 7, Nevada 0at Nevada
Oct 3, 1931BYU 18, Nevada 14at Nevada
Oct 4, 1930BYU 6, Nevada 6at BYU
Sep 28, 1929BYU 10, Nevada 7at Nevada

Every game is listed as played on the field.