The Golden, er, SILVER Age of Wolf Pack Football

Again, there will be plenty to say in the next week about all kinds of things.  In the meantime here's a glimpse into what was University of Nevada football at a time when all of Europe was agog with the springtime of youth.

'Tis true that, prior to Ault the First ascending to the throne of Nevadadom, there were few but precious years of any real gridiron glory.

The first year was 1898 (also the year of my grandmother's birth, FWIW), when F. F. Ellis went 4-1 for the school's first winning record in three years of football.

Oct 15, 1898 Stewart Indian School (Carson City, NV) W 34 - 6
Oct 25, 1898 Santa Clara L 6 - 12
Oct 27, 1898 at Pacific W 35 - 0
Oct 29, 1898 Belmont Academy (???) W 24 - 0
Nov 26, 1898 Stanford University JV W 22 - 0

1900, under James Hopper, was another.  As a new century was about to dawn, The Nevada State University Sagebrushers earned thier first win over a major opponent.

Nov 17, 1900 at Stanford W 6 - 0

1903: Al Steckle leads NSU to victory over Cal.

CALIFORNIA'S PROUD COLORS LOWERED BY THE DOUGHTY ELEVEN FROM SAGEBRUSHDOM

"Out of the eighty students of the N.S.U. have been selected eleven young men who were moulded into shape by Dr. Steckle, the best football coach who ever came to the Coast. He made of them the peers of the flower of the California universities."

1904: Not really spectacular, but since it is Utah State week, 1904 was the first meeting between the schools.  In the final Nevada game for Bruce Shorts, USU limped home after a 24-5 drubbing.

1919: R. E. Courtright takes over and goes 8-1 in his first season.  This is far and away the best single-season record to that date, and included two games in which Nevada scored triple digit points.

Sep 27, 1919 at California Freshmen L 7 - 13
Oct 4, 1919 Nevada-Reno Alumni W 32 - 0
Oct 10, 1919 Stewart Indian School W 54 - 0
Oct 15, 1919 Pacific W 132 - 0
Oct 18, 1919 Mare Island Navy W 102 - 0
Nov 1, 1919 California Freshmen W 13 - 12
Nov 8, 1919 at UC Davis W 13 - 0
Nov 15, 1919 St. Mary's (CA) T 0 - 0
Nov 20, 1919 Santa Clara W 41 - 7
Nov 27, 1919 vs UC Davis W 56 - 0

I'm sure there are some other 'early' years glories I'm missing here...but 1928 sure wasn't one of them.

Sep 29, 1928 at San Francisco L 0 - 12
Oct 6, 1928 vs Utah L 7 - 32
Oct 13, 1928 at Santa Clara L 6 - 19
Oct 20, 1928 Pacific L 6 - 7
Oct 27, 1928 St. Mary's (CA) L 0 - 22
Nov 3, 1928 at UC Davis L 0 - 6
Nov 10, 1928 vs Fresno State T 12 - 12
Nov 17, 1928 at California L 0 - 60

Nor was 1934, where the team managed to score 15 points on the season...over two games.  That's right: they were shut out seven times that year.

Oops...now I'm being negative.  In 1935 Nevada was only shut out once!

Well, long story short, the '20s and '30s weren't good for football on the high desert of Northern Nevada, although we did seem to have a thing for tieing BYU.  1940 saw marked improvement under Jim Aiken (4-4-1...guess who? BYU!), with a little help from a guy named Marion Motley, although things really started rolling starting in 1943.

Sep 19, 1943 Tonopah AAB W 34 - 0
Sep 25, 1943 Reno AAB W 28 - 0
Oct 3, 1943 at San Francisco L 0 - 6
Oct 10, 1943 Tonopah AAB W 25 - 0
Oct 16, 1943 at Utah W 27 - 19
Oct 24, 1943 Salt Lake City AFB T 0 - 0

Then 1944...

Sep 24, 1944 Tonopah AAB W 20 - 0
Sep 30, 1944 Alameda Coast Guard L 0 - 35
Oct 7, 1944 vs Northern Arizona (neutral location) W 25 - 6
Oct 14, 1944 at Tonopah AAB L 6 - 7
Oct 21, 1944 at Utah State W 13 - 7
Oct 28, 1944 vs Utah L 14 - 19 Nov 5, 1944 at Edmonton AAB W 12 - 0
Nov 11, 1944 Fleet City USNTDC L 2 - 19

...and 1945; what would happen when the University began playing more bona fide colleges and fewer teams put together in the heart of the Great Basin from men in the Army Air Corps who were desperate for human interaction?

Sep 22, 1945 Pocatello Marine Base W 65 - 0
Sep 28, 1945 St. Mary's (CA) L 0 - 39
Sep 29, 1945 at Utah W 33 - 14
Oct 14, 1945 Santa Barbara MAB W 19 - 12
Oct 20, 1945 at Tulsa L 0 - 40
Oct 27, 1945 at California L 6 - 19
Nov 3, 1945 vs Fresno State W 7 - 4
Nov 11, 1945 vs San Diego State W 44 - 6
Nov 18, 1945 Great Bend AAB W 26 - 13
Nov 25, 1945 Las Vegas AAB W 40 - 0

Then came 1946, and with victory in Europe and the Pacific, the genesis of the so-called 'Powerhouse Years' flowered; just add Dick Trachok & Stan Heath and eliminate those AAB games...

Sep 29, 1946 at San Francisco L 14 - 26
Oct 5, 1946 Santa Clara W 33 - 7
Oct 12, 1946 vs Arizona State W 74 - 2
Oct 19, 1946 at San Diego State W 26 - 0
Oct 27, 1946 at St. Mary's (CA) L 12 - 13
Nov 2, 1946 vs Montana State W 38 - 14
Nov 9, 1946 California-Santa Barbara W 48 - 13
Nov 22, 1946 Loyola Marymount University W 53 - 0
Dec 7, 1946 at Hawaii W 26 - 7

...with a loss at St. Mary's whose season went a little something like this:

Sep 28, 1946 Washington W 24 - 20
Oct 5, 1946 Alameda NAS W 73 - 0
Oct 12, 1946 California L 13 - 20
Oct 19, 1946 Fordham W 33 - 2
Oct 27, 1946 vs Nevada W 13 - 12
Nov 1, 1946 UCLA L 20 - 46
Nov 16, 1946 at Santa Clara W 28 - 19
Nov 30, 1946 at San Francisco W 6 - 0
Jan 1, 1947 Georgia Tech L 19 - 41

But in 1947 Joe Sheetketski took Nevada to another level.  Along with runningback Trachok and quarterback Heath (who, incidentally, came in fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year), Nevada would play on New Year's Day for the first time in its 51-year history.  Say 'Hey' (bad joke) for the Salad Bowl!

Sep 20, 1947 vs Northern Arizona W 50 - 0
Sep 28, 1947 at San Francisco L 13 - 37
Oct 4, 1947 at Oregon W 13 - 6
Oct 11, 1947 Portland W 51 - 6
Oct 18, 1947 at St. Mary's (CA) W 39 - 14
Oct 25, 1947 vs Tulsa W 21 - 13
Nov 2, 1947 at St. Louis University W 27 - 21
Nov 8, 1947 Detroit Mercy L 6 - 38
Nov 15, 1947 vs Montana State W 55 - 0
Nov 29, 1947 vs Arizona State W 33 - 13
Jan 1, 1948 at North Texas W 13 - 6

But they weren't finished writing history just yet as their successes were carried on into 1948, culminating with a bid to the Harbor Bowl.

Sep 24, 1948 at San Jose State W 39 - 0
Oct 3, 1948 at San Francisco W 26 - 7
Oct 9, 1948 vs North Texas W 48 - 7
Oct 17, 1948 at St. Mary's (CA) W 48 - 20
Oct 23, 1948 at Tulsa W 65 - 14
Oct 30, 1948 Oklahoma City W 79 - 13
Nov 7, 1948 at Santa Clara L 0 - 14
Nov 11, 1948 at Fresno State W 53 - 7
Nov 25, 1948 at Wichita State W 42 - 12
Dec 17, 1948 at Hawaii W 73 - 12
Jan 1, 1949 vs Villanova L 7 - 27

By the start of the 1949 season Trachok and Heath had gone on with life.  Sheetketski would go on to lead Nevada football for another two seasons, although the lustre was fading and soon Wolf Pack football would meet with Depression-era success.  The Silver Age was over.  But while the world was transitioning from the horrors of World War 2 into the jubilation of the early Baby Boom, all of Nevada was treated to something special as world-class athletes transformed a small, almost backwoods land grant institution into a true national player in inter-collegiate football for two years of glory.