Nevada vs. California: All-Time Football Data

There was, once upon a time, something of a (lopsided) rivalry here.  Nevada and Cal played each other fairly regularly prior to 1945, after which the two teams met only once (1996).

The teams first met in 1896, the first year the University of Nevada (then known as Nevada State University) fielded a football team.  To inaugurate the program the University hired Frank Taylor, an assistant at Cal, as the team's first head coach.  The 1896 season featured only two games: a 70-0 drubbing at the hands of the Belmont Preparatory School, and a 40-0 shellacking to the University of California's freshman squad.

Thus the first college team the University of Nevada Sagebrushers (lat. Wolf Pack) played was one sent by the University of California.

In the olden days it was not uncommon for smaller schools to send pit their varsity teams against the freshman teams of larger schools.  Match-ups between Nevada and the California Second Eleven occurred eight times, with Cal holding the 7-1 advantage, including four shutouts. 

Nevada vs. Cal Frosh:

November 26, 1896

Cal: 40 at Nevada: 0

November 27, 1897

Cal: 20 at Nevada: 6

October 21, 1916

at Cal: 34 Nevada 0

November 11, 1916

Cal: 36 at Nevada : 6

October 20, 1917

at Cal: 60 Nevada: 0

October 27, 1917

Cal: 54 at Nevada: 0

September 27, 1919

at Cal: 13 Nevada: 7

November 1, 1919

at Nevada: 13 Cal: 12

However, Nevada also scrapped with the California Big Eleven, with mostly expected results.  (It may interest Cal fans to know that Nevada's first win over a "Big 11" was November 17th, 1900 in Reno, a 6-0 defeat of Stanford; the Nevada coach was James Hopper, who would go on to coach at Cal in 1904.)

Nevada vs. Cal:

November 15, 1899

at Cal: 24 Nevada: 0

November 15, 1900

at Cal: 32 Nevada: 0

October 30, 1901

at Cal: 12 Nevada: 0

November 1, 1902

at Cal: 29 Nevada: 0

November 7, 1903

Nevada: 6 at Cal: 2

November 5, 1904

at Cal: 16 Nevada: 0

Nov 4, 1905  

at Cal: 16 Nevada: 0

November 20, 1915

Cal: 81 at Nevada: 6

October 16, 1920

at Cal: 79 Nevada: 7

October 8, 1921

at Cal: 51 Nevada: 6

November 18, 1922

at Cal: 61 Nevada: 13

November 3, 1923
at Cal: 0 Nevada: 0

November 15, 1924

at Cal: 27 Nevada: 0

October 3, 1925

at Cal: 54 Nevada: 0

November 13, 1926

at Cal: 20 Nevada: 6

October 1, 1927

at Cal: 54 Nevada: 0

November 17, 1928

at Cal: 60 Nevada: 0

November 15, 1930

at Cal: 8 Nevada: 0

October 31, 1931

at Cal: 25 Nevada: 6

October 29, 1932

at Cal: 38 Nevada: 0

September 30, 1933

at Cal: 34 Nevada: 0

September 29, 1934

at Cal: 33 Nevada: 0

October 27, 1945

at Cal: 19 Nevada: 6

September 21, 1996

at Cal: 33 Nevada: 15

Further stats:
Games vs. Cal overall (32):
Cal advantage: 29-2-1

vs. Cal JV (8):
Cal advantage: 7-1

vs. Cal 'for reals' (24):
Cal advantage: 22-1-1

Meetings in Reno:
vs. JV
5
vs. Varsity
1

Nevada Overall:
PF: 103
PA: 1,077
(Cal +974)

Nevada vs. JV:
PF: 32
PA: 269
(Cal +237)

Nevada vs. Varsity:
PF: 71
PA: 808
(Cal +737)