1986 Nevada Wolf Pack football
Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 38–48 vs. Georgia Southern
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	13–1 (7–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Chris Ault (11th season)
Home stadium	Mackay Stadium
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Nevada $^	7	–	0	–	0	13	–	1	–	0
No. 16 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Montana*	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Boise State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Weber State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Montana State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Idaho State*	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant * – Montana and Idaho State played twice. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

The 1986 Nevada Wolf Pack football team represented the University of Nevada, Reno during the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Nevada competed as a member of the Big Sky Conference (BSC). The Wolf Pack were led by 11th-year head coach Chris Ault and played their home games at Mackay Stadium.^[1]^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30		Cal State Fullerton*	No. 2	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 49–3	13,062
September 6		Sam Houston State*	No. 2	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 35–7	11,680
September 20		Montana	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 51–17	12,450
September 27		at Montana State	No. 1	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 61–10
October 4		at Weber State	No. 1	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	W 38–24
October 11		Stephen F. Austin*	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 34–27	13,242
October 18	1:00 p.m.	No. 12 Idaho	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 17–13	13,825
October 25		Eastern Washington*	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 56–22	14,420
November 1		at Idaho State	No. 1	ASISU Minidome Pocatello, ID	W 44–14
November 8		at Boise State	No. 1	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)	W 21–16	17,934
November 15		Northern Arizona	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	W 27–17	15,425
November 29		No. 16 Idaho*	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 27–7	13,715
December 6		No. 14 Tennessee State*	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 33–6	13,102	^[3]
December 13		No. 4 Georgia Southern*	No. 1	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 38–48	15,100
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

References

^ "Nevada Football 2018 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno. 2018. p. 136. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
^ "Nevada Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
^ "Pack advances to final four". Reno Gazette-Journal. December 7, 1986. Retrieved March 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Nevada Wolf Pack football
Venues	Evans Field (1896–1905) Mackay Field and Stadium (I) (1915–1965) Mackay Stadium (1966–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Boise State UNLV (Fremont Cannon)
Culture & lore	Alphie and Wolfie Jr. KTHX-FM
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024