The Nevada football team is set to take the field October 24. The silver and blue will play a maximum of eight games in the Mountain West Conference. The schedule could come out as early as next week. The Mountain West Conference Championship will be held on December 19, with the first place finisher hosting the game.

Fans are excited for the return of college football in Reno but it is still unknown if they will be able to watch in-person at Mackay Stadium.

"If it was today, the answer would be no but we're still a month away," Doug Knuth, Director of Athletics at the University of Nevada said.

Governor Steve Sisolak's directive restricts gatherings to no more than 50 people and it does not allow fans to attend live sporting events. Knuth says the university will continue to follow Sisolak's orders but he is keeping his fingers crossed that the directive could change in the next four weeks. Especially, with more information on COVID-19 continually coming in.

"If the governor feels like we're in a place where we can go forward safely to have fans in the stadium, then we will absolutely," Knuth said. 

The Wolf Pack games will be televised, so fans will still be able to watch the games if they cannot attend the games in-person.

"Even if there aren't fans in the stands, we would love to have 25,000 people in their, cheering for the Pack but all those folks will be at home, watching on their couch, I guess, and cheering for the Pack from home," Knuth said.

Students on campus say they are excited for football to start and they hope that they will be able to attend in-person.

"Things have definitely been off since last semester and I think in terms of getting back to normalcy, having sporting events, especially with a live audience would be a good first step," Greyson Hoelzel, UNR Junior said.

"There's a wide population of people around this campus that really enjoy the Wolf Pack football and I definitely think it will bring back some morale around this area," Cooper Irvine, UNR Freshman said.

Students also understand the importance of safety during the coronavirus pandemic. 

"If they've figured out a system where some people can go safely, then that would be ideal but the last thing I would want is for people to be exposing themselves, unnecessarily," Allie Hamilton, UNR Junior said.

The season was supposed to start in spring but Knuth says a big reason why it will start during the fall is because of rapid testing. Every player, coach and staff member has to get tested for COVID-19 three times per week.

Knuth says having football back is important to the community because it brings so many people together. Especially, during the pandemic when so many things are different.

"Our Wolf Pack football program means a lot to this community and it's kind of a unifying force," Knuth said. "Having something to look forward to, having something to talk about is something that we all need right now and Wolf Pack is that now. It's something we can all look forward to."

Other fall sports like soccer and volleyball will still begin in the spring, following the NCAA's plan. Men's and Women's basketball is scheduled to being November 25.

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