Nevada's Jay Norvell left the film review of his team’s season opener against Northwestern with the belief the Wolf Pack should have come out the victors.

“As we evaluated the game, we really should have won the game,” Norvell said after Monday's practice. “There’s no question we should have won it. We were very concerned about handling the line of scrimmage going into the game and we controlled it. Our defense played very well up front. They were a little over 3 yards per rush. We got 5.5 yards per rush. We did a good job running the ball. Where we didn’t do a good enough job was in the passing game offensively. We have to do a lot better job throwing the ball, hitting open receivers and making plays.”

Norvell, who added the Wolf Pack pass defense also came up short in the loss, said in his post-game press conference that Ty Gangi would likely start Saturday against Toledo. Following Monday’s practice, Norvell said that position would still have to be evaluated before a decision on who would start would be made.

“We’ll see,” Norvell said when asked if Gangi would start. “We’re still talking about a lot of things. We’re playing a style of offense that runs through the quarterback and the quarterback has to execute and we’ve got a lot of play-makers. We had a lot of guys running open Saturday and we have to take care of that and hit them. We watched the film and evaluated and talked to those kids and we’ll zero in on that as we move forward this week.”

Against Northwestern, Gangi completed 16-of-37 passes – 43.2 percent – for 199 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Nevada led 17-7 at halftime but mustered only one second-half field goal in the 31-20 loss, those points coming after the Wolf Pack began with the ball on the Northwestern 17 following an interception. In 12 offensive possessions, Nevada had four scores (two touchdowns and two field goals), five punts, one turnover and two turnovers on downs.

Gangi connected on a pair of deep balls to true freshman receiver McLane Mannix – throws of 41 and 35 yards – and also drew a pass interference on a deep throw to Wyatt Demps, but Gangi also overshot some throws down the field.

“Throws I have to make,” Gangi said after the loss. “It could be a completely different game if we had those. Our goal is to score a lot more than 20 points. I take a lot of responsibility on that. I had some throws I wish I could have taken back, some decisions I wish I could have taken back, but a lot to learn from.”

Norvell said he remains confident in his quarterbacks, a group headlined by Gangi and David Cornwell, a transfer from Alabama who entered fall with the first string before being passed by Gangi, who saw all but one of the offensive snaps against Northwestern (fourth-stringer Griffin Dahn came in for a designed quarterback run on fourth-and-1 late in the game, a play that was stopped short of the first-down marker).

Entering the Northwestern game, Norvell said he anticipated playing two quarterbacks, not only against the Wildcats, but throughout the year. On Monday, he reiterated the potential to do so against Toledo.

“That’s a possibility,” Norvell said. “That is a real possibility. We talked about it going into the first game and that may be something we do this week. We have to throw for a higher percentage for sure. You can’t run the Air Raid offense and throw for under 50 percent. It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re used to doing. Ty practiced really well and obviously games are different, but we have to be better there and we have capable guys who can play at that high level. We’re checking them out in practice and making decisions and we’ll make some decisions as we move forward.”

Norvell said he will evaluate the quarterback position while thinking about the “best thing for our first team and program in the long range and moving us forward.” He said the kind of offensive football he envisions Nevada playing wasn’t fully on display in the season opener. Film review showed some big-play potential that wasn’t capitalized on.

“We have big-play potential at receiver and we have to do a better job of hitting our receivers and playing more efficiently at quarterback," Norvell said. "I know we’re really working hard to do that this week. That will be a big challenge for us moving forward. We have to get that squared away so we can play the way we want to play.”

FOSSUM MRI COMING TUESDAY

Kaleb Fossum, who starts at four positions for Nevada, including slot receiver, will undergo an MRI on his left knee Tuesday after he was carted off the field against Northwestern with a dislocated kneecap.

“He’s feeling a lot better, which is a positive,” Norvell said. “It could have been a lot worse. We’re hopeful there wasn’t a lot of damage done when he dislocated it. He’s pretty motivated to get back out there and play, so we’ll know a little bit more (Tuesday).”

The injury looked potentially season-ending when it occurred. Fossum was hit when he tried to recover his own fumble on a kickoff in the third quarter. He was down for about five minutes before being taken off the field on a cart. Fossum caught four passes for 36 yards with two fumbles (both on returns) before leaving with the injury.

Fossum didn’t return Monday and is doubtful to play against Toledo, Norvell said. The Washington State transfer said during fall camp he thought about playing against the Cougars every day since he transferred to Nevada. That game is only 18 days away: Nevada plays in Pullman, Wash., on Sept. 23.

WOLF PACK FOOTBALL

Who: Toledo (1-0) at Nevada (0-1)

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

Where: Mackay Stadium

Weather: High of 86; low of 56

TV/Radio: None/94.5 FM

Online: ESPN3

Payout: Toledo gets $375,000 to play game

Betting line: Toledo by 9.5 points