Nevada quarterback Carson Strong put on a career performance in Week 6, passing for six touchdowns in a single game as the Wolf Pack defeated the New Mexico State Aggies, 55-28. This past Saturday against Hawaii, Strong further solidified his place as the top quarterback prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft, completing 34-of-54 passes for 395 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions on a day when both the passing game and running game were humming for Nevada in a 34-17 win over the Rainbow Warriors.

So far this season, Strong has completed nearly 68% of his passes for 1,990 yards with 16 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He’s been commended for his accuracy at all levels of the field, poise, confidence, quick release, and high level of mental processing—something that’s incredibly important to run the Air Raid offense that Nevada does at a high level.

On top of that foundation—one that must be set as a passer for any successful passer—every top quarterback seems to have an “it” factor. For the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, the deep ball is his “it” factor. More specifically, it’s the deep ball down the sideline, something that Strong has showcased every time we’ve watched him this year and something you can rely on week in and week out. Deep ball accuracy and placement is something that can be hard to teach and some of it has to do with natural ability—and considering that Strong is someone that you notice as a natural passer at first glance, he checks all the boxes.

Here’s a look at Strong’s longest completed passes by the week this season:

vs Hawaii, 10/16: 28 yards
vs NMSU, 10/9: 65 yards
at BSU, 10/2: 39 yards
at KSU, 9/18: 55 yards
vs IDST, 9/11: 39 yards
at Cal, 9/4: 46 yards

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsNet/status/1449599513837117442?s=20

Technically speaking, Strong should have had three touchdowns in this performance, with another nicely thrown deep ball that was dropped in the end zone.

https://twitter.com/FTBVids_YT/status/1449603166757031941?s=20

The Hawaii game was one in which Nevada fed tight end Cole Turner, a prospect who is beginning to garner some attention in his own right. This is a perfectly thrown ball from Strong, who does a nice job rolling out of the pocket and throwing it on the run while Turner adjusts his route as well as anyone could have asked him to.

https://twitter.com/FTBVids_YT/status/1449610140345241600?s=20

An important thing to look at when zeroing in on the aspects of this season is that Strong has consistently been on the up. He didn’t play quite to the level we’re used to seeing him at in the loss to a tough Kansas State team earlier this year, but some of the issues Nevada encountered were not entirely on him and it didn’t help that the Wildcats all but completely eliminated the Wolf Pack’s run game, holding them to 27 rushing yards with one touchdown on the ground in the 38-17 loss. Strong completed 27-of-40 passes for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception that day.

Since then, Strong has completed 67.7% of his passes for 1,035 yards with nine touchdowns and just one interception. Also in that time frame, Strong recorded the previously mentioned career-high single-game touchdown passes (6) against New Mexico State, recorded his longest completion of the season in the same game (65 yards, the longest of his career since the 37-26 win over Fresno State on Dec. 5, 2020 when he completed an 85-yarder), and led his team to a 41-31 victory over Boise State, Nevada’s first on the road over the Broncos since 1997.

Expect Strong to continue to build upon this momentum when he and the Wolf Pack face Fresno State on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Bulldogs Stadium.