UNLV at Nevada Prediction with Analysis
Official 1 UNIT Play courtesy of Right Angle Sports (www.handicapper.net)
YTD Official Play Record: 5-1 (Documented at NSMonitor.com)
UNLV at Nevada (+2) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #177-178
Many factors contributed to Nevada's bad showing in season opening blowout loss vs Washington State. The Wolfpack have implemented new schemes on both sides of the ball this year and were playing their first game against a superior opponent who already had a game under their belt. Washington State has looked sharp and could be a Pac-10 dark horse. The first score of the game came on an interception runback from a deflected pass which took much of the wind from Nevada's sails. Additionally, starting WR Nichierien Flowers was benched for the entire first half and most of the second half for lack of effort in practice. Flowers, a 1st team WAC performer last year is arguably the teams most talented player. His absence definitely hurt the offense. Nevada also played without one of its defensive leaders in junior strong safety Nick Hawthorne due to a calf injury. His absence was magnified by other injuries in the secondary that left them with very poor depth. After a solid week of practice, Flowers will be in the starting line up this week. Hawthorne was just upgraded to probable on Thursday. QB Jeff Rowe finished strong in the second half of last season and is poised for a big year. He throws a very nice ball and will be the best QB on the field tonight. The Nevada running game showed glimpses of promise last week despite very few opportunities due to the lopsided score. This offense will have good balance and will put up points. Wolfpack coaches and followers have very high expectations for this years team. They were hugely disappointing by the opening performance, but they have had 8 days to work since then and I expect a big improvement from game one to game two.
UNLV did almost upset New Mexico on the road in season opener, but I believe that single result has left them with an overrated power rating at this stage. Last week, the Rebels were outplayed by Idaho, a bottom level WAC team, needing several breaks and a last second field goal to win by 3 in Las Vegas. Idaho racked up 490 total yards and only had to punt twice in the entire game. UNLV gave up 32.3ppg last season and only return 3 defensive starters. They still have a long ways to go on that side of the ball. Offensively, they have looked okay, but I believe it will still be a few more weeks before they are comfortable with the complicated new spread offense that has been installed by first year head coach Mike Sanford.
This is always a heated rivalry, but things escalated when UNLV coach Sanford instructed his team to refer to Nevada as "the team up north" instead of their name, adding "we don't want to give them the respect of calling them by their name." This will serve as even more motivation to Nevada players who are also looking to avenge five straight losses in the series. Crowds at Nevada's Mackay Stadium have been known to be extra rowdy when UNLV comes to town, and this year should be no different with traditional late night starting time. The Wolfpack are 4-1 ATS vs UNLV in meetings played here in Reno. Wolfpack win outright.
RAS Official Play: Nevada +2 1 UNIT
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Official 1 UNIT Play courtesy of Right Angle Sports (www.handicapper.net)
YTD Official Play Record: 5-1 (Documented at NSMonitor.com)
UNLV at Nevada (+2) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #177-178
Many factors contributed to Nevada's bad showing in season opening blowout loss vs Washington State. The Wolfpack have implemented new schemes on both sides of the ball this year and were playing their first game against a superior opponent who already had a game under their belt. Washington State has looked sharp and could be a Pac-10 dark horse. The first score of the game came on an interception runback from a deflected pass which took much of the wind from Nevada's sails. Additionally, starting WR Nichierien Flowers was benched for the entire first half and most of the second half for lack of effort in practice. Flowers, a 1st team WAC performer last year is arguably the teams most talented player. His absence definitely hurt the offense. Nevada also played without one of its defensive leaders in junior strong safety Nick Hawthorne due to a calf injury. His absence was magnified by other injuries in the secondary that left them with very poor depth. After a solid week of practice, Flowers will be in the starting line up this week. Hawthorne was just upgraded to probable on Thursday. QB Jeff Rowe finished strong in the second half of last season and is poised for a big year. He throws a very nice ball and will be the best QB on the field tonight. The Nevada running game showed glimpses of promise last week despite very few opportunities due to the lopsided score. This offense will have good balance and will put up points. Wolfpack coaches and followers have very high expectations for this years team. They were hugely disappointing by the opening performance, but they have had 8 days to work since then and I expect a big improvement from game one to game two.
UNLV did almost upset New Mexico on the road in season opener, but I believe that single result has left them with an overrated power rating at this stage. Last week, the Rebels were outplayed by Idaho, a bottom level WAC team, needing several breaks and a last second field goal to win by 3 in Las Vegas. Idaho racked up 490 total yards and only had to punt twice in the entire game. UNLV gave up 32.3ppg last season and only return 3 defensive starters. They still have a long ways to go on that side of the ball. Offensively, they have looked okay, but I believe it will still be a few more weeks before they are comfortable with the complicated new spread offense that has been installed by first year head coach Mike Sanford.
This is always a heated rivalry, but things escalated when UNLV coach Sanford instructed his team to refer to Nevada as "the team up north" instead of their name, adding "we don't want to give them the respect of calling them by their name." This will serve as even more motivation to Nevada players who are also looking to avenge five straight losses in the series. Crowds at Nevada's Mackay Stadium have been known to be extra rowdy when UNLV comes to town, and this year should be no different with traditional late night starting time. The Wolfpack are 4-1 ATS vs UNLV in meetings played here in Reno. Wolfpack win outright.
RAS Official Play: Nevada +2 1 UNIT
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Good luck!
