Bob Harvey
Nevada -10
Looking to build on their first win of the season last week, a blowout against UNLV, the Wolf Pack host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs under the Friday night lights in Reno.
Following three sub-par performances to open the season, the Nevada Wolf Pack bounced back in a huge way for a 63-28 wipeout of UNLV last week. In that game Nevada rushed for a school record 559 and finished with 775 total yards.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the reigning WAC offensive player of the year, rambled for 173 yards, completed 15-of-18 passes for 208 yards, tossed for one touchdown and had one TD reception. His resurgence mirrors that of his Nevada team.
After starting the season with a blowout loss at Notre Dame, the Wolf Pack lost to Colorado State because of a -5 in turnover margin, lost by 10 at home to a good Missouri team, and then beat up on the Rebels last week for their first win of the season. Nevada is certainly better than a 1-3 team but turnovers have killed them this season. The first three games saw the ‘Pack -8 in fumbles lost; they improved dramatically on that stat last week against UNLV and will need another +turnover night to put away La. Tech.
The Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech are 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the WAC). Last week the ‘Dogs took advantage of a road weary Hawaii team forcing three turnovers and zero rushing yards. Offensively, RB Daniel Porter did most of the damage against Hawaii, rushing for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
Nevada is now 17-3 ATS as a home favorite under head coach Chris Ault and should prosper again in this situation. It will be their third consecutive home game and they’ll get a team in Louisiana Tech that they should dominate much like they did a week ago against UNLV.
The Bulldogs will need to play solid defense and control the ball, eating up time on the clock if they want to shut down the Wolf Pack. If not, look for Nevada to air it out under the Friday night lights of Mackay Stadium and easily cover the 10-point chalk.