Nevada Football: How the Wolf Pack Can Win: How To Watch, Odds, Prediction
The Nevada will look to make it three wins in a row as they host the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire
Here is How Nevada Can Win Its Third Straight Game Against Hawaii
WEEK 10: Nevada Wolf Pack (2-6 , 2-2 MW) vs Hawaii (2-7, 0-4 MW)
WHEN: Saturday, November 4th – 1:00pm PT/2:00pm MT
TV: Nevada Sports Net and Spectrum Sports. Here is how you can watch the game on Spectrum.
RADIO: Nevada is on 105.7 KOZZ in Reno and Hawaii is on ESPN Honolulu 1420AM/92.7FM
SERIES RECORD: Nevada leads the all time series 15-12. The last meeting between the schools was in 2022 when Hawaii won in Honolulu 31-16.
WEBSITES: NevadaWolfPack.com, the official Nevada athletics website | HawaiiAthletics.com, the official Hawaii athletics website
ODDS: Nevada (-3.5)
SP+ PROJECTION: Nevada (2.5)
FEI PROJECTION: Nevada by 11.5
The Nevada Wolf Pack return to action on Saturday afternoon as they face the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
The Wolf Pack are coming off a 34-24 victory over New Mexico last week which gave Nevada their second straight victory. Nevada is looking for their third win in a row against a Hawaii team that is 2-7 and have lost four straight games.
Nevada looks to continue to ride a good defense and an offense that doesn’t make mistakes to win another game. The Warriors are looking to snap a four game losing streak.
Can the Wolf Pack make it three wins in a row against a slumping Hawaii team?
Here is my article on how Nevada can win
Contain QB Brayden Schager and his top wide receivers
Despite Hawaii struggling this season, Hawaii QB Brayden Schager is performing very well leading the Rainbow Warrior offense. Schager leads the Mountain West in passing touchdowns with 20 this season. Schager also leads the Mountain West in passing yards with 2,565. Schager is completing 63 percent of his passes and gaining 6.9 passing yards per attempt.
Two of Schager’s main passing targets are freshman Pofele Ashlock and senior Steven McBride. Ashlock is third in the Mountain West in receptions with 51 while recording 572 yards(11.72 yards per catch and five touchdowns. Steven McBride is second on the team (seventh in the Mountain West) with 43 receptions while recording 733 yards (17.05 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns. McBride’s 733 receiving yards places him third in the conference and his eight touchdowns place him second only Utah State’s Jaylen Royals.
Hawaii is a team that is going to throw the ball a lot and Nevada’s secondary must be ready to defend the pass well on Saturday. Schager is a very good QB so the Wolf Pack must put pressure on him and force him to make mistakes.
Also the Wolf Pack secondary must also contain the talented receivers in Ashlock and McBride. If Nevada is to win their third straight game, they must contain Schager and the Hawaii pass offense.
Keep giving Jamaal Bell the ball
Jamaal Bell may only be 5-foot-10 but he has become a big time player in the Nevada offense. In the last two games, the Wolf Pack has used Bell mostly as a running back due to the injuries of Ashton Hayes and Sean Dollars.
But when Bell is running the ball,he has been very effective. In the last two games, Bell has rushed the ball 15 times for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Even with Sean Dollars and Conner Noah coming back from injury, the Nevada offense must continue to give the ball to Bell in a variety of ways.
Either with Bell behind QB Brendon Lewis (who will start despite being hurt in the New Mexico game) or through reversals or in the passing game, Bell must touch the ball for Nevada to win on Saturday.
Continue to win the turnover battle
In the last two games, the Nevada Wolf Pack defense has forced four turnovers ( three interceptions and one fumble). In that same time, the Nevada offense has turned the ball over zero times.
In a shocking surprise, Nevada has won their last two games and it is because they have protected the ball.
Nevada’s offense is not going to confuse anyone with an offense that scores points in bunches. But the offense has done a very good job of protecting the ball even if they do not score points. The Wolf Pack defense is playing some very good football lately and they have forced turnovers which is critical to give Nevada a chance to win.
If Nevada is going to win on Saturday, it will be because the Nevada offense continues to play turnover free football. While also protecting the ball on offense, the Nevada defense forces turnovers to give the Wolf Pack offense a chance to score points.
Prediction
Nevada 27 Hawaii 23
The Wolf Pack played their most complete game last week against New Mexico. Offense, defense and special teams were all on point for Nevada.
Nevada has a chance to extend their winning streak to three in a row against Hawaii. Hawaii has lost four straight and has struggled to defend as they have given up more than 30 points in their last four games.
Hawaii struggles to defend but they do boast a very good passing offense with QB Brayden Schager leading the Rainbow Warriors. Schager has talented receivers in Pofele Ashlock and Steven McBride and the passing offense will test the Nevada defense that while playing well, still struggles in pass defense.
I like Nevada in this contest because the defense will continue to play well and force some turnovers (Schager has thrown 12 interceptions this season which leads the Mountain West) and the offense will continue to protect the ball and score points off of Hawaii’s turnovers.
