Nevada Football: How the Wolf Pack Can Win: How To Watch, Odds, Prediction
The Nevada Wolf Pack will return to action on Saturday as they take on the Utah State Aggies
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Here is How Nevada Can Defeat Utah State on Saturday
WEEK 11: Nevada Wolf Pack (2-7 , 2-3 MW) vs Utah State Aggies (4-5, 2-3- MW)
WHEN: Saturday, November 11th – 12:00pm PT/1:00pm MT
WHERE: Maverik Stadium – Logan, Utah
TV: Mountain West Network-Here is the link to watch the game
RADIO: Nevada is on 105.7 KOZZ in Reno and Utah State is on KZNS 1280 in Salt Lake City
SERIES RECORD: Nevada leads the all time series 19-7. Last meeting was in 2020 when Nevada won 34-9.
WEBSITES: NevadaWolfPack.com, the official Nevada athletics website | UtahStateAggies. the official Utah State athletics website.
NOTES: Nevada | Utah State
ODDS: Utah State by 16.5
SP+ PROJECTION: Utah State by 12.6
FEI PROJECTION: Utah State by 12.6
The Nevada Wolf Pack will return to action on Saturday when they take on the Utah State Aggies. The Wolf Pack and the Aggies will clash in the Beehive State as the game will be in Logan, Utah.
The Wolf Pack had their two game winning streak snapped last week against Hawaii. The Wolf Pack offense struggled to run or pass the ball and failed to find any consistency. While the Nevada defense failed to stop Hawaii’s offense whether it be the pass or the run.
Because of Nevada’s struggles on offense and defense, the Wolf Pack lost to Hawaii 27-14. Now Nevada sits with a 2-7 record and is only playing to finish the season on a strong note.
The Wolf Pack will face a Utah State team that is 4-5 and is coming off a thrilling 32-24 double overtime win over San Diego State last weekend. After starting the season 1-4, the Aggies have won three of their last five games including last week’s win over SDSU. The Aggies will need to win two of their last three to become bowl eligible for the fourth time in five seasons.
Can the Wolf Pack find any offensive consistency and defeat the Aggies?
Here are my three reasons on how Nevada can win and my prediction
Find some offensive consistency…..no matter who the starting QB is.
I feel like a broken record saying this and I have been saying this for almost two years but here it goes: NEVADA MUST BE MORE CONSISTENT ON OFFENSE.
The Wolf Pack in their two game winning streak was slowly but steadily finding that consistency. They were running the ball fine and not turning the ball over and scoring points in the red zone.
But last week against Hawaii, that small modicum of consistency went away like a cold snap in Northwest Florida. The Wolf Pack turned the ball over twice, struggled to move the ball and score points in the red zone. Brendon Lewis started the game at QB for Nevada but after five horrible drives on offense, AJ Bianco took over at QB. Different QB, still the same inconsistencies on offense.
Nevada head coach Ken Wilson did not name a starting quarterback ahead of the Utah State game.”We’ll see” Wilson said this week about who will be starting under center for Nevada. But the bottom line is that whoever is the starting QB, they must get better consistency out of the offense. And will need to do better in the passing game than six total completions like Nevada had last week against Hawaii.
For Nevada to win on Saturday, the offense must be consistent by moving the ball well and scoring points.
Contain the Aggie pass offense
The Aggies passing offense is one of the best in the Mountain West conference. Utah State leads the conference in passing touchdowns with 27 passing TDs. The Aggies are second in the conference in passing yards per attempt with 8.1 and second in the conference in completion percentage with 63.7.
The QB leading the Aggie offense is QB Cooper Legas. This season Legas has thrown for 1,505 yards and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions. Legas has two talented receivers he can throw the ball to in Jalen Royals and Terrell Vaughn.
Royals is fourth in the Mountain West in receiving yards with 794 and he leads the conference in TD receptions with 11. Vaughn is second on the team (sixth in the Mountain West) in receiving yards with 730 while being second in the conference in TD receptions with nine.
The Wolf Pack defense struggled to defend Hawaii’s passing attack in last week’s loss. If Nevada is going to win on Saturday, the defense will need to do a much better job pressuring Cooper Legas and defending the Aggie wide receivers.
Win the Turnover Battle
I am going to give you readers some regular, simple numbers dealing with Nevada and turnovers. Are you ready, well you better be.
Under Ken Wilson, Nevada has a 4-2 record when winning the turnover battle.
Under Ken Wilson, Nevada has a 0-15 when losing the turnover battle. And that 0-14 record includes when Nevada either loses or ties the turnover battle.
You don’t need the advanced stats to show you that when Nevada protects the ball, they win. When they turn the ball over, they lose.
And given how Nevada’s offense has struggled to gain any consistency when it comes to either running or passing the ball, the best way for Nevada to win on Saturday is winning the turnover battle.
Prediction
Utah State 31 Nevada 17
The Wolf Pack’s two game winning streak ended in horrendous fashion last week against Hawaii. The Wolf Pack defense could not corral Hawaii’s offense and Nevada’s offense could not score enough to keep the game close.
Now Nevada hosts a Utah State team that, like Hawaii, is a very good passing team and boasts two of the best receivers in the Mountain West.
Nevada has struggled to defend against good to great offenses and Utah State has a good offense. And on offense, the Wolf Pack have to find that consistency on offense in order to score and during the Ken Wilson era, Nevada has yet to be consistently good. And in fact, per the numbers, Nevada’s offense under Coach Wilson has been horrible.
I expect Nevada’s problems on offense and defense will continue. Unless they win the turnover battle and convert those turnovers into points, the Wolf Pack will continue to struggle.
I like the Aggies to win on Saturday and hand Nevada another loss.
