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2009 Hawaii Bowl: Nevada vs SMU Point Spread

Written December 22, 2009 by Hector Garza

Check out more winning football picks at Betfirms! The Hawaii Bowl is scheduled to kick off in Honolulu Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, where the Mustangs and Wolfpack will be ready to roll. Southern Methodist is the big story this year after pulling off one of the best turnarounds in the FBS. They went 1-11 last year to rebound under head coach June Jones to a 7-5 season in Conference USA. Nevada (8-4) was just as impressive, earning a second place finish in the WAC after starting the year 0-3. Our college football spreads have the Mustangs as the 12.5 point underdogs with the total set at a whopping 72.5!

Nevada boasts the best ground game in the nation with an average of 362.3 yards, and has the first team in the FBS with three 1,000 yard rushers. They can also hurt you with the passing game, where QB Colin Kaepernick has thrown 19 td’s to only five picks. The play caller is the team’s 2nd leading rusher with 96.7 ypg and 16 scores, and has also caught a td pass! They started off slow with a shut out against Notre Dame, but gradually picked up steam and scored 52.5 ppg in their last four contests. RB’s Vai Taua and Luke Lipincott have contributed with over 215 ypg on the ground and another 19 scores. There are also six different receivers with 12+ receptions, and nine of them have found the endzone. While the offense seems to humming along quite nicely, the stop unit hasn’t been humming at all. They’ve allowed 42 scores and almost 400 ypg to some mediocre offenses. That was the problem in their last outing vs. Boise State, where they gave up 262 yards and five touchdowns in the air alone. They’re ranked 119th in pass defense, where they could be exposed against the Mustangs.

You’re just in time to bet college football with some great upcoming bowl action, and SportsInteraction has you covered with a 100% Match BONUS thru January 8! SMU had to overcome obstacles this season when their starting QB, Bo Levi Mitchell, went down with a shoulder injury in game 7. That left freshman Kyle Padron to fill the shoes, which he’s done nicely with a better completion percentage (64.4%) and td to int ratio (2:1) than his predecessor. In his last five starts the team hasn’t failed to score at least 26 points, enabling them to win all but one. The Mustangs have a very balanced attack with 20 scores coming in the air and another 19 on the ground. Shawnbrey McNeal, a transfer from Miami, has had a nice year running the ball, gaining 1125 yards and nine scores. Emmanuel Sanders stands out among all receivers with 91 receptions for 1215 yards and six scores. He holds the the single season as well as career receiving records at the school. Like Nevada, the biggest weakness for this team is the defense. They’re ranked 88th nationally in run defense (169.2 ypg) which has led to them giving up 29.2 ppg. LB Chase Kennemer (126 tackles, 11 tfl’s) and company will have their hands full trying to stop the best rushing attack in the nation.

Betfirms has expert college bowl picks and game breakdowns on their website. Both defenses have proven susceptible to giving up a lot of points. I like Nevada’s strong running game to dominate the clock and help keep their defense off of the field. The Wolf Pack have lost their last three bowl games, but can win their first and beat the spread by relying on Kaepernick to rush them to victory.