Louisiana Tech vs Nevada
Written by Kyle Hunter - Google +
The Friday night game on ESPN this week will pit Louisiana Tech against Nevada. The Wolfpack were hyped as a real contender before the season, but have disappointed thus far and sit at just 1-3 on the season. The Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech come in with a record of 2-2, though their two losses were to Auburn and Navy on the road. These two teams will get the national showcase Friday, so expect both teams to be especially amped up for this WAC showdown.
The Nevada Wolfpack have plenty of talent on their football team, but until last weekend it hadn’t seem to gel at all. Last weekend Nevada rolled up 63 points and an absolutely insane 773 total yards of offense against UNLV in a 63-28 win. Before that win the Wolfpack offense had been quite silent in their losses to Notre Dame, Missouri, and Colorado State. Talented Junior Colin Kaepernick quarterbacks the offense and he brings a true dual-threat ability that defenses hate to defend. The Wolfpack and coach Chris Ault have been very successful in the past few years running the innovative pistol formation, so one would expect the offense to improve throughout the season. The defense of Nevada is certainly not their strong point, as they have given up at least 28 points in every game so far this season. The defense will need to hold some teams to field goals in the red zone to help this team be more successful in the long run.
Louisiana Tech has established itself as a powerful running football team so far this year. In their last game against Hawaii the Bulldogs ran for 332 yards and rolled to a 27-6 victory. When the Bulldogs establish the run the offense is successful, but when they cannot control the line of scrimmage the team has had difficulty getting anything at all done. During their game against Navy earlier this season they scored just 7 offensive points and gained only 167 yards total. The defense has improved from a year ago, but they still seem to struggle against the run. Navy and Auburn both gashed them pretty badly on the ground, which is definitely a concern going into this matchup against Nevada.
The odds makers opened up the Wolfpack as 6.5 point favorites, but the line has jumped to 10.5 as the money pours onto Nevada. The posted total is set at 58 points. Louisiana Tech is just 14-37-1 against the spread in their last 52 road games, while Nevada is 22-9 against the spread in their last 31 home games. The game has gone over the posted total 6 of the last 8 times these two teams have played.
Expect Nevada to run the pistol offense and try to establish a running game early and often against a Bulldog defense susceptible to the run. Kaepernick and a host of running backs will likely see plenty of action Friday night. Nevada will look to establish the run to open up room to throw the ball, while Louisiana Tech will likely want to stick with the run on offense as much as possible throughout the entire game. The trends are difficult to ignore in this one, and the trends sure seem to point to a Wolfpack win.
Got something to say?
