Nevada NCAA Football Predictions 2009

Written July 14, 2009 by InfoPlays

2009 Nevada NCAA Football Predictions The Nevada Wolf Pack have been to four consecutive bowl games, and now they are looking towards a conference title to take the next step forward. That will be tough considering they play the league favorite, Boise State, on the road. The Wolf Pack went 5-3 in league play last year, with all three losses coming by 7 points or less. The offense should be outstanding once again, but improvement in their record will rely upon a defense continuing to grow in the 4-3 system. If you are looking to bet on college football this season, then sign up with Sportsbook.com and their reduced Friday juice to save yourself some cash!

Offense: Moving the ball and scoring points hasn’t been a problem at Nevada for years now, and it should be an even easier task in 2009. The Wolf Pack return WAC Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who threw for 2,849 yards and 22 touchdowns with just 7 interceptions. Nevada and Boise State were the two top offenses in the WAC last season, averaging 37.6 points/game. The biggest losses on offense are receivers Marko Mitchell and Mice McCoy, who combined for 1,733 yards and 12 touchdowns. But junior Chris Wellington returns after catching six touchdowns with 632 receiving yards a year ago. There are talented youngsters in redshirt freshman Brandon Wimberly and sophomore Tray Session who will team up with Wellington.

The Wolf Pack have a stellar running attack in place after ranking third in the country last season with 277.8 rushing yards/game. Junior Vai Taua led the league in rushing at 117 yards/game and was second in the conference in rushing touchdowns with 15 behind teammate Kaepernick. Taua was a first-team All-WAC selection after rushing for 1,521 yards last season. He accounted for most of that after an injury to starter Luke Lippincott in the second game of ‘08, who was the conference’s leading rusher in 2007. Lippincott returns healthy this fall and could return to his ‘07 form, when he rushed for 1,420 yards and 18 touchdowns to earn All-WAC first team honors.

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Defense: Nevada was a very entertaining team to watch last season, which was partly because of a prolific offense and partly because their defense couldn’t stop anyone. The Wolf Pack gave up 30 or more points in seven of its 13 games. As a result, Nevada went 1-6 in those games. Growing pains can be blamed for some of the problems. Nevada switched to a 4-3 alignment for the first time. Seven defensive starters are back this fall, all well schooled in the formation. This should help prevent some of the big plays they gave up a year ago. Dontay Moch and Kevin Basped return at defensive end after leading the team in sacks a year ago. Moch recorded 11.5 while Basped chipped in 10.

Free safety Jonathon Amaya is back after leading the team with four interceptions and tying for the team lead in tackles with 68. Improvement in the secondary should come with experience after the Wolf Pack finished dead last nationally in pass defense last season, allowing 311.6 yards/game. Antoine Thompson also returns in the secondary at cornerback. After encouraging freshman seasons, Nevada hopes that linebackers James-Michael Johnson and Brandon Marshall will come of age in 2009. Johnson finished sixth on the team in tackles with 49, while Marshall had 33 stops in just six starts.

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