Tag: Mountain West

San Jose State Running Back And Line Backer Enter The Transfer Portal

San Jose State Running Back And Line Backer Enter The Transfer Portal

Less than 24 hours after San Jose State announced Ken Niumatalolo will take over for former head coach Brent Brennan who left for Arizona, Spartans’ running back Quali Conley and linebacker Bryun Parham have entered the transfer portal.

After transferring from Utah Tech to SJSU, Conley was integral to the Spartans’ ascension from 1-5 to bowl eligible, rushing for 842 yards, nine touchdowns and wound up ranked second among Mountain West players with 130+ carries in yards per carry (6.4). Keep in mind, Conley was backing up 2023 All-Mountain West First Team honoree Kairee Robinson.

Conley’s portal entry now means SJSU won’t return its starting quarterback, top-two rushers and four of its offensive lineman. Tight end Dominick Mazotti, who was a key piece of SJSU’s run game, transferred to University of Massachusetts last month.

According to 247 Sports’ crystal ball predictions, Conley has a 100% chance of transferring to Arizona. If this happens, it would signify that SJSU associate head coach, running backs coach and recruiting coordinator will join Brennan and former SJSU offensive line coach Josh Oglesby in Tucson.

Parham’s transfer portal announcement, meanwhile, is a massive blow to Niumatalolo’s defense next year.

Dec 20, 2022; Boise, Idaho, USA; San Jose State Spartans linebacker Bryun Parham (6) strips the ball from Eastern Michigan Eagles quarterback Taylor Powell (7) during the second half of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Albertsons Stadium. Eastern Michigan beats San Jose State 41-27. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

In 2023, Parham led SJSU with 106 tackles, had the fifth-most tackles for loss (five), second-most quarterback hits (four) and the most fumble recoveries (two). In 2022 —his first season as a starter — he finished with the second-most tackles (74).

With defensive backs Tre Jenkins, Drew Jenkins, Chase Williams, defensive lineman Noah Lavulo, Jay Kakiva, Matthew Tago graduating, the Spartans will have several holes to fill.

Sandwiched between the news of Conley and Parham, was Brock Purdy’s younger brother, Chubba, decommiting from SJSU and transferring to Mountain West-foe Nevada.

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It’s likely SJSU’s roster will undergo more changes as both Brennan and Niumatalolo fill out their staffs.

It’s also worth noting that Niumatalolo won’t be running his patented triple option offense at SJSU this season and, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “is expected to target an offensive coordinator for some type of wide-open and pass-heavy system.”

Niumatalolo ran the triple option in his 25 years at Navy and in his 15 years as a head coach from 2007-2022, he became the winningest head coach in program history, went to 10 bowl games, and from 2015-19 was a three-time recipient of the American Athletic Conference coach of the year award as the Midshipmen had four AP Top 25 poll finishes.

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Brock Purdy’s Younger Brother Chubba Decommits from SJSU and transfers to Nevada

Brock Purdy’s Younger Brother Decommits from SJSU and transfers to Nevada

The news of Brock Purdy‘s younger brother, Chubba, transferring from Nebraska to San Jose State lit up the Bay Area last weekend.

The idea of Chubba dominating on a Saturday followed by Brock on a Sunday was storyline gold. Seriously, what could be better than that?

But all those imaginations won’t become reality now that Chubba has decommited from SJSU and transferred to Mountain West-foe Nevada.

The news isn’t surprising after Chubba deleted his initial commitment post on Sunday, Jan. 21 — the same day SJSU announced the hiring of new head coach Ken Niumatalolo who will be taking over for Brent Brennan.

A former four-star from Gilbert, Ariz., Purdy played two years at Florida State, compiling 317 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 147 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Then, after transferring to Nebraska in 2022 for two years, he threw for 529 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing for 353 yards and three scores. He was 0-4 as a starter.

Purdy’s commitment to Nevada also comes on the same day SJSU running back Quali Conley entered the transfer portal. 247 Sports’ crystal ball puts Conley’s chances at transferring to UA at 100%.

If Conley becomes a Wildcat, it could signify former SJSU associate head coach, running backs coach, and recruiting coordinator Alonzo “Zo” Carter joining Brennan in Tucson.

So now, if Niumatalolo doesn’t bring in a quarterback through the transfer portal, SJSU’s options are Oregon transfer Jay Butterfield, freshman Anthony Garcia, redshirt freshman Tyler Voss, and redshirt sophomore Walker Eget.

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Also noteworthy, is that Niumatalolo won’t be running his patented triple option offense at SJSU this season and, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “is expected to target an offensive coordinator for some type of wide-open and pass-heavy system.”

Niumatalolo utilized the triple option in his 25 years of coaching at Navy. In his 15 years as a head coach from 2007-2022, he became the winningest head coach in program history, went to 10 bowl games, and from 2015-19 was a three-time recipient of the American Athletic Conference coach of the year award as the Midshipmen had four AP Top 25 poll finishes.

BREAKING: San Jose State to hire Ken Niumatalolo as next head coach

BREAKING: San Jose State to hire Ken Niumatalolo as next head coach

Ken Niumatalolo, the most successful head coach in Navy history, should be taking over San Jose State “within the next 48 hours” according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Niumatalolo’s hiring comes nearly a week after former SJSU head coach Brent Brennan left to become Arizona’s head coach to replace Jedd Fisch who departed to Washington.

Niumatalolo went to 10 bowl games in his first 12 seasons, and from 2015-19, he was selected as the American Athletic Conference coach of the year three times and led the Midshipmen to four AP-Top 25 poll finishes. But after going 11-23 in the three seasons that followed, Niumatalolo was let go after losing to rival Army on Dec. 10, 2022.

Niumatalolo, who finished 109-83 in those15 full seasons at Navy, then traveled westward and took up up a leadership role on Chip Kelly’s staff at UCLA in 2023 and was set to be the tight ends coach in 2024.

“He’s a voice for all of us,” Kelly told The Washington Post prior to the 2023 season. “He also meets with our coaching staff, and just talking about leadership, not talking about scheme, not talking about X’s and O’s, but has brought a lot of different stuff to our staff from that standpoint and has really made an impact.”

With Thamel also reporting that “Niumatalolo will not be running the triple option” at SJSU, there will be several conversations centered around the “X’s and O’s.”After all, Niumatalolo only ran the triple-option at Navy as a head coach and member of the offensive staff from 2002-07.

So if Niumatalolo won’t be running his coveted attack, what will he run? Furthermore, what will his staff look like? It hasn’t been determined which SJSU coaches will follow Brennan to Arizona.

But that shouldn’t distract how good of a hire— on paper— this is for SJSU.

Jeff Konya, SJSU’s Director of Athletics, found a proven winner that could convince fans and the donor base that the program won’t plunge back to irrelevance. Plus, Niumatalolo also understands the struggles SJSU is facing in the NIL space.

Because Navy players are considered federal employees, they aren’t able to rake in NIL deals, which put the program at a disadvantage behind other teams in the AAC.

“But even some of the lower-tier guys for us, we can’t compete with that,” Niumatalolo told ESPN back in 2022.

The hiring also illustrates how far SJSU has come pre and post Brennan era.

Brennan’s hiring in 2017 was a byproduct of potential candidates turning the job down out of the fear the tenure could be disastrous to the point where they’d never get another head coaching opportunity again.

So Brennan, then an outside wide receivers coach at Oregon State, got the gig and produced just three wins in his first two seasons. Then came an encouraging 5-7 season in 2019 followed by the prized 2020 Mountain West Championship.

From 2020-23, Brennan became the first SJSU head coach to make three bowl games and those three bowl appearances marked SJSU’s first time making three bowl games in the span of four years.

“I don’t know how long this will go,” Niumatalolo said in the above mentioned Washington Post article. “Chip and I have talked. I want to make one more run at it, and I feel like coming here has helped me from that perspective.”

And now Spartan Nation hopes Niumatalolo gained the “perspective” necessary to continue the program’s golden era.

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Nevada vs. Wyoming: Game Preview, How to Watch, Central Players, Keys & Prediction

The Nevada Wolf Pack travels to the high plains of Wyoming to snap its six-game losing streak against the Wyoming Cowboys.

 

Nevada vs. Wyoming: Game Preview, How to Watch, Central Players, Keys & Prediction

The Wolf Pack travels to the high plains of Wyoming to snap its six-game losing streak against the Cowboys.

Contact/Follow @KayceeClark-Mellott and @MWCwire

WHO: Nevada (15-3, 2-2 in the MWC) vs. Wyoming (9-8, 2-2 in the MWC)

WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 20, 5:30 PM MT

WHERE: Arena-Auditorium “Dome of Doom”, Laramie, Wyo.

TELEVISION: Mountain West Network

STREAM:  FuboTV – Get a free trial

LINE: Nevada +8.5

RANKINGS:

  Nevada Wyoming
AP RV (22) NR
USA TODAY COACHES POLL RV (14) NR
NET RANKINGS 45 204
KENPOM 47 214

The last victory for the Nevada Wolf Pack against the Wyoming Cowboys came in the 2020 COVID-19 season, Wyoming head coach Jeff Linder’s first season. Linder and the Pokes have won six straight from that season sweep of the Cowboys, including four games in Laramie.

Nevada’s season, thus far, is the best since the 2018-19 season, when they played in the NCAA Tournament as a seven-seed. The Wolf Pack is one of the best defensive teams in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), allowing the fewest points in the league. Coupled with three players scoring in double figures, Nevada has become one of the top teams in the conference. However, the team has lost two straight matchups against Boise State and San Diego State.

Both losses included some of Nevada’s worst shooting percentages of the season and the most fouls committed in a game against the Aztecs. The Wolf Pack allowed 41 rebounds in both games, the most in a season. Although both teams are in the top four in the conference for rebounding, Wyoming and Nevada are in the middle of the MWC.

The Cowboys have a season of many unknowns. They lost four starters from last season to graduation or the transfer portal. The only returning players for Wyoming are Brendan Wenzel, Caden Powell, Kenny Foster — who experienced a season-ending injury in the preseason — and Cort Roberson — who mainly works on the scout team.

As the team has already matched its win total from last year, the Cowboys are looking to reach double-digit wins with an upset over the Wolf Pack. Games at the “Dome of Doom” have favored Wyoming thus far this season, with a 6-1 record, including two conference victories, courtesy of Akuel Kot’s game-winning buzzer-beaters over San Jose State and Fresno State.

Turnovers have troubled the Pokes all season as the 20th most per game in the NCAA. Sam Griffin and Kot lead the team with 3.1 turnovers each per game. Only two games have seen the Cowboys commit less than 10 turnovers.

While Nevada looks to get back on track in conference play, Wyoming aims to achieve a winning record in the conference.

Key Players to the Game:

G Kenan Blackshear–Nevada

23-24 Stats: 16.3 PPG, 4.7 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG & 51.4% FG

Last time out: 14 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals on 6-12 (50%) shooting, including 2-5 from the line, at San Diego State.

Kenan Blackshear is an all-around player for the Wolf Pack. He leads the team in assists and steals and is second among starters in scoring, rebounds and shooting percentage. His four highest-scoring games have all come this season, with a career-high of 31 points at Washington in November. 

Both guards — Blackshear and Jarod Lucas — are prominent players for Nevada, but the stature of Blackshear may pose difficulties for Wyoming’s defense. His passing vision and abilities can help propel the Wolf Pack while drawing attention away from others.

F Caden Powell-Wyoming

23-24 Stats: 7.2 PPG, 1.0 APG, 5.9 RPG, 0.9 BPG & 50% FG

Last time out: 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block on 0-2 shooting against Fresno State.

The obvious answer for the Pokes is leading scorer Griffin or Kot with the buzzer-beaters and scoring double digits in all but one game this season. However, Powell must be a dominant force on the glass. As Nevada has allowed over 40 rebounds in their last two games, it’s central for the Cowboys to continue that trend.

Powell also makes half the shots he puts up, and while playing the best scoring defense in the conference, throwing up the most efficient shots is vital. Since MWC play started, Powell has yet to post double figures, only averaging 4.8 points on 46.2%. A dominant big-man performance can send Wyoming into the driver’s seat of this game. 

Keys to the Game

For Nevada:  Control the glass. Improve shooting efficiency. Get back on defense.

The game plan must focus on rebounds after allowing over 40 rebounds in back-to-back games. The Wolf Pack has been outrebounded in half of its games this season. Additionally, the team’s rebound margin is even at zero, ranking 193 in the NCAA. The combination of Nick Davidson and Blackshear must be highly prominent in the paint, offensively and defensively. 

The Wolf Pack also must find efficient shots to take. Since MWC play started, the team’s field goal percentage has dropped 4.4 percentage points. Nevada shot 36% against Boise State. Additionally, the team has become less effective at the line, dropping nearly six percentage points in that same time. The goal is always to have more points than the opponent, and decreasing numbers is not a good sign for winning. 

Against San Diego State, Nevada gave up 15 fast break points. In MWC games, the average Nevada has allowed is 7.75, but it has only scored 7.83 on the season. It is pertinent to ensure that the Cowboys can’t get fast points against an unset defense, notably when Wyoming is ranked 19th lowest in fast break points.

For Wyoming: Get to the charity stripe. Box out and snag the rebounds. Beyond the arc action.

The Cowboys are one of the best from the line in the league. At 75.3%, Wyoming only trails Colorado State in free throw percentage. In addition, Nevada fouls the third most in the MWC, sending San Diego State to the line for 34 shots. Not a single player for Wyoming shoots under 50% from the line, with seven players shooting 80% or better.

Rebounding is a fundamental key to winning games. As a middle-tier rebounding team in the conference, Wyoming posts a 6-3 record when winning the rebound margin while 3-5 when opponents outrebound the Pokes.

Wyoming is one of the best from beyond the arc. Despite the low number of shots beyond the arc per game, the team shoots 38.6% from three and is ranked 16th in the NCAA. Wyoming has shot over 40% in eight games this season and won seven of them. Even when the team shoots above its average, it holds an 8-2 record while 1-6 when below. The magic number for the Pokes is 38.6%.

Prediction:

Nevada 68, Wyoming 60

Wyoming will cover the spread of +8.5 but ultimately come up short. While Nevada has not been able to grab a board the past two games, this came against the conference’s top teams. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they are neither a top team in the MWC nor prolific at grabbing boards. The Wolf Pack will also clean up some of their foul troubles and return to the win column. Nevada will halt the Pokes’ domination over them and move to 16-3.

Kaycee Clark-Mellott covers college football and basketball for the Mountain West Wire, mainly covering the Wyoming Cowboys.

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Brent Brennan is leaving SJSU for Arizona. What did legacy did he leave behind?

Brent Brennan is leaving SJSU for Arizona. What did legacy did he leave behind?

Brent Brennan is leaving SJSU for Arizona. What did legacy did he leave behind?

SJSU reporter Matt Weiner weighs in on Brent Brennan leaving SJSU.

Follow @Mattweiner20 & @MWCwire

The news Spartan Nation always braced for, but never wanted to face

After seven years at San Jose State, head coach Brent Brennan is heading to Arizona to takeover for newly minted Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, according ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

 

Few can fault any Spartan fan who finds this news difficult to stomach.

Brennan was arguably the most successful only head coach in program history to lead SJSU.

He was the first head coach to make three bowl games which marked the program’s first time reaching three bowl games in the span of four years.

Each of those bowl appearances, however, forced SJSU fans to face the gutting reality they face today.

In 2020, after SJSU celebrated an undefeated regular season and won the Mountain West Championship, Brennan interviewed with Arizona for the head coaching vacancy before it went to Fisch.

And after SJSU went 7-5 in 2022 and made the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Brennan interviewed for the vacancy at Stanford.

Then last month, Brennan was a finalist for the vacancy at Oregon State before it went to Beavers’ defensive coordinator Trent Bray.

That last one felt like a particularly close call.

For starters, Brennan was fresh off leading SJSU from the abyss of a 1-5 start to a 7-5 season that included a co-Mountain West Regular Season Title.

Furthermore, Brennan coached wide receivers at OSU from 2011-16. The ties ran so deep he named his dog after OSU’s mascot “Benny” and filled his current staff with former Beavers’ coaches like SJSU offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, defensive coordinator Derrick Odum and defensive line coach Joe Seumalo.

So now the question is: Who will Brennan take to Tuscon?

Is it McGiven? Odum? Wide receivers coach Eric Scott? Running backs coach Alonzo “Zo” Carter?

After all, Fisch brought his entire offensive staff to Washington.

Better yet, who will take over for Brennan?

And who ever that head coach is will be the latest interwoven in the domino effect of Nick Saban retiring unexpectedly.

Let’s trace how wild this is.

On Jan. 10 Saban retired from Alabama. Then on Jan. 12 Kalen DeBoer leaves Washington to fill in for Saban. Which results in Fisch heading to Washington on Jan. 14. Now, on the lord’s day of Jan. 16, 2024, Brennan is heading to Arizona. A place he was a graduate assistant at under Dick Tomey in 1999.

Some Wildcat fans may see Brennan’s 34-48 overall record at a Group of Five, 0-3 bowl record and feel as is the resurgence is over. So much for winning as many games last year —10 — as it did from 2019-22. And so much for fleeing the formerly known PAC-12 for the BIG-12.

But those people should take a deeper look. Not just at how Brennan went 3-22 in his first two seasons. Rather, the resources he had to work with for what followed.

Brennan went to those three bowl games without an NIL presence, laughably outdated facilities until last August and a meager operating budget.

Those shortcomings are the results of the incompetency of previous administrations who treated deep-pocketed alums like ghostly afterthoughts.

The nadir came in the early to mid-2000s when SJSU academics and brass formed a coalition called ‘Spartans4Sanity’ that —insanely enough — campaigned and petitioned to axe the football team because of the money it was losing the school.

In other words, 34-48 and three bowl appearances, albeit zero wins, is pretty damn good.

U of A fans should at the very least give him a shot. SJSU fans, meanwhile, are left with mixed emotions.

What about SJSU players and recruits? On Sunday, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s younger brother, Chubba, announced he was transferring from Nebraska for SJSU. Does this mean he transfers elsewhere and a mockery is made of those great storylines and press?

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Beyond Purdy, who else will transfer or decommit?

Any starters transferring doesn’t bode well for a team that won’t return its starting quarterback, running back, four offensive lineman and safeties.

Though Brennan never said it outright, SJSU was as a stepping stone to a Power Five. If it wasn’t, he would’t have interviewed after his best seasons.

That’s not an indictment of a poor character. During his time at SJSU, Brennan hired a sports psychologist and got each player the meditation app “Headspace” because he knew the stresses that weigh on the minds of student-athletes.

Rather, Brennan using SJSU as a stepping stone is the indictment of a man with ambition, success and the agency to do what he feels is best for him.

Even if it that stone crumbles into debris and irrelevancy.

‘It’s good for college football;’ Dan Lanning reacts to news that Civil War will continue

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning says he’s happy the rivalry with the Beavers will continue for the foreseeable future.

An Oregon Duck football schedule without the Oregon State Beavers on it would just be too much for most fans, on either side, to handle.

With the move to the Big Ten, the Ducks’ Civil War rivalry with Oregon State was very much in doubt, but thanks to some scheduling changes, the two teams will indeed meet up for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

The game not occurring as the last regular season game will be strange enough, but it will occur nonetheless, and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is thrilled the two schools could work something out.

“I think it’s good for college football,” Lanning said. “It’s a rivalry that certainly means something to us here, and I think it means something to them. So it’s good to see games like that still exist.”

While the Ducks will be moving to the Big Ten, the Beavers weren’t so lucky. They’ve had a difficult time, with Washington State, finding a new conference to compete in with the Pac-12 dissolving. Both the Beavers and Cougars have entered into a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference for the 2024 season, but that’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Oregon will travel to Corvallis and play OSU Sept. 14 and the Beavers will come to Eugene sometime during the 2025 season.

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Mountain West discussing adding Oregon State and Washington State for basketball

The Mountain West is in discussions with Oregon State and Washington State to join as a basketball member starting in 2024-25.

The Mountain West recently reached a scheduling agreement with the two remaining Pac-12 schools, Oregon State and Washington State, so it is no surprise the parties are now in discussion to work together in basketball as well.

A source told CBS’ Jon Rothstein the Mountain West and Oregon State and Washington State are in discussions to join the league for the 2024-25 college basketball season, which would provide the two programs with a home following the final year of Pac-12 play in 2023-24.

Details are sparse for right now, with Rothstein indicating there is no timetable for an official announcement. Whether this agreement would extend beyond 2024-25, potentially into full membership, is one of many details unknown at the moment – including if other non-revenue generating sports, like baseball, women’s soccer, softball, and tennis – are being discussed.

The Mountain West is certainly a formidable basketball conference, currently boasting five programs in the top 50 of the NET on the men’s side in Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State, and Nevada, as well as two on the women’s side in UNLV and Colorado State.

Washington State is No. 27 in the NET on the men’s side and No. 28 on the women’s side, as of this writing, making them an appealing addition for the Mountain West.

Oregon State is No. 35 on the women’s side but the men’s team has really struggled the last few years under coach Wayne Tinkle. They are currently 5-3 on the season and ranked 187th in the NET.

Still, adding two well-known brands who are obvious geographic fits will boost the conference’s on-court product and will have a positive impact financially, and represents a soft landing spot for the two programs who were left out to dry by the 10 other Pac-12 programs in this summer’s conference realignment.

Sooners secure commitment from transfer cornerback Dezjhon Malone

Oklahoma beat out West Virginia, Purdue, and others for San Diego State transfer cornerback Dezjhon Malone.

The Oklahoma Sooners added another defensive back to their roster as former San Diego State Aztecs cornerback Dezjhon Malone announced his commitment to the team on Sunday.

Malone announced he would enter the transfer portal on November 30. He received notable offers from West Virginia, Purdue, and Louisville, but Jay Valai and the appeal of Oklahoma won out. He was a steady contributor for his former school, where he appeared in 25 games with the Aztecs during four seasons.

Malone led the Aztecs with 11 starts at cornerback in the 2023 season and will bring excellent size to the position at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds.

 

He was an All-Mountain West honorable mention in 2023 after logging 47 tackles, two for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and one interception with seven passes broken up on the year. According to Pro Football Focus, Malone allowed just one touchdown in over 400 coverage snaps in 2023.

With Oklahoma potentially losing Woodi Washington to the NFL draft, Malone is a capable cornerback who joins a strong group of promising corners. He’ll add competitive depth to a group that includes Gentry Williams, Kani Walker, Jasiah Wagoner, Makari Vickers, Jacobe Johnson, and Kendel Dolby. Depth at cornerback was an issue in 2023. As the Sooners figure out their secondary while heading into their first season in the SEC, having veteran options provides the Sooners some insurance in the defensive backfield if the young guys on the roster aren’t able to seize a role in 2024.

Oklahoma has added two transfers since the season ended and figures to still bring in a few more. Malone joins former Michigan State transfer offensive lineman Spencer Brown as incoming additions via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

Oregon State, Washington State work toward football schedule plan with Mountain West

The new world emerges for the Beavers and Cougars.

Oregon State and Washington State aren’t yet members of the Mountain West Conference, but they are working with the Mountain West on football scheduling for 2024.

College Sports Wire, picking up a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, has more on what the Beavers and Cougars are trying to do in football for next year.

Via Dellenger:

“The alliance is built around what’s termed a ‘7+1’ format where Mountain West teams play seven conference games — not eight — plus one game against either Washington State or Oregon State. There is an option to extend the deal to the 2025 season as well.

“The two Pac-12 members will not be eligible for the MWC championship and will compete as quasi-independents under the Pac-12 banner. Those Mountain West schools with previously scheduled non-conference games against one of the two schools will play the other as well during the same season.”

It will be fascinating to see how all of this works and comes together in 2024. There are a lot of other moving parts to this arrangement, and it remains to be seen what the full picture will look like.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

UNLV Football: How the Rebels Can Beat Fresno State, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction

The UNLV Rebels have their real test this Saturday night against the Fresno State Bulldogs on the road. These programs have played each other as part of three different conferences (Big West, WAC, and now MW), and Fresno State leads the overall series 18-7.

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Date: Saturday, October 28, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM PT

TV: Fox Sports 1

Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo

City: Fresno, California

Venue: Bulldog Stadium at Jim Sweeney Field

Odds: Fresno State -9

The UNLV Rebels have their real test this Saturday night against the Fresno State Bulldogs on the road. These programs have played each other as part of three different conferences (Big West, WAC, and now MW), and Fresno State leads the overall series 18-7. This marks the first time these teams will play on a Saturday in three years, as the last two meetings occurred on a Friday night.

UNLV, who is receiving votes in both major polls for the first time since 2003, is bowl-eligible for the first time since playing in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after the 2013 season.

Rushing Attack

For the Rebels to win this game, they must lean on their rushing attack. UNLV averages 209 yards per game. The Rebels have three running backs with over 300 yards rushing on the season. Vincent Davis Jr. leads the team with 388 yards, Donavyn Lester adds 325 yards, and Jai” Den Thomas has 319.

The Rebels rushing attack is critical because it keeps them in third and manageable; now, UNLV converts 53% of their third down conversions. The Bulldogs do a decent job stopping the run, giving up 114 yards per game; that’s good for second in the Mountain West.

Slow Down Bulldogs

On Defense, the Rebels must slow down the Fresno State offense; they averaged 34 points per game. They pass the ball well with Mikey Keene, who has passed for 1,692 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions. The Bulldogs can also run the ball with Malik Sherrod and Elijah Gilliam. 

The Rebels must focus on stopping the run and putting pressure on Keene to make him uncomfortable.

Turnovers

The turnover battle will be key on Saturday night. Who wins the turnover battle will likely win. Rebels quarterback Jayden Maiava must refrain from turning the ball over. With the Bulldogs focusing on stopping the run, there will be plays to be made down the field; that’s when Ricky White should come into play.

Prediction

Bulldogs winning a classic game in the final seconds, 28-27.

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