Re: 11-29-08
Bill Bravenec
Saturday, November 29
Nevada - 4 1/2 at Louisiana Tech
Nevada averages 511 yards (#6) and 38.1 points (#13) per game on offense and has the nation’s #1 rushing offense that averages 308 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry. Lousiana Tech’s defense has been pretty good against the run, but they are terrible against the pass and have not seen a high-powered balanced offense like Nevada’s since they gave up 38 points to Boise State. Nevada’s defense is also terrible against the pass, but Louisiana Tech has a one-dimensional offense that is ranked #25 in rushing but only #107 in passing. To keep up with Nevada, Louisiana Tech will have to pass since Nevada can stop the run. Nevada has the nation’s #2 rushing defense, allowing only 65 yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry. I don’t expect Louisiana Tech to be able to keep up. Nevada has played 3 teams currently in the BCS top 25, losing at home 35-19 to #7 Texas Tech and 41-34 to #9 Boise State and losing on the road 69-17 to #12 Missouri (this schedule is part of the reason Nevada’s passing defense looks so bad). Louisiana Tech has played one team currently ranked in the BCS top 25, losing 38-3 at Boise State.
Southern Mississippi - 13 1/2 at SMU
Southern Mississippi averages 442 yards (#19) and 30.9 points per game and should be able to move the ball and score at will on SMU’s porous defense, which allows 491 yards (#119) and 39.1 points (#117) per game. There is also a rushing mismatch, as Southern Miss rushes for 201 yards per game (#21) and 4.9 yards per carry and will be facing an SMU defense that allows 233 rushing yards per game (#118) and 5.0 yards per carry. SMU has a one-dimensional offense that is ranked last in the nation in rushing with an average of only 45 yards rushing per game. SMU had a decent passing game until before their last game against UTEP, when their top 2 receivers (Emmanual Sanders and Aldrick Robinson) were suspended. These 2 receivers had accounted for 2,005 out of 2,885 passing yards (70%) and 20 out of 27 passing TDs (74%) before the UTEP game. But without them, SMU only managed to put up 201 total yards (137 passing) and 10 points against UTEP’s #116 defense in a 38-10 loss, and I think Southern Miss has a much better defense than UTEP. At the end of October, Southern Miss had lost 5 in a row to drop their overall record to 2-6 and their conference record to 0-4. Since then, Southern Miss has turned their season around and gone 3-0, including a 70-14 blowout of UAB and an impressive 21-3 win over East Carolina. During the 3 game win streak, Southern Miss has outscored their opponents by an average of 36-8 and outgained them by an average of 444-229.
Bill Bravenec
Saturday, November 29
Nevada - 4 1/2 at Louisiana Tech
Nevada averages 511 yards (#6) and 38.1 points (#13) per game on offense and has the nation’s #1 rushing offense that averages 308 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry. Lousiana Tech’s defense has been pretty good against the run, but they are terrible against the pass and have not seen a high-powered balanced offense like Nevada’s since they gave up 38 points to Boise State. Nevada’s defense is also terrible against the pass, but Louisiana Tech has a one-dimensional offense that is ranked #25 in rushing but only #107 in passing. To keep up with Nevada, Louisiana Tech will have to pass since Nevada can stop the run. Nevada has the nation’s #2 rushing defense, allowing only 65 yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry. I don’t expect Louisiana Tech to be able to keep up. Nevada has played 3 teams currently in the BCS top 25, losing at home 35-19 to #7 Texas Tech and 41-34 to #9 Boise State and losing on the road 69-17 to #12 Missouri (this schedule is part of the reason Nevada’s passing defense looks so bad). Louisiana Tech has played one team currently ranked in the BCS top 25, losing 38-3 at Boise State.
Southern Mississippi - 13 1/2 at SMU
Southern Mississippi averages 442 yards (#19) and 30.9 points per game and should be able to move the ball and score at will on SMU’s porous defense, which allows 491 yards (#119) and 39.1 points (#117) per game. There is also a rushing mismatch, as Southern Miss rushes for 201 yards per game (#21) and 4.9 yards per carry and will be facing an SMU defense that allows 233 rushing yards per game (#118) and 5.0 yards per carry. SMU has a one-dimensional offense that is ranked last in the nation in rushing with an average of only 45 yards rushing per game. SMU had a decent passing game until before their last game against UTEP, when their top 2 receivers (Emmanual Sanders and Aldrick Robinson) were suspended. These 2 receivers had accounted for 2,005 out of 2,885 passing yards (70%) and 20 out of 27 passing TDs (74%) before the UTEP game. But without them, SMU only managed to put up 201 total yards (137 passing) and 10 points against UTEP’s #116 defense in a 38-10 loss, and I think Southern Miss has a much better defense than UTEP. At the end of October, Southern Miss had lost 5 in a row to drop their overall record to 2-6 and their conference record to 0-4. Since then, Southern Miss has turned their season around and gone 3-0, including a 70-14 blowout of UAB and an impressive 21-3 win over East Carolina. During the 3 game win streak, Southern Miss has outscored their opponents by an average of 36-8 and outgained them by an average of 444-229.

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