Fresno State Football: Bulldogs hit the road to take on Nevada

Fresno State football takes to the road with a 4-1 record to take on fellow Mountain West foe, Nevada. Can the Wolfpack give the Bulldogs a game?

Nevada is going to need help. Ty Gangi, who has led the Wolfpack to a 3-2 record in 2018, is not going to play this weekend due to a leg injury he sustained a week ago against Air Force. Gangi accounted for most of the teams offensive yards with 1,332 yards through the air and 126 yards on the ground while finding the end zone a total of 12 times.

Without Gangi, the Wolfpack will be forced to start Christian Solano in his place. The good news is that Solano has completed 100 percent of his passes on the season. The bad news is that he’s thrown one pass.

The Gangi Injury only haunts the Wolfpack, even more, when you look at the defense that Nevada “boasts”. Nevada is currently allowing 413.2 yards per game to opposing teams in what is dreadfully the 95th best in college football. What makes things worse is that the offense as a whole is turning the ball over more often than the defense can force them with a -1 turnover margin.

Fresno State isn’t the flashiest of teams, but they are one of the best group of five teams in college football. Their only loss came on an incredible last-minute catch against Minnesota and they’ve dominated everyone else on both sides of the ball.

Offensively the Bulldogs don’t do anything great, but a lot of things good. Marcus McMaryion only has seven touchdown passes, but he’s completing over 70 percent of his passes while also scoring five on the ground with a mere 50 rushing yards. Lead receiver KeeSean Johnson currently averages over 15 yards per reception and has 394 yards over the span of a season that has mostly been comprised of blowouts.

The defense currently allows only 314 yards per game to opposing teams and this only makes things more difficult for the Wolfpack and the inexperienced Christian Solano. The Bulldogs suffocating defense is currently top three nationally in turnovers with a total of 13 and could very easily be leading the FBS after this game if they played their cards right.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 6
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Reno, NV
Venue: Mackay Stadium
TV: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys To Victory

So… Nevada. You had a legitimate shot going into this game with Ty Gangi stepping up but it’s really difficult now. Christian Solano needs to limit mistakes and stay efficient when passing the ball. Toa Taua is now the breadwinner for the offense and the line has to step up and pave the way for him to make things happen. Most importantly, Nevada has to have some resemblance of a defense if they expect to stop a somewhat good Fresno offense.

Fresno State’s job just got a lot easier. Keep on keeping on defensively and force Solano to turnover the ball and stay uncomfortable in the pocket. Offensively, they have to score as they have going into this game against the incredibly weak Nevada defense. Lastly, they must win the time of possession battle and not even give the Wolfpack a chance to beat them.

Betting Odds

Presented by OddsShark

Point Spread: Fresno State -15

Over/Under: 55

Prediction

The Fresno State Bulldogs are going to dominate this one from start to finish and the Nevada Wolfpack are going to fold early on due to their lack of passing game from an inexperienced quarterback.

Final Score: Fresno State 42, Nevada 10