 (1-1, 1-0) |
Date | September 24, 2011 |
 (2-0, 0-0)) |
OPENING LINE | Texas Tech by 21.
PRIOR OPPONENTS | Most programs opened the weekend of September 3rd, but Nevada waited a week and opened with a 20-69 loss at the Oregon Ducks (SBN coverage), and played the San Jose St. Spartans this past weekend and won a low-scoring affiar, 17-14 (SBN coverage).
WHAT TEXAS TECH CAN EXPECT | The offense will be led by QB Tyler Lantrip, who was okay, nothing spectacular, against Oregon and was just okay against SJS. Nevada is led by RB Mike Ball, but go ahead and throw in RB Stefphon Jefferson, QB Cody Fajardo and Lantrip as additional primary rushing threats. They all help lead the #7 in the nation rushing attack and the #30 total offense in the country. Again, because of the relative mediocre peformance of Lantrip, this is primarily a rushing team and Ball is #21 in the nation in yards per game at 111.50 and Jefferson is #84 in the nation at 86.50. Nevada can run the ball. WR Rishard Matthews and Shane Anderson lead the way catching the ball, but these aren't your primary offensive threats. The problem for Nevada is that the defense was non-existant against a really good Oregon team, but did show up against San Jose St. Using two games as your sample size is always scary, but thus far, the Wolf Pack are 106th in the nation in total defense, but this result is skewed because of the Oregon game. Nevada was so much better against San Jose St., allowing just 290 total yards on the day compared to 603 against Oregon. So those nationally ranked numbers are completely skewed. Individually, Nevada is led by linebackers Brandon Marshall and Jeremiah Green. DL Brett Roy does already have 3 TFL and is the only player to register a sack (2.0) for the team. The other linebacker, James-Michael Johnson has 2 TFL.
OPPONENT PLAYERS SPOTLIGHT | RB Mike Ball is the latest in a long line of excellent Nevada running backs. As mentioned above, he's averaging 111.50 yards per game, 2 touchdowns and averaging 5.2 yards per carry. He's not a receiving threat as he only has 1 reception for 5 yards (which went for a touchdown), but that Nevada offense churns out good running backs and would expect the Wolf Pack to continue to look to Ball against Texas Tech.