UNLV at Boise State
By Brian Edwards
Boise State (9-1 straight up, 3-7 against the spread) went into Week 11 needing help to have a chance to get to the Mountain West Conference Championship Game. UNLV, the Broncos’ counterpart when they collide Friday night on the blue carpet, provided just that.
You see, Boise St. essentially fell two games back of Wyoming in the MWC’s Mountain Division with a 30-28 loss to the Cowboys as a 14-point road favorite on Oct. 29. With Wyoming owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Broncos, they were essentially two games out with four weeks left in the regular season.
But when UNLV (4-6 SU, 5-5 ATS) produced its best performance of the season last week, stunning Wyoming 69-66 in triple overtime, it created a three-way tie for first place atop the MWC Mtn. standings. Harsin’s team is joined by New Mexico and Wyoming as each school is sporting 5-1 records in league play.
Boise State smashed the Lobos 49-21 in Albuquerque, while UNM closes the regular season at home with the Cowboys. Therefore, if BSU can beat UNLV and avenge a home loss to Air Force from last year when it travels to Colorado Springs next Friday, the Broncos will face San Diego State in the MWC Championship Game.
First, though, BSU must take care of business on Friday night against the Rebels. As of early Wednesday, most books had the Broncos installed as 28-point home favorites with a total of 66. Gamblers could back UNLV to pull a shocker for a 30/1 payout at SBG Global and 5Dimes.eu.
BSU is unbeaten in five home games at Albertsons Stadium this year to improve to 16-2 on the smurf turf since Bryan Harsin took over for Chris Petersen in 2014. The Broncos have limped to a 0-5 spread record at home, however, and they’re an abysmal 6-12 versus the number in 18 home games on Harsin’s watch. Going back even further, BSU is an atrocious 11-26 ATS since its final home game of the 2010 campaign.
Boise State played BYU and a pair of Pac-12 teams in non-conference play. The Broncos beat a Washington State squad that has won eight in a row since then by a 31-28 count as 12.5-point home ‘chalk’ in Week 2. They also went to Corvallis and beat Oregon St. 38-24, in addition to edging the Cougars 28-27 at home.
BSU is at home vs. UNLV on a short week, which would normally mean I’d give the host school an extra point or two toward the line because its short preparation time wouldn’t be hindered by travel. We can throw that standard thought process out the window in this spot, however, because the Broncos played at Hawaii last week.
Harsin’s team captured a 52-16 win over the Warriors at Aloha Stadium as a 21.5-point road favorite. The 68 combined points went ‘over’ the 62.5-point total when Hawaii scored a TD with 12:05 remaining.
Brett Rypien completed 18-of-22 throws for 338 yards and four TDs without an interception. Junior RB Jeremy McNichols rushed for 153 yards and two scores on 16 attempts, while Cedrick Wilson had seven receptions for 141 yards and one TD. Thomas Sperbeck hauld in five catches for 114 yards and two TDs, while McNichols had three grabs for 29 yards.
For the season, Rypien has connected on 65.0 percent of his passes for 2,916 yards with a 22/6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Sperbeck is his favorite target for a second straight year. The senior WR has become the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards (3,352) by bringing down 62 receptions for 1,023 yards and nine TDs. Sperbeck has also thrown three TD passes on three attempts off of trick plays.
McNichols has rushed for 1,369 yards, surpassing his 1,337-yard total from his sophomore campaign in 2015. The junior RB has 18 rushing TDs with a 5.7 yards-per-carry average. McNichols also has 31 catches for 428 yards and four TDs. Wilson has 44 catches for 827 yards and nine TDs.
UNLV’s huge win over Wyoming kept its bowl hopes alive for another week, but the victory was bittersweet due to the season-ending injury sustained by Devonte Boyd. The junior WR broke his arm yet continued to play against the Cowboys and had a key 17-yard catch in double OT. Boyd’s season is over after making a team-best 45 catches for 746 yards and four TDs.
Wyoming needed a TD from its defense and special teams just to have a chance late in the fourth quarter. On the final play of regulation, Josh Allen found Tanner Gentry for a 19-yard scoring strike and the subsequent extra point knotted the score at 52-52 to force the extra sessions.
In the third OT, UNLV secured the victory with Nicolai Bornand’s 40-yard game-winning field goal. The Rebels scored in the first OTs on a pair of TD passes from Kurt Palandech, who completed 20-of-32 passes for 252 yards and three TDs without an interception. Boyd had 10 receptions for 127 yards, while Palandech also rushed 16 times for 157 yards and one TD.
Xzaviar Campbell rushed for 83 yards and one TD on 19 carries. He also had two receptions for 18 yards and one TD. David Greene ran for 70 yards and a pair of scores on 14 attempts, while Jericho Flowers produced 92 yards on five ‘touches’ (two rushes, three catches).
Palandech was making his first start of the year against the Cowboys after Johnny Stanton went down with a knee injury that has him out for an indefinite period of time. Palandech has played in just two games, completing 30-of-55 passes for 413 yards with a 4/1 TD-INT ratio. He has rushed for 197 yards and two TDs while averaging 7.9 YPC.
UNLV was without its leading rusher Lexington Thomas vs. Wyoming due to an ankle injury, but he’s expected back in the starting lineup Friday. Thomas has rushed for 632 yards and eight TDs with a 5.3 YPC average. He was actually passed by freshman RB Charles Williams in rushing yards last week. Williams’ 64 rushing yards against the Cowboys brought his season total to 665. He has three rushing scores and a 5.8 YPC average.
UNLV has lost four of its five road games while going 2-3 ATS. Since Sanchez took over before last season, the Rebels have posted a 5-3 spread record in eight games as road underdogs.
When these schools met at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas last season, BSU cruised to a 55-27 win to take the cash as a 21-point road favorite. The 82 combined points catapulted ‘over’ the 53.5-point total. Rypien threw for 469 yards and two TDs without an interception, while McNichols rushed for 122 yards and one TD on 22 carries. Sperbeck had 10 receptions for 163 yards for the winners, while Boyd had 10 catches for 116 yards in the losing effort.
The ‘under’ is 6-4 overall for BSU, 4-1 in its five home outings. However, it has seen back-to-back ‘overs.’ The Broncos have seen their games average combined scores of 58.5 points per game. This is their second-highest total of the year. The ‘over’ has a 3-2 record in their five previous games with totals in the 60s.
The ‘over’ has been a money maker for UNLV all year, cashing at an 8-2 overall clip. The Rebels have seen the ‘over’ go 3-2 in their five road assignments. They’ve watched their games average combined scores of 69.8 PPG. We should note, however, that this is the highest total they’ve seen all season. The ‘over’ has gone 3-0 in their three games with totals in the 60s. UNLV’s highest total previously was in its opener when the 76 combined points soared ‘over ‘the 63.5-point tally in a 63-13 home win over Jackson State.
Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
-- There’s one other game on Friday’s card with Cincinnati taking on Memphis at Nippert Stadium on the CBS Sports College Network at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. As of Wednesday, the Tigers were 7.5-point road favorites with a total of 57.5 points. The Bearcats were +250 on the money line. Tommy Tuberville’s team has had a rough year, limping to a 4-6 SU record and a 2-8 ATS mark. UC must win its last two regular-season games or it will be left out of the postseason for the first time since 2010. The Bearcats have lost three in a row both SU and ATS, scoring only 19 points in those three defeats. Memphis (6-4 SU, 3-7 ATS) has failed to cover the number in six of its last seven games, including last week’s 49-42 loss to South Florida as a 3.5-point home underdog. The Tigers had a great chance to force overtime, but the referees didn’t throw a flag on a fourth-and-goal play when a USF defender clearly committed pass interference.
-- Since Tuberville took over in 2013, Cincy has compiled a 3-4 spread record in seven games as a home underdog. However, the Bearcats are 1-3 both SU and ATS in four such spots this season.
-- The ‘under’ has been the play in Cincy games this season, hitting at a remarkable 9-0-1 overall clip. On the flip side, the ‘over’ is on a 6-2 run in Memphis games since the Tigers saw the ‘under’ prevailed in its first two games.
-- Colorado and Temple share the nation’s best ATS record (9-1), while Alabama, Wisconsin, UCF, Eastern Michigan and Colorado State are 8-2 versus the number.
-- Arizona has the nation’s worst ATS record (1-9), while Oregon has limped to a 1-8-1 ATS ledger.
-- The ‘over’ has hit in nine consecutive games for Pittsburgh. The Panthers, who are off last week’s 43-42 win at Clemson as 21.5-point road underdogs, play host to Duke this week as eight-point favorites (as of Wednesday). They’ll do so without star safety Jordan Whitehead, who broke his arm against Clemson and will miss the next two games. Whitehead, who led Pitt with 109 tackles last year and has a team-best 65 tackles this season, might be able to return for his team’s bowl game. He had also recorded 1.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two passes broken up and a 59-yard pick-six.
-- Duke has covered the spread in five straight games. Since David Cutcliffe took over in 2008, the Blue Devils have compiled a 21-16-1 spread record in 38 games as road underdogs, including a 3-1 ATS mark in four such spots this year.
-- Syracuse sophomore QB Eric Dungey (15/7 TD-INT, 2,679 passing yards) is ‘doubtful’ (concussion) for Saturday’s home game vs. FSU. The Seminoles were favored by 21 points on Wednesday.
-- South Florida junior QB Quinton Flowers enjoyed a performance for the ages during his team’s 49-42 win at Memphis as a three-point road favorite last week. Flowers connected on 24-of-29 throws for 263 yards and two TDs without an interception He also ran for 210 yards and three TDs on 20 attempts, including the game-winning score on a 22-yard scamper with 1:46 remaining. Flowers’ score resulted in the fifth lead change of a thrilling game at the Liberty Bowl.
-- Utah State has failed to cover the number in five consecutive games. The ‘over’ had hit in four in a row for the Aggies until they lost 24-21 at home to New Mexico and the 45 combined points went ‘under’ the 57-point total.
-- Air Force is mired in a 1-5 ATS slump, while the ‘over’ is on a 5-1 run for the Falcons in their last six outings. They play at San Jose State in Week 12.
By Brian Edwards
Boise State (9-1 straight up, 3-7 against the spread) went into Week 11 needing help to have a chance to get to the Mountain West Conference Championship Game. UNLV, the Broncos’ counterpart when they collide Friday night on the blue carpet, provided just that.
You see, Boise St. essentially fell two games back of Wyoming in the MWC’s Mountain Division with a 30-28 loss to the Cowboys as a 14-point road favorite on Oct. 29. With Wyoming owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Broncos, they were essentially two games out with four weeks left in the regular season.
But when UNLV (4-6 SU, 5-5 ATS) produced its best performance of the season last week, stunning Wyoming 69-66 in triple overtime, it created a three-way tie for first place atop the MWC Mtn. standings. Harsin’s team is joined by New Mexico and Wyoming as each school is sporting 5-1 records in league play.
Boise State smashed the Lobos 49-21 in Albuquerque, while UNM closes the regular season at home with the Cowboys. Therefore, if BSU can beat UNLV and avenge a home loss to Air Force from last year when it travels to Colorado Springs next Friday, the Broncos will face San Diego State in the MWC Championship Game.
First, though, BSU must take care of business on Friday night against the Rebels. As of early Wednesday, most books had the Broncos installed as 28-point home favorites with a total of 66. Gamblers could back UNLV to pull a shocker for a 30/1 payout at SBG Global and 5Dimes.eu.
BSU is unbeaten in five home games at Albertsons Stadium this year to improve to 16-2 on the smurf turf since Bryan Harsin took over for Chris Petersen in 2014. The Broncos have limped to a 0-5 spread record at home, however, and they’re an abysmal 6-12 versus the number in 18 home games on Harsin’s watch. Going back even further, BSU is an atrocious 11-26 ATS since its final home game of the 2010 campaign.
Boise State played BYU and a pair of Pac-12 teams in non-conference play. The Broncos beat a Washington State squad that has won eight in a row since then by a 31-28 count as 12.5-point home ‘chalk’ in Week 2. They also went to Corvallis and beat Oregon St. 38-24, in addition to edging the Cougars 28-27 at home.
BSU is at home vs. UNLV on a short week, which would normally mean I’d give the host school an extra point or two toward the line because its short preparation time wouldn’t be hindered by travel. We can throw that standard thought process out the window in this spot, however, because the Broncos played at Hawaii last week.
Harsin’s team captured a 52-16 win over the Warriors at Aloha Stadium as a 21.5-point road favorite. The 68 combined points went ‘over’ the 62.5-point total when Hawaii scored a TD with 12:05 remaining.
Brett Rypien completed 18-of-22 throws for 338 yards and four TDs without an interception. Junior RB Jeremy McNichols rushed for 153 yards and two scores on 16 attempts, while Cedrick Wilson had seven receptions for 141 yards and one TD. Thomas Sperbeck hauld in five catches for 114 yards and two TDs, while McNichols had three grabs for 29 yards.
For the season, Rypien has connected on 65.0 percent of his passes for 2,916 yards with a 22/6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Sperbeck is his favorite target for a second straight year. The senior WR has become the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards (3,352) by bringing down 62 receptions for 1,023 yards and nine TDs. Sperbeck has also thrown three TD passes on three attempts off of trick plays.
McNichols has rushed for 1,369 yards, surpassing his 1,337-yard total from his sophomore campaign in 2015. The junior RB has 18 rushing TDs with a 5.7 yards-per-carry average. McNichols also has 31 catches for 428 yards and four TDs. Wilson has 44 catches for 827 yards and nine TDs.
UNLV’s huge win over Wyoming kept its bowl hopes alive for another week, but the victory was bittersweet due to the season-ending injury sustained by Devonte Boyd. The junior WR broke his arm yet continued to play against the Cowboys and had a key 17-yard catch in double OT. Boyd’s season is over after making a team-best 45 catches for 746 yards and four TDs.
Wyoming needed a TD from its defense and special teams just to have a chance late in the fourth quarter. On the final play of regulation, Josh Allen found Tanner Gentry for a 19-yard scoring strike and the subsequent extra point knotted the score at 52-52 to force the extra sessions.
In the third OT, UNLV secured the victory with Nicolai Bornand’s 40-yard game-winning field goal. The Rebels scored in the first OTs on a pair of TD passes from Kurt Palandech, who completed 20-of-32 passes for 252 yards and three TDs without an interception. Boyd had 10 receptions for 127 yards, while Palandech also rushed 16 times for 157 yards and one TD.
Xzaviar Campbell rushed for 83 yards and one TD on 19 carries. He also had two receptions for 18 yards and one TD. David Greene ran for 70 yards and a pair of scores on 14 attempts, while Jericho Flowers produced 92 yards on five ‘touches’ (two rushes, three catches).
Palandech was making his first start of the year against the Cowboys after Johnny Stanton went down with a knee injury that has him out for an indefinite period of time. Palandech has played in just two games, completing 30-of-55 passes for 413 yards with a 4/1 TD-INT ratio. He has rushed for 197 yards and two TDs while averaging 7.9 YPC.
UNLV was without its leading rusher Lexington Thomas vs. Wyoming due to an ankle injury, but he’s expected back in the starting lineup Friday. Thomas has rushed for 632 yards and eight TDs with a 5.3 YPC average. He was actually passed by freshman RB Charles Williams in rushing yards last week. Williams’ 64 rushing yards against the Cowboys brought his season total to 665. He has three rushing scores and a 5.8 YPC average.
UNLV has lost four of its five road games while going 2-3 ATS. Since Sanchez took over before last season, the Rebels have posted a 5-3 spread record in eight games as road underdogs.
When these schools met at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas last season, BSU cruised to a 55-27 win to take the cash as a 21-point road favorite. The 82 combined points catapulted ‘over’ the 53.5-point total. Rypien threw for 469 yards and two TDs without an interception, while McNichols rushed for 122 yards and one TD on 22 carries. Sperbeck had 10 receptions for 163 yards for the winners, while Boyd had 10 catches for 116 yards in the losing effort.
The ‘under’ is 6-4 overall for BSU, 4-1 in its five home outings. However, it has seen back-to-back ‘overs.’ The Broncos have seen their games average combined scores of 58.5 points per game. This is their second-highest total of the year. The ‘over’ has a 3-2 record in their five previous games with totals in the 60s.
The ‘over’ has been a money maker for UNLV all year, cashing at an 8-2 overall clip. The Rebels have seen the ‘over’ go 3-2 in their five road assignments. They’ve watched their games average combined scores of 69.8 PPG. We should note, however, that this is the highest total they’ve seen all season. The ‘over’ has gone 3-0 in their three games with totals in the 60s. UNLV’s highest total previously was in its opener when the 76 combined points soared ‘over ‘the 63.5-point tally in a 63-13 home win over Jackson State.
Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
-- There’s one other game on Friday’s card with Cincinnati taking on Memphis at Nippert Stadium on the CBS Sports College Network at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. As of Wednesday, the Tigers were 7.5-point road favorites with a total of 57.5 points. The Bearcats were +250 on the money line. Tommy Tuberville’s team has had a rough year, limping to a 4-6 SU record and a 2-8 ATS mark. UC must win its last two regular-season games or it will be left out of the postseason for the first time since 2010. The Bearcats have lost three in a row both SU and ATS, scoring only 19 points in those three defeats. Memphis (6-4 SU, 3-7 ATS) has failed to cover the number in six of its last seven games, including last week’s 49-42 loss to South Florida as a 3.5-point home underdog. The Tigers had a great chance to force overtime, but the referees didn’t throw a flag on a fourth-and-goal play when a USF defender clearly committed pass interference.
-- Since Tuberville took over in 2013, Cincy has compiled a 3-4 spread record in seven games as a home underdog. However, the Bearcats are 1-3 both SU and ATS in four such spots this season.
-- The ‘under’ has been the play in Cincy games this season, hitting at a remarkable 9-0-1 overall clip. On the flip side, the ‘over’ is on a 6-2 run in Memphis games since the Tigers saw the ‘under’ prevailed in its first two games.
-- Colorado and Temple share the nation’s best ATS record (9-1), while Alabama, Wisconsin, UCF, Eastern Michigan and Colorado State are 8-2 versus the number.
-- Arizona has the nation’s worst ATS record (1-9), while Oregon has limped to a 1-8-1 ATS ledger.
-- The ‘over’ has hit in nine consecutive games for Pittsburgh. The Panthers, who are off last week’s 43-42 win at Clemson as 21.5-point road underdogs, play host to Duke this week as eight-point favorites (as of Wednesday). They’ll do so without star safety Jordan Whitehead, who broke his arm against Clemson and will miss the next two games. Whitehead, who led Pitt with 109 tackles last year and has a team-best 65 tackles this season, might be able to return for his team’s bowl game. He had also recorded 1.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two passes broken up and a 59-yard pick-six.
-- Duke has covered the spread in five straight games. Since David Cutcliffe took over in 2008, the Blue Devils have compiled a 21-16-1 spread record in 38 games as road underdogs, including a 3-1 ATS mark in four such spots this year.
-- Syracuse sophomore QB Eric Dungey (15/7 TD-INT, 2,679 passing yards) is ‘doubtful’ (concussion) for Saturday’s home game vs. FSU. The Seminoles were favored by 21 points on Wednesday.
-- South Florida junior QB Quinton Flowers enjoyed a performance for the ages during his team’s 49-42 win at Memphis as a three-point road favorite last week. Flowers connected on 24-of-29 throws for 263 yards and two TDs without an interception He also ran for 210 yards and three TDs on 20 attempts, including the game-winning score on a 22-yard scamper with 1:46 remaining. Flowers’ score resulted in the fifth lead change of a thrilling game at the Liberty Bowl.
-- Utah State has failed to cover the number in five consecutive games. The ‘over’ had hit in four in a row for the Aggies until they lost 24-21 at home to New Mexico and the 45 combined points went ‘under’ the 57-point total.
-- Air Force is mired in a 1-5 ATS slump, while the ‘over’ is on a 5-1 run for the Falcons in their last six outings. They play at San Jose State in Week 12.
