by Chuck Sommers
Monday, Nov 07, 2022
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Where to watch: CBS Sports Network
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Fresno State -9.5
FanDuel: Fresno State -9.5
BetMGM: Fresno State -9.5
Caesars: Fresno State -9.5
Season record
Fresno State: 5-4 (4-1 Mountain West)
UNLV: 4-5 (2-3 Mountain West)
We're coming down to the wire in what should be an exciting final month of the college football season. The conference championship chases are on, bowl games are to be decided, and who gets into the College Football Playoff is anybody's guess to this point. If you're still trying to figure out who's the best to play at this point of the year, look no further than our champion handicappers leading the way in the college football world. Our own Kyle Hunter is 23-8-0 over the last month, while Brian Bitler is 21-13-0 in the run. Kyle's reeled in a net profit of over $14,000. Now you feel like you should be getting on the action, huh? Make sure you go check out bigal.com to see all of the work our champion handicappers are trying to do to get money in YOUR pocket with our selections. Make sure to hit up our Best Bets page for more!
Fresno State - UNLV preview, analysis and prediction
Last week
Fresno State: won 55-13 vs. Hawaii; won four straight
UNLV: lost 14-10 at San Diego State; lost four straight
Bowl implications are running wild in the Mountain West for this week and Friday’s primetime matchup between the Fresno State Bulldogs and UNLV Rebels will prove no different. Fresno State becomes bowl eligible for a victory, while UNLV still needs two wins, but the strength of schedule is heavily in the Rebels’ favor in these final three weeks.
Bowl implications are running wild in the Mountain West for this week and Friday’s primetime matchup between the Fresno State Bulldogs and UNLV Rebels will prove no different. Fresno State becomes bowl eligible for a victory, while UNLV still needs two wins, but the strength of schedule is heavily in the Rebels’ favor in these final three weeks.
After a 1-4 start to the season, Fresno State has rattled off four straight wins and has looked like the team everyone expected them to be. One thing that’s helped is the return of quarterback Jake Heaner, who is back from injury from earlier in the season. Heaner threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns on 24 of 29 passing in Fresno State’s 55-13 win over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at home on Saturday. Jordan Mims also had 123 yards on the ground and a touchdown for a Fresno State team that looked like the team of old; the Bulldogs had 572 total yards of offense. Of course, Hawaii is not playing well right now but it’s a good sign for the Bulldogs that they’ve been able to win games they should. That, at least, has been a good sign for them. But against a much better defense, can they really put up another 50-spot again while holding the road team to just 13? Highly doubtful.
UNLV, meanwhile, has fallen off the map after a 4-1 start. The Rebels have reverted back to the days of yesteryear with four straight losses and are suddenly back to horrendous happenings. After giving up at least 40 points in three straight games and behind held to 35 points, UNLV held San Diego State to just 14 points. Only problem was the Rebels scored 10 and lost their fourth straight game. The good news for UNLV was that quarterback Doug Brumfield returned after dealing with injuries the last few weeks. The bad news is he got no help after throwing for 207 yards and two interceptions. Aidan Robbins ran for 115 yards, and Nick Williams caught 4 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. But Brumfield couldn’t shake off the rust in time to get UNLV across the finish line.
Prediction
You can’t use the past few years to determine who has the edge in this one. What we can say for sure is that this quarterback battle is going to be awesome. Brumfield has more to prove in this one and can absolutely make a statement for this year and the future of UNLV football if he can put a win together. I don’t want to give up on UNLV, coming back home and knowing there’s a chance to win with a healthy team. Going down with the ship. UNLV by 8
Betting trends
Fresno State is 14-14 ATS in the last three years.
Fresno State is 1-5 ATS after gaining 300 passing yards or more in 3 straight games.
Fresno State is 28-14 ATS off three straight conference games since 1992.
UNLV is 11-10 ATS as an underdog the last three years.
Over is 22-4 for UNLV since 1992 off a 7-point conference loss.
UNLV is 4-7 ATS off a conference loss the last three years.
Statistical leaders
Fresno State:
Passing: Jake Heaner -- 1,575 yards, 11 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Jordan Mims -- 800 yards, 9 TD
Receiving: Jalen Moreno-Cropper -- 671 yards, 3 TD
UNLV:
Passing: Doug Brumfield -- 1,438 yards, 9 TD, 4 INT
Rushing: Aidan Robbins -- 706 yards, 8 TD
Receiving: Ricky White -- 547 yards, 4 TD
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
