Fresno State at Nevada: TV info, odds and, for Bulldogs, a chance to clinch title shot
Fresno State can wrap up a West Division title and a spot in the Mountain West Conference championship football game with a win at Nevada on Saturday, and there is a chance frigid weather in the 20s will make the game more interesting for the Bulldogs than the struggling Wolf Pack.
Nevada, which is in a full rebuild mode after losing coach Jay Norvell to Colorado State and getting hit hard by the transfer portal, has a chance to become the first team to go winless in conference play in a non-COVID season since New Mexico in 2019. Nevada also could become the first team to go from winning five or more conference games one season to zero the next since Air Force cratered at 0-8 in 2013 after going 5-3 in 2012.
The Wolf Pack has some stars including running back Toa Taua and tackle Dom Peterson, who is one of the highest-graded interior defensive linemen in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus.
There just aren’t enough of them.
On offense, Nevada has failed to gain even 300 yards in eight of its 10 games and the two games that it did, one was against FCS Incarnate Word (478 yards) and the other against 2-8 Colorado State (358).
It has had to play Boise State, Air Force, San Jose State and San Diego State, the top four teams in the conference in total defense. But it is averaging just 4.2 yards per play and if it goes backward against the Bulldogs or in a season-finale against UNLV it could join New Mexico as the only Mountain West teams to finish a season at less than 4.0; the Lobos did it last season, averaging 3.9.
The Wolf Pack has given redshirt sophomore quarterback Shane Illingworth, a transfer from Oklahoma State, a shot the past three games. But Illingworth has completed just 56.5% of his passes while averaging 5.7 yards per attempt and 175.7 per game and the offense has struggled to stay on the field. Nevada has failed to convert even 30% of its third downs in two of those three games.
The Wolf Pack also has just four passing touchdowns all season, tied with Massachusetts for 129th in the nation and ahead of only New Mexico and its three. Two of those TD passes have come in conference games; last season with Carson Strong at QB, Nevada had two or more touchdowns in six of eight Mountain West games.
Taua last week rushed for 103 yards on just 16 plays in a 41-3 loss to Boise State, the top-ranked rushing defense in the conference. But there is not much explosiveness in the run game. The Wolf Pack has just seven rushing plays of 20 or more yards in 356 attempts; the Bulldogs’ Jordan Mims has eight in 183 rushing plays.
Bulldogs QB in cold weather
The Bulldogs and quarterback Jake Haener have played in one game where the game-time temperature was 35 degrees or lower.
It was at Utah State in 2020.
It was 35 degrees.
It wasn’t an issue.
Haener completed 29 of 38 passes (76.3%) for 422 yards with touchdowns of 9, 44 and 59 yards to Jalen Moreno-Cropper and 71 yards to Josh Kelly in a 35-16 victory at Maverik Stadium.
The game
FRESNO STATE at NEVADA
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Mackay Stadium, Reno
TV: CBS Sports Network (Chris Lewis, Robert Turbin)
Find it fast: Channels 643 and 1643 on AT&T Uverse, 418, 732 on Comcast, 221 on DirecTV, 158 on Dish Network
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)
Find it fast: 1400 AM in Visalia/Tulare; 1340 AM in Fresno; 1280 AM in Stockton; 970 AM in Bakersfield; 92.9 FM in Modesto; 96.7 FM in Fresno
The records: Bulldogs (6-4, 5-1 in the MW), Nevada (2-8, 0-6)
The series: Bulldogs lead 30-22-1
Last meeting: Bulldogs won 34-32 in 2021
The line: Bulldogs -22.5
- The edge: Nevada has been an underdog of 20 or more points four times this season. It is 0-4 in those games, losing at Iowa, at Air Force, at San Jose State and to Boise State, and 1-3 against the point spread.