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In my opinion, Nevada is the second best WAC team--nobody except for Boise State was close to them this season. They struggled to start the season (and lost those 3 early games), but was a completely different team after that...their record is NOT reflective of how good they are and pointing to bad early losses just underestimates how good Nevada is now.

Nevada is a tough matchup for SMU, only Boise State would have been tougher from the rumored options (and I'm including Notre Dame in that list). Their offense doesn't compare with Navy's offense because their QB throws the ball much better this season and they have better athletes. As a point of comparison, Navy had 336 yards of offense against Hawaii while Nevada had 496 yards of offense against Hawaii.

The one big positive for SMU is that the biggest weakness for Nevada is their *passing defense*. They have struggled all season against the pass and SMU's coaches will be studying the game tape when Nevada played Hawaii to pick up things they can use. Nevada is #119 in the country in passing defense and only UAB is worse...if SMU is going to win it will be with a true freshman QB taking advantage of all of the holes in Nevada's secondary. If Nevada tries to overcompensate for their poor secondary, they will leave all kinds of openings for McNeal to do some damage on the ground.

good point 119th in pass defense. So we are talking about a high scoring game

Stallion wrote:good point 119th in pass defense. So we are talking about a high scoring game

If Padron is playing at his peak, this could be a shoot-out game--something like 35-31. That might be a lot to ask from a true freshman QB who has to deal with the long layoff and the distractions of a bowl game...but the positive thing is that there is a lot of margin for error against Nevada's secondary.

Garret wrote:In my opinion, Nevada is the second best WAC team

Woah, woah woah - Keep those hot sports opinions in check!

"We're excited to play Nevada," said June Jones, SMU Head Coach. "Having played Nevada Reno many times while I was at Hawaii, I have a great deal of respect for Coach Ault and his program. Their rushing attack will pose a stiff challenge, but we're really looking forward to the game."

SMU2007 wrote:

Garret wrote:In my opinion, Nevada is the second best WAC team

Woah, woah woah - Keep those hot sports opinions in check!

Nice job taking things out of context. You took out the part when I wrote that none of the other WAC teams were close to Nevada (aside from Boise State), which is the whole reason why I felt the need to qualify my statement. Fresno State fans would disagree that they aren't close to Nevada, especially after beating a Big 10 team yesterday, but I've seen both play a number of times and they really aren't close. That is why I posted awhile back that Fresno State would be a better matchup for SMU than Nevada.

Hello,

Nevada fan here. I am really looking forward to this game. I am fully expecting a shootout. As it seems like each teams offense is based on the opposing weakness

As has been pointed out our secondary is absolutely terrible. And Im sure SMU will score a lot of points on us. But at the same time we should be able to score very easily.

Im thinking something like 45-41.


We started out the season terribly, but have gotten a lot better. As I'm sure you guys have as well. We are 8-4, and according to sagarin have played a slightly tougher schedule than you, but they appear to be fairly equal. We each have one good win against a good team(ECU and FSU). It should be a fun high scoring game. We haven't won a bowl in 3 years(since our last Hawaii Bowl), so hopefully we can get it this time.

Im VERY impressed how you went from 0-12 or whatever last year to a bowl team this year. I think June Jones will do great things in Dallas.

Heres to a great game lol, too bad neither fanbase will really be able to travel well. Hopefully the locals can support the game, especially with June Jones being there.

rimrocker26 wrote:Hello,

Nevada fan here. I am really looking forward to this game. I am fully expecting a shootout. As it seems like each teams offense is based on the opposing weakness

As has been pointed out our secondary is absolutely terrible. And Im sure SMU will score a lot of points on us. But at the same time we should be able to score very easily.

Im thinking something like 45-41.


We started out the season terribly, but have gotten a lot better. As I'm sure you guys have as well. We are 8-4, and according to sagarin have played a slightly tougher schedule than you, but they appear to be fairly equal. We each have one good win against a good team(ECU and FSU). It should be a fun high scoring game. We haven't won a bowl in 3 years(since our last Hawaii Bowl), so hopefully we can get it this time.

Im VERY impressed how you went from 0-12 or whatever last year to a bowl team this year. I think June Jones will do great things in Dallas.

Heres to a great game lol, too bad neither fanbase will really be able to travel well. Hopefully the locals can support the game, especially with June Jones being there.

Fair enough Rimrocker26, good points and good luck to you guys as well.

Garret wrote:Nevada is a tough matchup for SMU, only Boise State would have been tougher from the rumored options

They hung right with Boise State which is a ridiculously good team.

Our boys will be in deep doo-doo unless Padron plays great and Robinson/Wilkerson don't do their usual butterfingers act.

No offense to our defense since we all know they were playing shorthanded later in the year, but we're going to have to count on our O-line and passing game to keep us in this one. I agree with the shootout comments. This is going to be fun to watch!

is there a nevada football forum

We haven't won a bowl in 3 years(since our last Hawaii Bowl), so hopefully we can get it this time.

Well, we haven't won a bowl in 25 years. I think we got you on that one. Should be a good match-up.

Hope that JJ finds a way to win. It would be a nice way to start off our next bowl run.

MiracleOnMockingbird wrote:

Garret wrote:Nevada is a tough matchup for SMU, only Boise State would have been tougher from the rumored options

They hung right with Boise State which is a ridiculously good team.

Our boys will be in deep doo-doo unless Padron plays great and Robinson/Wilkerson don't do their usual butterfingers act.

Yeah but so did Tulsa hang with Boise State and we beat Tulsa by two scores....

Nevada is going to be a good team to play. Nevada is a good team and it would be a real feather in this team's cap to beat a good team. We have 2 solid weeks to prepare for Nevada and learn from our Marshall experience. Should be a good game.

JJ's got Nevada's #. They're shaking in their boots.