2018 Rebel Opponents: UPDATED 11/5

[RebelBuzz]

Week 1: @ USC Trojans

vs. UNLV: W 43-21
@ #10 Stanford: L 3-17
@ Texas: L 14-37
vs. Washington State: W 39-36
@ Arizona: W 24-20
BYE
vs. Colorado: W 31-20
@ Utah: L 28-41
vs. ASU: L 35-38
@ Oregon State: W 38-21
USC (5-4) vs. Cal (5-4): 7:30 pm on ESPN
@ UCLA
vs. Notre Dame​

Week 2: vs. UTEP Miners

vs. Northern Arizona: L 10-30
@ UNLV: L 24-52
@ Tennessee: L 0-24
vs. NMSU: L 20-27
@ UT San Antonio: L 21-30
vs. North Texas: L 24-27
BYE
@ LA Tech: L 24-31
vs. UAB: L 0-19
@ Rice: W 34-26 (The streak is over)
UTEP (1-8) vs. Middle Tennessee (6-3): Noon
@ W Kentucky
vs. So. Miss​

Week 3: vs. Prarie View A&M Panthers

@ Rice: L 28-31
vs. NC Central: W 40-24
@ Sam Houston State: L 32-41
@ UNLV: L 17-46
@ AR Pine Bluff: W 62-13
@ Grambling St: W 22-16
BYE
vs. Southern: L 0-38
vs. Alcorn St: L 13-27
@ Jackson St: L 28-34
PVAM (3-6) vs. Alabama St (3-5): 11:00 am
vs. TX Southern​

Week 4: @ Arkansas State Red Wolves

vs. SE Missouri St: W 48-21
@ #1 Alabama: L 7-57
@ Tulsa: W 29-20
vs. UNLV: W 27-20
@ GA Southern: L 21-28
BYE
vs. Appalachian St: L 9-35
vs. GA State: W 51-35
@ LA Lafayette: L 43-47
vs. S Alabama: W 38-14
Ark St (5-4) @ Coastal Carolina (5-4): 2:00 pm
vs. ULM
@ TX St​

Week 5: BYE

Week 6: vs. New Mexico Lobos

vs. Incarnate Word: W 62-30
@ #5 Wisconsin: L 14-45
@ NMSU: W 42-25
BYE
vs. Liberty: L 43-52
@ UNLV: W 50-14 (ugh)
@ CSU: L 18-20
vs. Fresno St: L 7-38
@ Utah State: L 19-61
vs. SDSU: L 23-31
UNM (3-6) @ AFA (3-6): 12:30 pm on CBSSports
vs. Boise St
vs. Wyoming​

Week 7: @ Utah State Aggies

@ Michigan St: L 31-38
vs. NMSU: W 60-13
vs. Tennessee Tech: W 73-12
vs. AFA: W 42-32
BYE
@ BYU: W 45-20
vs. UNLV: W 59-28
@ Wyoming: 24-16
vs. New Mexico: W 61-19
@ Hawaii: W 56-17
USU (7-1) vs. SJSU (1-8): 1:00 pm
@ CSU
@ Boise St​

Week 8: vs. Air Force Falcons

vs. Stony Brook: W 38-0
@ Fla Atlantic: L 27-33
BYE
@ USU: L 32-42
vs. Reno: L 25-28
vs. Navy: W 35-7
@ SDSU: L 17-21
@ UNLV: W 41-35
vs. Boise St: L 38-48
@ Army: L 14-17
AFA (3-6) vs. UNM (3-6): 12:30 pm on CBSSports
@ Wyoming
vs. CSU​

Week 9: @ San Jose State Spartans

vs. UC Davis: L 38-44
@ Washington State: L 0-31
@ Oregon: L 22-35
BYE
vs. Hawaii: L 41-44
vs. CSU: L 30-42
vs. Army: L 3-52
@ SDSU: L 13-16
vs. UNLV: W 50-37
@ Wyoming: L 9-24
SJSU (1-8) @ Utah State (7-1): 1:00 pm
vs. Reno
@ Fresno State​

Week 10: vs. Fresno State Bulldogs

vs. Idaho: W 79-13
@ Minnesota: L 14-21
@ UCLA: W 38-14
BYE
vs. Toledo: W 49-27
@ Reno: W 21-3
vs. Wyoming: W 27-3
@ UNM: W 38-7
vs. Hawaii: W 50-20
@ UNLV: W 48-3
FSU (8-1) @ Boise St (7-2): Friday at 7:15 on ESPN2
vs. SDSU
vs. SJSU​

Week 11: @ San Diego State Aztecs

@ Stanford: L 10-31
vs. Sacramento St: W 28-14
vs. #23 Arizona St: W 28-21
vs. E Michigan: W 23-20 (OT)
BYE
@ Boise St: W 19-13
vs. AFA: W 21-17
vs. SJSU: W 16-13
@ Reno: L 24-28
@ UNM: W 31-23
SDSU (7-2) vs. UNLV (2-7): 7:30 pm on ESPN2
@ Fresno St
vs. Hawaii​

Week 12: @ Hawaii Warriors

@ CSU: W 43-34
vs. Navy: W 59-41
vs. Rice: W 43-29
@ Army: L 21-28
vs. Duquesne: W 42-21
@ SJSU: W 44-41
vs. Wyoming: W 17-13
@ BYU: L 23-49
vs. Reno: L 22-40
@ Fresno St: L 20-50
vs. Utah St: L 17-56
BYE (Hawai'i 6-5)
vs. UNLV
@ SDSU​

Week 13: vs. Reno

vs. Portland State: W 72-19
@ Vandy: L 10-41
vs. Oregon State: W 37-35
@ Toledo: L 44-63
@ AFA: W 28-25
vs. Fresno St: L 3-21
vs. Boise St: L 27-31
@ Hawaii: 40-22
vs. SDSU: W 28-24
BYE
Reno (5-4) vs. CSU (3-6): 7:30 pm on ESPNU
@ SJSU
@ UNLV
​

 

[RedCannon]

This is great - thanks!
Utah State info needs updating... they lost to Wisconsin and I believe beat Idaho State by more.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Good catch. Done.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Week 3: what have we learned?

- Reno looks really, really bad.
- SDSU seems to have this conference in the bag. Really impressive win over Stanford.
- BYU is by no means a guaranteed loss. I know they've played a really strong schedule so far, but they seem completely incapable of putting points on the board. That should keep us in the game.
- Our road game at Air Force looks real tough. Dominating win in week 1 (cupcake opponent, I know) but their performance at Michigan today was pretty solid.

 

[drmontehorne_a_yahoo.com]

Week 3: what have we learned?

- Reno looks really, really bad.
- SDSU seems to have this conference in the bag. Really impressive win over Stanford.
- BYU is by no means a guaranteed loss. I know they've played a really strong schedule so far, but they seem completely incapable of putting points on the board. That should keep us in the game.
- Our road game at Air Force looks real tough. Dominating win in week 1 (cupcake opponent, I know) but their performance at Michigan today was pretty solid.

Thanks bro

 

[RebelBuzz]

With 4-5 games of evidence, here's how I see our opponents:

Tall Task:
vs. SDSU
@ AFA

Toss Up:
vs. USU
@ Fresno
vs. Hawaii
vs. BYU
@ UNM

Don't Screw It Up:
vs. SJSU
@ UNR (rivalry game will make it interesting, but they look REALLY bad)

It's kind of crazy, all of those toss up games come one after the other, with no breaks from October 21 - November 17. And we'll most likely be 2-4 going into that stretch. Hopefully the team has the ability to claw back into the season, pick up one win at a time, and reach that bowl game we are all hoping for.

 

[drmontehorne_a_yahoo.com]

With 4-5 games of evidence, here's how I see our opponents:

Tall Task:
vs. SDSU
@ AFA

Toss Up:
vs. USU
@ Fresno
vs. Hawaii
vs. BYU
@ UNM

Don't Screw It Up:
vs. SJSU
@ UNR (rivalry game will make it interesting, but they look REALLY bad)

It's kind of crazy, all of those toss up games come one after the other, with no breaks from October 21 - November 17. And we'll most likely be 2-4 going into that stretch. Hopefully the team has the ability to claw back into the season, pick up one win at a time, and reach that bowl game we are all hoping for.

I almost did this exact post Monday but whimped out. Thanks Man!

 

[LocoRebel]

Just clicked on each of the remaining opponents and ESPN projections. We are favored in four - half of them. SDSU (75%), AFA (70%), Fresno (72%), and UNM (63%) are the games ESPN shows us as dogs in. But really, I think we are far better than Fresno. Probably better than UNM.... probably close or on par with AFA.... probably not as good as SDSU, but the talent disparity isn't so great that we don't have a puncher's chance.

Should be a very fun conference season.

 

[dcut03]

Yeah, at this point I would put Air Force into the toss up category.

Utah State may be tougher than expected, same with New Mexico, maybe Fresno.

BYU, Air Force, for sure look less intimidating each week, arguable even SDSU. Though for sure they are the toughest game left on the schedule.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Things I'm interested in heading into week 2:

- Arkansas State @ Alabama. I know Bama is gonna roll, but AKState's offense is highly touted. If they can put up some points on Bama, our defense will have to play their best game to give us a shot in a couple weeks.

- Hawaii is an interesting team. They have a legitimate shot to start the season off 5-1 or better. They already knocked of CSU and Navy to sit at 2-0, and now they face Rice, Army, Duquesne and SJSU. I mean, they've still gotta play the games, and Hawaii seems to find ways to lose games on the mainland, but their schedule is pretty favorable. Army is the only tough game on their plate.

- I predict SJSU will be 0-7 when we face them in week 8. That scares me for some reason. You knowwe haven't won in San Jose since 1993? I mean, I know we've done a lot of losing around here, but geez. Granted, they weren't in the MW for a long stretch, so we're only talking about 4 games in SJ, but still. I just don't get a good feeling about going there...

- Best games on this week's slate, IMO: Fresno at Minnesota; USC at Stanford

 

[RebelBuzz]

There are some really interesting games on the slate for the opponents this week.

USC @ Texas. Is USC any good? I still don't know that we have an answer to this question. Texas isn't anything special, but to get a road win in TX will help with the perception that our showing in week 1 was impressive.

Fresno @ UCLA. Fresno lost in a heartbreaker last week at Minnesota thanks to one of the best interceptions I have seen in a while (video below). How do they bounce back against a struggling UCLA squad? This is certainly a winnable game. Right now they are a 2.5 point favorite.



SDSU hosts ASU. ASU is the hot topic right now and ranked #22. But are they actually any good? They beat UTSA in week 1, and then beat MSU, who struggled with Utah State. A lot of unknowns. For the sake of the MW, you've gotta pull hard for SDSU to get the win.

Hawaii has to travel to West Point to play Army for a 9:00 am PT start time. I believe that's 6:00 am their "body time." Hawaii has cruised to a 3-0 record, but this one will be tough. If they can get a win, however, I honestly think they could start the season 6-0.

 

[j. spilotro]

There are some really interesting games on the slate for the opponents this week.

USC @ Texas. Is USC any good? I still don't know that we have an answer to this question. Texas isn't anything special, but to get a road win in TX will help with the perception that our showing in week 1 was impressive.

Fresno @ UCLA. Fresno lost in a heartbreaker last week at Minnesota thanks to one of the best interceptions I have seen in a while (video below). How do they bounce back against a struggling UCLA squad? This is certainly a winnable game. Right now they are a 2.5 point favorite.

View embedded media

SDSU hosts ASU. ASU is the hot topic right now and ranked #22. But are they actually any good? They beat UTSA in week 1, and then beat MSU, who struggled with Utah State. A lot of unknowns. For the sake of the MW, you've gotta pull hard for SDSU to get the win.

Hawaii has to travel to West Point to play Army for a 9:00 am PT start time. I believe that's 6:00 am their "body time." Hawaii has cruised to a 3-0 record, but this one will be tough. If they can get a win, however, I honestly think they could start the season 6-0.

Terrific INT, but the receiver was brutal on that play.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Yeah I agree. I just think he was so open he didn’t think about competing for the ball. And that thing just floated. It was just such a crusher. 1st down, you’ve got a guy wide open and it looks like you’re about to win... and if something crazy happens you’ve still got 2nd - 4th down to get the touchdown. Then dude just comes and rips it out from under you, with an incredible catch.

 

[dcut03]

I have a feeling that you should bet the over when Hawai'i plays us.

 

[rebswin2]

There are some really interesting games on the slate for the opponents this week.

USC @ Texas. Is USC any good? I still don't know that we have an answer to this question. Texas isn't anything special, but to get a road win in TX will help with the perception that our showing in week 1 was impressive.

Fresno @ UCLA. Fresno lost in a heartbreaker last week at Minnesota thanks to one of the best interceptions I have seen in a while (video below). How do they bounce back against a struggling UCLA squad? This is certainly a winnable game. Right now they are a 2.5 point favorite.

View embedded media

SDSU hosts ASU. ASU is the hot topic right now and ranked #22. But are they actually any good? They beat UTSA in week 1, and then beat MSU, who struggled with Utah State. A lot of unknowns. For the sake of the MW, you've gotta pull hard for SDSU to get the win.

Hawaii has to travel to West Point to play Army for a 9:00 am PT start time. I believe that's 6:00 am their "body time." Hawaii has cruised to a 3-0 record, but this one will be tough. If they can get a win, however, I honestly think they could start the season 6-0.

SC, Fresno, ASU, Army (tough start time).

 

[RebelBuzz]

The AK State game vs. Tulsa should also be telling. AK State got throttled by Bama (who wouldn't?) and beat a bad team. This will be a better barometer. Tulsa isn't a world beater by any stretch, but they are 1-1 with their loss being a respectable 28-21 loss on the road at Texas.

Man, if the Rebels can somehow find a way to go 3-1 through the non-conference I'd feel real good about where we are headed this year.

 

[rebelwithacause]

Week 3: what have we learned?

- Reno looks really, really bad.
- SDSU seems to have this conference in the bag. Really impressive win over Stanford.
- BYU is by no means a guaranteed loss. I know they've played a really strong schedule so far, but they seem completely incapable of putting points on the board. That should keep us in the game.
- Our road game at Air Force looks real tough. Dominating win in week 1 (cupcake opponent, I know) but their performance at Michigan today was pretty solid.

Whatcha talking about bro...SDSU didn't have a "Really impressive win over Stanford" ???? The Aztecs went up to Palo Alto and got easily handled by the Trees. 31-10, they lost by a few touchdowns ??

 

[drmontehorne_a_yahoo.com]

I do not see std st having anything in the bag at this point....

 

[Rebel1986]

Rebel, that was 2017 in regards to SDSU win over Stanford, you are looking at a year old comment!

 

[dcut03]

Yeah, surprised about SDSU's start this season, they seem to be way down this year. Struggling with Sac State?

 

[j. spilotro]

Yeah, surprised about SDSU's start this season, they seem to be way down this year. Struggling with Sac State?

Almost like their basketball team (when they were good)... SDSU seems to give us fits regardless of how they actually are, they seem like the best defensive team in the world when we play them. Maybe it’s not true but it sticks out to me.

 

[Rebel1986]

Last year SDSU finished the season 11-3 and they had an 18 point loss to South Alabama. I expect they will still have a very good team even while not looking very good verse Sac State.

 

[drmontehorne_a_yahoo.com]

Last year SDSU finished the season 11-3 and they had an 18 point loss to South Alabama. I expect they will still have a very good team even while not looking very good verse Sac State.

I agree. However, they need to pick it up a few notches. I will be concerned about us until a really good showing at ASU. UTEP is rated the worst team in college football so I am not reading to much in to our win....yet.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Whatcha talking about bro...SDSU didn't have a "Really impressive win over Stanford" ???? The Aztecs went up to Palo Alto and got easily handled by the Trees. 31-10, they lost by a few touchdowns ??

As someone else said, you're looking at a comment from last year. Kinda confusing, I know. I just keep editing the thread I started last year... so the first several comments are irrelevant. I shoulda just started a new thread, but oh well. Next year I will.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Hawaii just pulled within 7 of Army in the 4th quarter on a LONG pass touchdown. Our secondary is gonna have its work cut out for them when we face Hawaii.

 

[1Tripoda]

Hawaii just pulled within 7 of Army in the 4th quarter on a LONG pass touchdown. Our secondary is gonna have its work cut out for them when we face Hawaii.

Hawaii QB is awesome, he is probaby the best in the MWC....you can easily neutrlize him by keeping him off the field by playing conservative offense or stallled offense..

 

[bspils]

Yeah, at this point I would put Air Force into the toss up category.

Utah State may be tougher than expected, same with New Mexico, maybe Fresno.

BYU, Air Force, for sure look less intimidating each week, arguable even SDSU. Though for sure they are the toughest game left on the schedule.

Why do people keep saying we play BYU this year? Is it because we have a "BYE" in week 5?

 

[bspils]

Why do people keep saying we play BYU this year? Is it because we have a "BYE" in week 5?

I bet we don't lose in week 5!

 

[Knight Rebel702]

Why do people keep saying we play BYU this year? Is it because we have a "BYE" in week 5?

Not sure but I would be perfectly okay if we Never play YBU again!

 

[dcut03]

Why do people keep saying we play BYU this year? Is it because we have a "BYE" in week 5?

Look at the date of the post, it was from last year.

This thread was started last year, then it was modified to reflect this year's schedule.

Buzz already cleared that up in this thread.

 

[rebelwithacause]

The MW had a pretty good week against the Pac 12 winning 3 out of the 4 games.. Fresno State beat UCLA, SDSU beat ASU, and Reno tops Oregon State.. Even one of the worst teams in the conference San Jose State hangs with 20th ranked Oregon and loses on the road by less than 2 touchdowns. Our conference isn't a power conference, but we definitely have some pretty solid football teams in our league.

 

[dcut03]

7.5 point dogs, ESPN gives us a 28% chance. Any thoughts?

Personally I think our chances are better than that. Ark St got a good road win at Tulsa, though its hard to say how good they are.

Interesting to see the defense this week against a very capable QB that can run a little too. I think we will handle to road OK.

 

[j. spilotro]

7.5 point dogs, ESPN gives us a 28% chance. Any thoughts?

Personally I think our chances are better than that. Ark St got a good road win at Tulsa, though its hard to say how good they are.

Interesting to see the defense this week against a very capable QB that can run a little too. I think we will handle to road OK.

I really think we’ve got a shot. The problem that makes it difficult to have a firm believe is we’ve yet to play similar competition. Much better than us x 1, much less than us x 2 ... this game should be a decent barometer. And with it on the road...

 

[Rebel1986]

In my opinion this is almost a make or break game for the season. Utah State (67th), SDSU (50th), and Fresno State (37th) are all better than Arkansas St. (70th) while Air Force (82nd) , Hawaii (81st) San Jose State (127th) New Mexico (104th) and Nevada (92nd) are ranked below Arkansas St. based on composite rankings.

 

[drmontehorne_a_yahoo.com]

In my opinion this is almost a make or break game for the season. Utah State (67th), SDSU (50th), and Fresno State (37th) are all better than Arkansas St. (70th) while Air Force (82nd) , Hawaii (81st) San Jose State (127th) New Mexico (104th) and Nevada (92nd) are ranked below Arkansas St. based on composite rankings.

I completely agree. We win this and the ones we are favored at this time...we go 6-6. This is a huge game. IMHO the game of the season in terms of bowling...

 

[dcut03]

In my opinion this is almost a make or break game for the season. Utah State (67th), SDSU (50th), and Fresno State (37th) are all better than Arkansas St. (70th) while Air Force (82nd) , Hawaii (81st) San Jose State (127th) New Mexico (104th) and Nevada (92nd) are ranked below Arkansas St. based on composite rankings.

This early in the season, these rankings are very arbitrary. Who knows how good most of these teams are at this point? Hell, who knows how good we really are at this point? I sure don't.

Most of the remaining games are "winnable", how winnable remains to be seen. I like the direction of the defense, I would feel better if our offense was a little more balanced, at least when it needs to be. I think it will need to be this season if we want a bowl game.

Looking forward to Saturday, I think it could help set the tone for the rest of the season.

 

[RebelBuzz]

What I'm interested in this week:

USC hosts Washington State. They could very easily slip to 1-3 on the season facing an undefeated WSU team. USC is going to want to come out and make a statement... but are they any good? Our "good loss" isn't looking so hot these days.

Can UTEP end the streak? They face off with 0-4 New Mexico State. Should be, umm... "interesting."

Utah State looks like a really solid team with their only loss being a nail-biter on the road at MIchigan State. They should get past AFA with ease this week, and our trip to Logan is looking more and more difficult every week.

Honestly, our game with Arkansas State is probably the best one on the slate. Man, it would be nice to get out of the non-conference at 3-1...

 

[1Tripoda]

Man, it would be nice to get out of the non-conference at 3-1...

In so many ways. I am hopeful but I am not expecting it. If and that is a BIG if, Armani come out swinging then UNLV might play for something big..big bowl. Armani Roger's passing abilities is the key.

 

[rebswin2]

What I'm interested in this week:

USC hosts Washington State. They could very easily slip to 1-3 on the season facing an undefeated WSU team. USC is going to want to come out and make a statement... but are they any good? Our "good loss" isn't looking so hot these days.

Ive seen all 3 of SC's games this year, including the last 2 in person. They are not very good, at least at this point. Their offense is struggling, I assume it will get better, but I wont be surprised at all if Wassu beats them tomorrow night.

 

[RebelBuzz]

Thoughts for week 5 (UNLV bye week):

Looking back at week 4, it was nice to see USC get a win over Wash St. Also, interesting to see that PVAMU put up 63 on Arkansas Pine Bluff. If this defense can continue to make strides that will be a huge positive for this team going forward.

On top of the Rebels having a bye week, the slate for our opponents is really dull. Nothing really jumps out as must-see TV. I guess AFA vs. Reno will be interesting. If the game were in Reno, I think they win easily... but funny stuff can happen @AFA (see our game last year).

Now that we're through with the non-conference, I'm looking at the last 8 games. Gotta go at least 4-4 to get that bowl eligibility. My predictions:

vs. UNM: Win
@ USU: Loss
vs. Air Force: Win
@ SJSU: Win
vs. Fresno: Loss
@ SDSU: Win
@ Hawaii: Loss
vs. Reno: Win

Final record: 7-5 (5-3 MW)

Each season under Coach Sanchez the Rebels have pulled out a surprising road win.
- 2015 @ Reno (Reno went 7-6 that year)
- 2016 @ Hawaii (7-7)
- 2017 @ Fresno State (10-4).

I think this is our year to get the Aztecs. Their unconvincing home wins over E Michigan and Sacramento State have me thinking they are vulnerable. If we don't get the Aztecs, I get the feeling that we find a way to win at Utah State or Hawaii. In the end, we go 1-2 in those 3 games, which isn't fantastic, but the 1 win will really help secure our bowl status.

I think that Air Force, SJSU, and UNM are pretty easy wins, even though San Jose is a road game.

That home game vs. Fresno should be really interesting. If things go as predicted, we would be 5-3 heading into that game. I would like to think that we could get a decent size crowd and a good atmosphere for a potential bowl-clinching victory. But Fresno has looked pretty tough this year, and they'll have revenge on their minds after our upset last year.

Reno, we win. I'm confident with this one. Hopefully it's the "icing" for us (win 7+) but even if we are 5-6 coming into it, we get the job done and get over the hump.