Line ‘em up: Predictions and Game Thread UNLV at UTEP

[j. spilotro]

Line up your predictions, post updates, info, insights, stats, embed tweets, videos, pics, whatever you want … make your picks and post as the game progresses, this will serve as the game thread. Anything you want related to the UNLV at UTEP game.

Rebel-Net - Heading to El Paso

UNLV wraps up their non-conference slate with Saturday night game in El Paso against the Miners.

unlv.rivals.com

I’m going 34-17 UNLV.

 

[LocoRebel]

Depending on QB play...

I think we are in for a good time. We will allow some yards but no complete breakdowns. Maybe sustained drives that take clock or end up 3. UTEP is under 200 yards total offense.

Meanwhile, I think we will really sustain drives. Early on will be run heavy and short passes that ends up giving us 7. Gonna be at least one long ball in the passing game that doesn't score but ends up a TD.

The 22 year punt return no TD streak ends Saturday.

31-16 good guys

 

[1Tripoda]

Line up your predictions, post updates, info, insights, stats, embed tweets, videos, pics, whatever you want … make your picks and post as the game progresses, this will serve as the game thread. Anything you want related to the UNLV at UTEP game.

Rebel-Net - Heading to El Paso

UNLV wraps up their non-conference slate with Saturday night game in El Paso against the Miners.

unlv.rivals.com

I’m going 34-17 UNLV.

Doubled them up at their home? I'm going to go with the odd makers and say UNLV by 4. Just win...please. UNLV will be 3-1 if they win. Half way home.

 

[j. spilotro]

Doubled them up at their home? I'm going to go with the odd makers and say UNLV by 4. Just win...please. UNLV will be 3-1 if they win. Half way home.

A team that scores 10 per game … and they don’t defend well either.

I stated in a different thread I thought UNLV would be a 7 or 8 point favorite. When I see such a difference, I usually jump on the game.

UNLV is no world beater. But UTEP appears to be absolute garbage.

 

[j. spilotro]

A team that scores 10 per game … and they don’t defend well either.

I stated in a different thread I thought UNLV would be a 7 or 8 point favorite. When I see such a difference, I usually jump on the game.

UNLV is no world beater. But UTEP appears to be absolute garbage.

But … I’ve seen UNLV football. I’ve seen us lose to Howard. I’ve seen us get throttled into submission against worse teams than UTEP.

Maybe it’s blind high hopes … call me King Kumbaya.

 

[j. spilotro]

Doubled them up at their home? I'm going to go with the odd makers and say UNLV by 4. Just win...please. UNLV will be 3-1 if they win. Half way home.

3-1 with games vs Hawaii (home game) and UNR (on the road, they’re awful) … this is a fantastic opportunity for UNLV. We aren’t getting ranked, we aren’t winning league … but this is our best chance at getting bowl eligibility since …. er …. Last season …. And we seen that giant turd in the bed we left.

 

[1Tripoda]

But … I’ve seen UNLV football. I’ve seen us lose to Howard. I’ve seen us get throttled into submission against worse teams than UTEP.

Maybe it’s blind high hopes … call me King Kumbaya.

I'd called you King Kumbaletta. The Sicilian King of Menzies club.

 

[rebelzzz]

35-28 Rebels
Will be a close game but a win in the end.
Doug might start but JM will get majority of the snaps. Go REBELS!!!

 

[unlvlurker]

Depends who UNLVs qb is.

If it’s Brum and he plays most the game

UNLV 27 - UTEP 24. Utep gets opportunity after opportunity to get offense moving with Brums struggles.

Brum gets pulled early UNLV 34 - UTEP 21.

JM plays from start UNLV 37 - UTEP 17

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Rebs win..

27-24

 

[UNLVbro]

I pray I'm wrong, and will gladly eat crow if so... But I see us getting throttled with Mr. Glass at the helm.

 

[Couev]

So, historically this would be where the Rebels would come out and give an uninspired performance to extinguish any real hope at bowl eligibility. First road game against an opponent it would be sort of easy to overlook if you didn't realize you were UNLV.

UTEP seems to be pretty bad (their only win came against Incarnate Word, which seems like a Menzies W to me), but they've played 3 road games including against Northwestern (The Vandy of the B1G) and Arizona (Middle of the ground PAC team), and a close loss to Jxnville State who is brand new to FBS but are coached by RichRod and have some talent.

UTEP has issues stopping the run, but looks like they'll aggressively blitz to get after the QB. They also run the ball pretty well. Have two HBs with over 40 carries each both averaging over 5 yards per carry. I haven't watched them, but the QB has a lot of carries for not a lot of yardage so I'm not sure how much of RichRod's traditional option offense is in place. They also have allowed 10 sacks in 4 games, which is slightly lower rate than we've allowed.

I"m going to ignore my head and say with my heart we win a game that's closer than we like on the road.

UNLV: 21
UTEP: 20

 

[Meister_Rebel]

We win by 14. Maiava opens the game with a heater to White and burns them deep. Then we get into our running game. UTEP plays a good game but never makes up from our early attack. Hope I didn't ruin it for anyone.

 

[dcut03]

Bold prediction.

Doug gets cleared. And balls out for the first time under the new regime. His injury forces him to try to get rid of the ball better. He shakes off the cobwebs and shows everyone why the coaches think he is QB1.

We win be 2 TDs. Lets call it 31-17. We also run the ball a bit more consistently.

OR.

Doug isn't cleared. JM plays, and plays well. Though makes some mistakes (1-2 turnovers). We kill it on the stat sheet and score enough to overcome turnovers. 35-31.

I'm the only Rebel fan that has faith in Doug! And to be perfectly clear, the only reason I do is because at least outwardly this staff has trust in him. And right now I trust the staff more than any of us on this topic.

 

[LVRebel2000]

Bold prediction.

Doug gets cleared. And balls out for the first time under the new regime. His injury forces him to try to get rid of the ball better. He shakes off the cobwebs and shows everyone why the coaches think he is QB1.

We win be 2 TDs. Lets call it 31-17. We also run the ball a bit more consistently.

OR.

Doug isn't cleared. JM plays, and plays well. Though makes some mistakes (1-2 turnovers). We kill it on the stat sheet and score enough to overcome turnovers. 35-31.

I'm the only Rebel fan that has faith in Doug! And to be perfectly clear, the only reason I do is because at least outwardly this staff has trust in him. And right now I trust the staff more than any of us on this topic.

I have faith in DB. I've seen him do lots of good stuff, but unfortunately, we have short memories and forget much of what he's done the past couple of years. But if he's dealing with concussion stuff, I would not want to push things too hard. Don't want to end up like Tua from the Dolphins after getting concussed multiple times in a short period of time, then have to miss the season, or worse. I just hope he's okay and can show his abilities once he's healthy

 

[dcut03]

I have faith in DB. I've seen him do lots of good stuff, but unfortunately, we have short memories and forget much of what he's done the past couple of years. But if he's dealing with concussion stuff, I would not want to push things too hard. Don't want to end up like Tua from the Dolphins after getting concussed multiple times in a short period of time, then have to miss the season, or worse. I just hope he's okay and can show his abilities once he's healthy

There has been zero indication other than people spitballing here that he actually had a concussion.
Ribs and hip have been officially mentioned by the coaching staff.
They could be deceptive on that, but using a concussion as the injury is really a good way to keep opposing coaches off guard, because it truly is a day to day protocol. If he really had a concussion I think they would mention it.
Again he would have not been allowed back in after that first hit if it truly was a concussion.

 

[LVRebel2000]

There has been zero indication other than people spitballing here that he actually had a concussion.
Ribs and hip have been officially mentioned by the coaching staff.
They could be deceptive on that, but using a concussion as the injury is really a good way to keep opposing coaches off guard, because it truly is a day to day protocol. If he really had a concussion I think they would mention it.
Again he would have not been allowed back in after that first hit if it truly was a concussion.

Good point on coming back in if it was a concussion. I just remember hearing people say he puked in some garbage cans on the side lines. Not sure if rib injuries would cause you to puke, but I guess pain of any kind can make people nauseous. But yeah...spitballing here.

 

[lobbybuu]

Bold prediction.

Doug gets cleared. And balls out for the first time under the new regime. His injury forces him to try to get rid of the ball better. He shakes off the cobwebs and shows everyone why the coaches think he is QB1.

We win be 2 TDs. Lets call it 31-17. We also run the ball a bit more consistently.

OR.

Doug isn't cleared. JM plays, and plays well. Though makes some mistakes (1-2 turnovers). We kill it on the stat sheet and score enough to overcome turnovers. 35-31.

I'm the only Rebel fan that has faith in Doug! And to be perfectly clear, the only reason I do is because at least outwardly this staff has trust in him. And right now I trust the staff more than any of us on this topic.

The staff has trust in him because of politics in the locker room lol i wont get too into that but it is what it is

 

[reagan21]

J.R. Rider - 31
Harold Miner - 23

 

[Masked_rebel]

I think we win going away...
UNLV 35
UTEP 10

Somehow I dont think the QB will matter in this, we will run it down their throats as needed and their offense is no where near as effective as either Michigan or Vandys was...

 

[Couev]

J.R. Rider - 31
Harold Miner - 23

Harold Miner went to USC.

Did you want to say Tim Hardaway and his UTEP Two Step?

 

[LVRebel2000]

I think we win going away...
UNLV 35
UTEP 10

Somehow I dont think the QB will matter in this, we will run it down their throats as needed and their offense is no where near as effective as either Michigan or Vandys was...

This is what I'm hoping for as well. Watching the game back, I actually thought for the most part of defense looked pretty decent. We had a big blown coverage on one of the long TD's passes, which hopefully is a quick fix. We also had a pick 6 for another TD which our defense had nothing to do with. And despite playing without 2 of our better defensive players, we beat Vandy. They're not world beaters or anything, but they have a pretty solid offense.

As far as UTEP goes, it doesn't look like they have too great of an offense (averaging less than 15 ppg, including a 28 point performance vs Incarnate Word). If we can hold them to 20 points or less, I'd think that we should be able to score enough to give us a solid 7+ point win.

 

[Masked_rebel]

This is what I'm hoping for as well. Watching the game back, I actually thought for the most part of defense looked pretty decent. We had a big blown coverage on one of the long TD's passes, which hopefully is a quick fix. We also had a pick 6 for another TD which our defense had nothing to do with. And despite playing without 2 of our better defensive players, we beat Vandy. They're not world beaters or anything, but they have a pretty solid offense.

As far as UTEP goes, it doesn't look like they have too great of an offense (averaging less than 15 ppg, including a 28 point performance vs Incarnate Word). If we can hold them to 20 points or less, I'd think that we should be able to score enough to give us a solid 7+ point win.

Vandy's offense had been rolling through first 2 games. The QB had been throwing TDs left and right, but also they had a lot of turnovers which we saw, lol... We had a miscommunication at the end of the game for their long score between our DBs, cant see that kind of blown coverage as typical. Unless they find something to attack, like the run game and scheme for it, I just cant see them putting up the kind of fight a P5 team like Vandy or a National title contender like Michigan.

 

[reagan21]

Harold Miner went to USC.

Did you want to say Tim Hardaway and his UTEP Two Step?

No the UTEP Miners. I award you no points

 

[dcut03]

How about this?

Mountain MEN-31
Under 18's- 17

 

[Couev]

No the UTEP Miners. I award you no points

I didn't see that crossover coming at all! By that logic are we now a New Jersey university without a football program. I don't understand your word games.

 

[Knight Rebel702]

Line up your predictions, post updates, info, insights, stats, embed tweets, videos, pics, whatever you want … make your picks and post as the game progresses, this will serve as the game thread. Anything you want related to the UNLV at UTEP game.

Rebel-Net - Heading to El Paso

UNLV wraps up their non-conference slate with Saturday night game in El Paso against the Miners.

unlv.rivals.com

I’m going 34-17 UNLV.

I also have the Rebels scoring 34 but, Only Winning by a field goal!

UNLV 44 - UTEP 31

 

[j. spilotro]

This is what I'm hoping for as well. Watching the game back, I actually thought for the most part of defense looked pretty decent. We had a big blown coverage on one of the long TD's passes, which hopefully is a quick fix. We also had a pick 6 for another TD which our defense had nothing to do with. And despite playing without 2 of our better defensive players, we beat Vandy. They're not world beaters or anything, but they have a pretty solid offense.

As far as UTEP goes, it doesn't look like they have too great of an offense (averaging less than 15 ppg, including a 28 point performance vs Incarnate Word). If we can hold them to 20 points or less, I'd think that we should be able to score enough to give us a solid 7+ point win.

They were a careless team … but the big play … it wasn’t being careless (perhaps the play call) but UNLV blew it up … the snaps? Wow.

 

[LVRebel2000]

They were a careless team … but the big play … it wasn’t being careless (perhaps the play call) but UNLV blew it up … the snaps? Wow.

Yeah, Vandy made a lot of mistakes. UNLV had a decent amount of penalties in the game as well. Not major ones, but a lot of offsides, that push us back 5 yards each time. Should be able to clean up some of that stuff. Play smart, don't turn the ball over, and let our running game and special teams make some big plays and we should be good.

Agreed in terms of the careless Vandy stuff though. We likely won't get some of those freebies each week like what Vandy gave us with bad snaps, etc, but we also won't be facing SEC caliber teams that often. Not sure how much they lost from last season, but they went 5-7 overall, and beat Kentucky (who was #24 at the time) and Florida in back to back weeks towards the end of last season.

Our next 3 games aren't against teams with equivalent offenses. We should be able to perform better defensively IMO.

 

[reagan21]

Turnovers are part of the game. The only “freebie” was that snap into the upback. Every other turnover was due to good positioning and pressure.

You are right, UNLV can’t depend on that many turnovers, but it’s not like Vandy was playing 3 flies up with the ball.

 

[LVRebel2000]

Turnovers are part of the game. The only “freebie” was that snap into the upback. Every other turnover was due to good positioning and pressure.

You are right, UNLV can’t depend on that many turnovers, but it’s not like Vandy was playing 3 flies up with the ball.

For sure. Freebies wasn't the right word. We made some nice plays and put pressure on them, which resulted in TO's. From my own eyes, we should continue to get pressure on the QB's and put them in a spot where we'll force turnovers. I actually feel pretty optimistic about our team after this last game. Hopefully we can keep it going.

 

[rebneck]

31-14 UNLV if JM plays at least half, 20-17 UNLV if he doesn't.

 

[unlove]

21-17 Red

 

[Doneoett]

UNLV 27
UTEP 20

 

[RebelsDen]

17-16 Good Guys win a close one on the road

 

[unlv7163]

UNLV “should” win fairly comfortably, but this is UNLV and after beating an SEC team, they’ll have to guard against a let down. Going to say (hope) they take care of business. Rebs 33-16

 

[j. spilotro]

UNLV “should” win fairly comfortably, but this is UNLV and after beating an SEC team, they’ll have to guard against a let down. Going to say (hope) they take care of business. Rebs 33-16

I don’t understand let down for a school like UNLV that has rarely had success and they’re only 2-1 under a new coach … if we were Ohio State or Michigan, I get your point.

That doesn’t mean you won’t get beat. But if it’s an effort/focused based loss … everyone has to look themselves in the mirror and figure out what the hell is wrong with them.

 

[j. spilotro]

I don’t understand let down for a school like UNLV that has rarely had success and they’re only 2-1 under a new coach … if we were Ohio State or Michigan, I get your point.

That doesn’t mean you won’t get beat. But if it’s an effort/focused based loss … everyone has to look themselves in the mirror and figure out what the hell is wrong with them.

Ps … I’m not saying we haven’t had these types of letdowns before at UNLV, we sure as hell have.

 

[lvrebalum2012]

UNLV “should” win fairly comfortably, but this is UNLV and after beating an SEC team, they’ll have to guard against a let down. Going to say (hope) they take care of business. Rebs 33-16

Spread is UNLV -2.5. Looks like the sportsbooks are expecting it to be a close game.

Out of all the games played so far, I think this one will be most important to establish a solid run game. Aside from game 1, we've struggled getting going on the ground, and I think this will be important for success against UTEP.

UNLV - 27
UTEP - 21

 

[reagan21]

Spread is UNLV -2.5. Looks like the sportsbooks are expecting it to be a close game.

Out of all the games played so far, I think this one will be most important to establish a solid run game. Aside from game 1, we've struggled getting going on the ground, and I think this will be important for success against UTEP.

UNLV - 27
UTEP - 21

Agree 100%. I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the play calling early in the Vandy game. They barely even tried to establish a run game. It was throw throw throw. Have to at least make the 2nd level defenders guess if it’s a run or pass.