College Football Predictions: Nevada vs. Oregon Preview

Written by Jake Thompson
Saturday, 10 September 2011 04:22

Our Nevada vs. Oregon preview will make predictions on the final score in Saturday’s college football game.

The Nevada Wolfpack (0-0) have a tough opening game as they have to go on the road to take on the #14 Oregon Ducks (0-1), and we hope our preview and predictions will help everyone sort out the 3:30 PM ET matchup.  Oregon and Nevada last met up in the 2003 season when the Ducks took a 31-23 home victory but failed to cover the point spread as 22.5-point favorites.

Nevada didn’t get a game on the week 1 schedule but Oregon got beat up a bit in their road game against the LSU Tigers.  The final score there was 27-40 and the Ducks did not live up to the billing that the sportsbooks set when they named Oregon 3-point favorites.  Key turnovers doomed the Ducks and the silver lining behind the defeat was that Oregon actually outgained their foes by 62 yards over the course of the game.

Oregon failed to run the ball against one of the best defenses in college football, but what really stood out to me was that they were able to pass for 240 yards.  Nevada has quite a few starters back on defense, and plenty of experience, but ultimately they may be overwhelmed here by an Oregon attack that can beat you in many ways.  One important facet that I’m seeing in the Nevada vs. Oregon game is that the Ducks lost quite a bit on their offensive line and it might take the new starters a few games to get a good feel for the explosive offense.

Nevada lost star quarterback Colin Kaepernick but returns a good chunk of their offense.  The Wolfpack have put up 30 or more points per year since the 2004 season and will be going against an Oregon squad that suffered a ton of losses to graduation.  The Ducks only allowed 273 total yards against LSU but their inability to stop the run (Oregon allowed 175 yards on the ground) definitely concerns me.

This preview boils down to which defense is more likely to bottle up the other, and that honor has to go to Oregon.  Nevada’s lack of experience at quarterback will cost them dearly in this tough road environment, and I feel Oregon’s offense is far too explosive to be held in check by anything other than an elite college football defense.  Look for the Ducks to run up the score as much as they want and our predictions call for the home team to cover the point spread.

Nevada vs. Oregon Score Predictions:

Nevada 17

Oregon 48