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UNLV is Back at Home Against Vanderbilt

The Rebels take on their first and only SEC opponent this season which is a familiar foe for Coach Odom. 

By jos_fagundes
/ new
NCAA Football: UNLV at Michigan
QB Doug Brumfield looks to throw a lot more passes against the Commodores this weekend.
David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

Preview

Barry Odom in his first year as UNLV’s Head Coach has had the team looking good after the 1-1 start. The first game of the season was a successful win and in the loss to Michigan they still played decent football, even though that may not be the story the scoreboard told. However, this week Coach Odom plays a team he has played before as he came to UNLV from Missouri.

Vanderbilt has started strong after beating Hawaii (another Mountain West team) and Alabama A&M in the first two, but lost to Wake Forest last week by 16 points.

The Rebels are looking to bounce back after the loss last week to Michigan. Coach Odom has the boys preparing for the SEC opponent the best way he knows how having coached against them before.

The UNLV defense has to step up. Vanderbilt has scored over 35 points in every game this year and if they want to keep this game close they will have to keep the offense off the field. It goes both ways too. The UNLV offense has to put up more points to hang with Vanderbilt. The run game for UNLV has been a positive this year and if they can sustain long drives to chew clock and keep the opposing offense off the field. They have 3 or 4 good RBs that keep defenses guessing who is going to have the big game.

QB Doug Brumfield has been good using his legs so far, but they will have to start airing the ball out against the Commodores. In 2 of their 3 games this season they have given up 300 yards through the air. Look for Brumfield to return to his early season form from last season and succeed through the air. Look for WR Ricky White to bounce back after a rough start to the season.

UNLV has a chance to show, like Fresno State earlier this year against Purdue, that the Mountain West can play with the big conferences like the SEC and Big 10 and play well.

Betting Lines

  • UNLV Spread (+4.5): -110
  • UNLV ML: +170
  • O/U (59.5): -110

Game Time

The Rebels play at home in Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, September 16th at 4:00 PM PT or 7:00 PM ET.

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