San Diego State vs. UNLV: Game Preview, Kick Time, TV & Radio Schedule, Odds, Prediction
San Diego State looks to dominate UNLV in Vegas.
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San Diego State opens week 9 at UNLV.
WEEK 9: San Diego State Aztecs (6-1, 3-1 Mountain West) vs. UNLV Rebels (2-5, 0-3 MW)
WHEN: Saturday, October 26 — 7:35 PM PT/8:35 PM MT
WHERE: Sam Boyd Stadium; Las Vegas, NV(35,500)
TV: CBS Sports Network
STREAMING: You can get a free seven-day trial of FuboTV by clicking here. You can also find the audio broadcast on TuneIn.
RADIO: San Diego State: 101.5 FM / XTRA 1360 AM Inland Empire: 1350 AM. UNLV: 1100 AM /100.9 FM.
SERIES RECORD: San Diego State leads the series 18-10. In the last meeting on November 10, 2018, the Aztecs were upset by Rebels, 24-27, in San Diego.
LAST WEEK: San Diego State dominated San Jose State, while UNLV was dominated by Fresno State.
WEBSITES: GoAztecs.com, the official San Diego State athletics website | UNLVRebels.com, the official UNLV athletics website
GAME NOTES (PDF): San Diego State | UNLV
ODDS (via OddsShark): San Diego State -9.5
The San Diego State Aztecs head up the 15 to take on the UNLV Rebels on Saturday in a West division showdown. The Aztecs go into this game as the dominant defense in the Mountain West and a top 10 FBS defense. The Aztecs took care of business in San Jose against the Spartans and have their eyes set on the Rebels and making this a painful exercise for the host team.
The Rebels are underperforming, but give them their silver lining as they are one of three Mountain West schools to take down an SEC opponent. After their upset beatdown of Vanderbilt, they got sent back to reality and lost to a hungrier Fresno State team.
The Rebels enroll the talent to upset their opponents, but Rocky Long has coached up his defense to exceed public expectations. San Diego State’s defense hasn’t given up more than 300 yards of offense since their loss to Utah State. The weaknesses are simple for the Aztec defense, it’s hard for them to handle a dual-threat quarterback from a pass-happy offense.
We’re going to dive deeper into how the Aztecs plan on beating the Rebels.
Keys to an Aztec Victory
San Diego State pressures the quarterback whoever that is.
The defense is so dominant this season, and it’s going to be a tall ask for the Rebels to make plays. The Rebels took down Vanderbilt two weeks ago in Tennessee, but Fresno State exposed them and brought them back to earth in a 4-turnover loss for UNLV. Here’s the thing, UNLV has been lining up a freshman as their starter and still roster their junior QB who started at the beginning of the season.
The difference of play means defending a dual-threat QB like Utah State’s Jordan Love or taking on a true-pocket passer. To protect against the former, SDSU has to get pressure on the QB and make sure their secondary doesn’t give up first down yardage.
San Diego State cleans up the offensive line mistakes
San Diego State got called for 12 offensive penalties last week against San Jose State, but the ones that hurt are the many false starts and illegal procedure calls. When they accumulate to extra yardage for Ryan Agnew to overcome on a long 2nd or 3rd downs in the red zone, it looks like points left off the board. Rocky Long has emphasized this in practice this week and expects to see positive results from this.
Score early, keep the lead.
For San Diego State, it’s best they don’t fall behind. UNLV, like Wyoming, has taken down an SEC team this season. So it’s unclear who shows up on Saturday in Las Vegas. San Diego State has the tools to go up two touchdowns by the end of the half, and then play lockdown defense and run 4-minute offenses the rest of their possessions. A healthy combo of Juwan Washington and Chase Jasmin is what can get these guys to 7-1 going into next week.
Prediction
San Diego State gets to a slow start and keeps UNLV in the game through the first quarter. Mid-way Ryan Agnew finds his touch and Juwan Washington records a touchdown. The defense won’t be stopped and by the 4th quarter San Diego State has a 10-point lead.
San Diego State 24, UNLV 14
