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Nevada Vs Kansas State: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction
The Wolf Pack hit the road to take on Kansas State on Saturday.
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Nevada Hits The Road To Challenge Big 12 Opponent Kansas State
WEEK 3: Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Kansas State Wildcats
WHERE: Bill Snyder Family Stadium; Manhattan, Kansas
TV: None
STREAMING: ESPN+
RADIO: Nevada is on ESPN 94.5 in Reno and Kansas State is on KMAN 1350 FM in Manhattan.
SERIES RECORD: First Matchup between Nevada and Kansas State
WEBSITES: NevadaWolfPack.com is the official Nevada athletics website | KStateSports.com is the official Kansas State athletics website.
GAME NOTES (PDF); Nevada | Kansas State
ODDS: Nevada (-2)
SP+ PPROJECTION: Kansas State by 5.5
FEI PROJECTION: Kansas State by 12.9
The Nevada Wolf Pack will be traveling to Manhattan, Kansas to take on the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday.
The Wolf Pack are 2-0 and are coming off a 49-10 win over Idaho State last week. Now the Wolf Pack are traveling east to take on their second Power Five opponent in Kansas State out of the Big 12 conference. The Wildcats are also 2-0 and coming off a win over FCS opponent Southern Illinois 31-23 last Saturday
The Wolf Pack are looking to improve their record to 3-0 by defeating the Kansas State on Saturday. Can the Wolf Pack secure their second Power 5 conference win in three weeks on Saturday?
Here are my keys for a Nevada win and a score prediction
Stop Deuce Vaughn and the Kansas State rushing attack
Kansas State will be without the services of starting quarterback Skylar Thompson who suffered a leg injury last week in their win over Southern Illinois last week.
Thompson’s replacement at quarterback is Will Howard. Howard is a 6-foot-4, 235 lbs sophomore who has some game-time experience at quarterback for K-State. When Howard took over for the injured Thompson last week, he only completed 8 of 17 passes for 76 yards and an interception. Howard did score a one yard rushing touchdown.
Despite the lackluster passing stats by Howard against Southern Illinois, Kansas State’s is a run-oriented offense. The Wildcats have ran the ball on almost 70 percent of their offensive plays this season. The main focus of the K-State rushing offense is running back Deuce Vaughn.
Vaughn, a 5-foot 6 running back from Texas, is K-State’s leading rusher with 244 yards this season. Vaughn has scored four rushing touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards for the Wildcats so far this season. With Thompson out for Kansas State, look for Vaughn to carry an even bigger load for the Wildcat offense.
The Wolf Pack have struggled with stopping the run so far this season as they gave up 153 rushing yards to Cal and 141 rushing yards to Idaho State. Nevada will need to tighten up their run defense this week because Vaughn and Kansas State will bring their run game to wear down the Wolf Pack.
Continue to get great play from Carson Strong and the offense
Last week against Idaho State, the Wolf Pack racked up 586 yards of offense and scored 49 points in the win over the Bengals.
Nevada got another stellar performance from quarterback Carson Strong. Strong completed 34 of 49 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns last week. Strong got everyone involved in the passing game as eleven Wolf Pack players caught at least one pass against Idaho State last week.
Wide receiver Elijah Cooks led the team in receptions last week with seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Nevada even got their running game going last week as the Wolf Pack ran for 145 yards last week with running back Toa Taua rushing for 103 of those yards.
The Wolf Pack are facing a Kansas State defense that limited Stanford to just seven points in their season opening win over the Cardinal. And so far this season, the Wildcats are only giving up 2.24 rushing yards per attempt and on pass defense, the Wildcats have already recorded three interceptions in two games.
The Wolf Pack will need to continue to bring their best game on offense this week against a K-State defense that will test them similar to what Cal’s defense did in the season opener. Carson Strong and the Wolf Pack offense will have to continue to be stellar in order to win on Saturday.
Limit penalties and try to play mistake free football against K-State.’
In last week’s win over Idaho State, the Wolf Pack committed 10 penalties for 59 yards. Of those 10 penalties committed by Nevada, eight of them were committed in the first half. Even against a bad FCS team like Idaho State, that is not good and the Wolf Pack will need to cut that number down this week.
Nevada will need to do its best to play a clean game with limited mistakes to take down Kansas State on the road. A team like Kansas State that wants to run the ball and control the clock to shorten the game, will take advantage of dumb penalties and turnovers. So it is essential for Nevada to limit any mistakes this week against the Wildcats,
A clean game that is free of silly mistakes, penalties and turnovers can only help the Wolf Pack as they look to improve their record to 3-0.
Prediction
Nevada has a great chance to not only start 3-0 but to secure two road wins against Power 5 competition. That is some rarified air for the Wolf Pack football program looking to play for and win the Mountain West and maybe earn a New Year’s SIx bowl game berth. They are facing a K-State team that will be without its experienced quarterback Skylar Thompson but have an excellent run attack led by Duce Vaughn.
The Wildcats are going to run the ball early and often and the Wolf Pack defense, which has struggled in run defense so far this season, will need to be ready for Vaughn’s hard running.
This game against K-State will be similar to the Cal game in the season opener. It will be a hard fought contest and the team who makes the fewest mistakes and makes the most big plays will win. And the Wolf Pack do have the ability to make the big play with Carson Strong at quarterback and that is why I believe the Wolf Pack will defeat Kansas State on Saturday and go to 3-0 for the season.
Nevada 27 Kansas State 24
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