Nevada Football: Nevada vs. Portland State: Game Preview
The Nevada Wolf Pack start the 2018 season at home as they play against Portland State.
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Nevada Wolf Pack Opens 2018 Season Against Portland State
The Nevada Wolf Pack will kick-off the 2018 football season at home on Friday night as they host the Portland State Vikings out of the FCS.
This is the second year the Wolf Pack football team is under the direction of head coach Jay Norvell. We shall see if his second time facing off against an FCS team will go a lot better than the first time when Norvell’s Wolf Pack lost to Idaho State at home 30-28 last season.
Here are a few keys for a Nevada victory on Friday against Portland State.
The first key for Nevada to open the season with a win is that the offense, led by quarterback Ty Gangi, must get going early and attack the Vikings. Portland State’s defense was charitable to say the least last season as the Vikings gave up at least 30 points in ten of their 11 games and in six of those 11 games, they gave up 40 points.
Nevada’s offense should be able to score points with ease against this Portland State defense and if Nevada can clean up their offensive line issues, they should have no trouble breaking 50 points on Friday.
Another key for the Wolf Pack to win is their defense getting off to a good start to begin this season. It is no secret that the Wolf Pack defense is a weak spot, but this unit does have talented players in guys like Malik Reed and Korey Rush in the front seven and the Wolf Pack does field a veteran secondary in players like Dameon Baber and Asauni Rufus.
If this defense can get some stops and some turnovers early on in this game, then it will go a long way towards building confidence as the season progresses.
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Lastly, the Wolf Pack need to stay focus throughout the game against a Portland State team that on paper is inferior to Nevada. Recently, Nevada has struggled against FCS teams as we all know the team lost to Idaho State last season but also their struggled to beat Cal Poly to open the season back in 2016.
So, it is imperative that Nevada keep their focus against this Vikings team that won’t be intimidated facing an FBS team (The Vikings played Oregon State and BYU close last season and in 2015 beat Washington State in Pullman).
In the end, this Nevada team is just overall better than Portland State despite the Wolf Pack going 3-9 last season. Nevada is talented on offense and have the individual playmakers on defense to make easy work of Portland State. I believe the Wolf Pack will learn their lesson as to not take FCS teams lightly and start their 2018 season off with a big win at home over Portland State.