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Teams looking to get their seasons off on the right foot meet on Saturday when the UNLV Rebels host the Idaho State Bengals. UNLV is 24-30 all-time in its season openers, including a 19-10 mark at home. Since beating Utah State 27-24 in 2000, Idaho State is 1-34 against FBS schools. The only win since then was a 30-28 victory at Nevada in 2017. Idaho State was 1-10 in 2021, while UNLV was 2-10.
The game from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is slated to start at 3:30 p.m. ET. This is just the seventh meeting between the schools. UNLV posted an 80-8 win over the Bengals during the 2015 season. The Rebels are favored by 18.5 points in the latest Idaho State vs. UNLV odds. Before making any UNLV vs. Idaho State picks, make sure you check out the college football experts from SportsLine expert Emory Hunt.
Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007, and a former running back at Louisiana-Lafayette. He knows the game from a player’s perspective. In addition, Hunt has gone an amazing 6-1 on his last seven picks involving UNLV, returning $490. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, Hunt has set his sights on UNLV vs. Idaho State and just locked in his picks and CFB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Now, here are several college football odds and betting lines for Idaho State vs. UNLV:
- UNLV vs. Idaho State spread: UNLV -18.5
- ISU: The total has gone over in 12 of the Bengals’ last 16 games.
- UNLV: The Rebels are 6-3 against the spread in their last nine games.
- UNLV vs. Idaho State picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why UNLV can cover
With last year’s starting quarterback Justin Rogers leaving the program, Tennessee transfer Harrison Bailey is expected to take the reins for the Rebels. After seeing a lot of action his freshmen year, Bailey played in just one game a year ago, taking the field against Tennessee Tech and completing 3 of 7 passes for 16 yards. His freshman season in 2020, he saw action in six games, completing 48 of 68 passes (70.6%) for 578 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions. Bailey completed 14 of 18 passes (77.8%) for 207 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-17 win at Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
Defensively, the Rebels will have a healthy super senior in inside linebacker Austin Ajiake, who missed the final four games of last season due to injury. Ajiake was among the team leaders in tackles despite missing significant action. He finished second on the team with 74 tackles, including 43 solo, with one pass breakup. His best game was an 18-tackle performance in a 28-24 loss to Utah State
Why Idaho State can cover
Despite that, the Rebels are not a lock to cover the Idaho State vs. UNLV spread. That’s because the Bengals have an experienced signal caller in Tyler Vander Waal. After redshirting his freshman year at Wyoming, he started the first eight games of the 2018 season, as well as the last game of the season. He led the Cowboys to four wins as he threw for 1,310 yards and five touchdowns. After transferring to Idaho State, he finished 2020 by completing 116 of 215 passes (54%) for 1,838 yards and 12 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. Before getting injured last season, he threw for 375 yards and two scores.
Redshirt sophomore Raiden Hunter is expected to get the start at running back. Last season, Hunter carried 66 times for 240 yards (3.6 average). In parts of three seasons with the Bengals, Hunter has rushed 117 times for 441 yards (3.8 average) and one touchdown. His most productive game came last November in a 32-29 loss at Cal-Poly when he carried 13 times for 65 yards (5.0 average), and caught two passes for six yards.
How to make Idaho State vs. UNLV picks
For Saturday’s contest, Hunt is leaning Over on the total, and he’s also isolated a critical X-factor he believes makes one side of the spread a must-back. He’s sharing what it is, and which side of the spread he’s backing, only at SportsLine.
So who wins UNLV vs. Idaho State? And which critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump on Saturday, all from the expert who has crushed his college football picks, and find out.
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