{"id":505661,"date":"2026-10-23T19:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/505661\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T19:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:08:13","slug":"nevada-football-versus-san-jose-state-three-keys-to-victory-and-a-prediction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/505661\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada football versus San Jose State: Three keys to victory and a prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nevada football team hosts San Jose State at Mackay Stadium on Saturday. Nevada Sports Net\u2019s Chris Murray breaks down the game against the Spartans with his three keys to victory and prediction. This feature is presented in partnership with Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nevada (2-4, 1-2 MW) at San Jose State (4-3, 2-1)<\/p>\n

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Where: Mackay Stadium (capacity 27,000)<\/p>\n

Surface: FieldTurf<\/p>\n

Weather: High of 55; low of 38<\/p>\n

TV\/Radio: Nevada Sports Net<\/a>\/105.7 FM<\/p>\n

Online: MW+<\/p>\n

Betting line: Nevada by 5.5 points; total of 46.5<\/p>\n

All-time series: Nevada leads 24-12-2<\/p>\n

Last matchup: Nevada won, 55-10, on Nov. 15, 2025 (in Reno)<\/p>\n

Three keys to the game<\/p>\n

1. Two sacks or fewer: SJSU\u2019s 27 sacks are the second most in the nation, with the Spartans recording 11 sacks in last week\u2019s win over UTEP, which was two shy of the school record. Nevada\u2019s offensive line has done a good job of limiting sacks, allowing just seven in six games. But this is the best front seven the team has faced this season. SJSU has six players with multiple sacks, including standouts Jayland McGlothen (MW-best six sacks) and Dylan Lee, a stat-hog linebacker with four sacks. Nevada\u2019s quarterback situation entering this game is uncertain with Carter Jones (elbow) and AJ Bianco (ankle) questionable while nursing injuries and third-stringer Luke Duncan a pocket passer. Whoever starts at quarterback can\u2019t afford to take a lot of hits, so Nevada needs to limit SJSU\u2019s vicious pass rush to two sacks or fewer.<\/p>\n

2. Win game of explosives: Neither of these offenses are outstanding, with Nevada averaging 26 points per game (89th in the nation) and SJSU averaging 21.4 points per game (112th). Despite those numbers, both have good playmakers. Nevada running backs Dominic Kelley and Herschel Turner Jr. each have big-play ability, as does wideout Gary Givens III. SJSU\u2019s Jabari Bates leads the MW in rushing yards (556) while freshman wideout Carson Clark leads the MW in receiving yards (509) and receiving touchdowns (five). There will be plenty of offensive talent on the field capable of making big plays. Whichever team taps into those explosive plays will have a huge advantage because prolonged scoring drives have not been the MO of either team. Nevada has had its share of explosives in the run game, with fewer coming via the air.<\/p>\n

3. No major mistakes: Nevada head coach Jeff Choate used the analogy earlier this week of the Wolf Pack being like a student who misses two of three answers on a test, dropping their grade from an \u201cA\u201d to a \u201cB.\u201d Those couple of missed answers \u2013 or in Nevada\u2019s case bad plays \u2013 then prove costly. The Wolf Pack has had some disaster plays this season that have turned potential wins into difficult losses. That was evident last week against North Dakota State when the Bison returned a missed field goal for a touchdown and an unsuccessful 2-point conversion for two points of their own. Those plays featured a 14-point swing in Nevada\u2019s 14-point loss. The Wolf Pack also has been on the wrong side of the turnover margin in a major way, with Nevada minus eight in that category. The Wolf Pack can\u2019t continue to make these fatal mistakes.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/p>\n

Nevada 24, San Jose State 20: During Choate’s Wolf Pack tenure, 20 has been the magic number. When Nevada has allowed 20 points in a game under Choate, it is just 2-22. That\u2019s a result of a faulty offense that has not been able to post high scoring totals. And Nevada enters Saturday’s game with less-than-ideal health at quarterback against a staunch SJSU defense. But the Wolf Pack should be able to squeeze out the win and keep its postseason hopes alive. A loss would dash any realistic chance of Nevada making a bowl game. Season record: 3-3 (straight up); 3-3 (against the spread)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nevada football team hosts San Jose State at Mackay Stadium on Saturday. Nevada Sports Net\u2019s Chris Murray…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-505661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}