Year 2 of the Sanchez era begins this Thursday when UNLV opens up the 2016 campaign against Jackson State University. Here are all the things you NEED to know about UNLV’s season opener:
-Jackson State is a Historically Black College that is more known for its marching band/drumline than their football team. Poor football players… could you imagine living in an alternate reality where the band geeks get more love than you. But if you’ve ever seen the cinematic masterpiece Drumline featuring America’s host, Nick Cannon, you might be more understanding of why a marching band can be cooler than a 3-8 football team.
-Late Sunday night, Coach Sanchez named Johnny Stanton as the teams starting QB. Putting an end to the QB competition between the former Nebraska QB, and Kurt Palandech. Johnny is best name ever for quarterback so expectations are understandably very high.
-After some very intense research, I can confirm that Jackson State is not even a state. Somebody messed up.
-Jackson State went 3-8 last year, but they return 17 starters. Which is a good thing if you think about it. The team that was pretty bad last year is all returning, so we can realistically expect more of the same.
-Luckily UNLV has some depth as the running back position because the team kicked last year’s top runner, Keith Whitely, off the team for violating team rules. ExpectLexington Thomas and Xzaviar Campbell to both see lots of carries along with incoming frosh Charles Williams.
-The challenge for UNLV this upcoming season is to do a better job keeping opposing teams out of the endzone. UNLV gave up 30 points or more in 6 of their last 7 games. In most of those of games, UNLV was able to move the football… just not as much as the other team.
UNLV is expected to be heavy favorites against Jackson State. The betting line for the game has not been released yet, and may not be released but UNLV is probably be favored by 25-31 points. I have UNLV getting the win. 47-24.