Nevada (+17.5) at Colorado State - 12:00 noon Pacific
This is meant to be a big year for Nevada football as they return 17 starters from a 6-5 team last year. Unfortunately, after losing TE Darin Higgins (concussion) last week they are now playing without 5 starters due to injuries or suspensions. Even so, they should have beaten a much improved Oregon State team last week. The 28-13 final score is very misleading. The Wolfpack actually led 13-7 in the 4th quarter until a short pass to the tight end turned into a fluke 79 yard touchdown for the Beavers. Nevada later drove inside the 25 impressively only to fumble the ball away and the rest is history. Despite what the stats may indicate, the Nevada defense surprisingly played very well and is definitely improved this year. They held OSU to only 7 points through 3+ quarters. Last year vs OSU they gave up 48 points! The Nevada offense was not running smoothly last week mainly due to poor offensive line play. They were playing without 2 O-line starters and did not pass or run block well. This week they move Ryan Scuffy (1st Team Big West Center last year) from the defensive line back to the offensive line and this unit should be much improved in their second game out. If you haven't heard the name David Neill yet, you will soon. He only started 7 games last year, but threw for 3,249 yards with a 29-9 touchdown to interception ratio, was #5 in NCAA in pass efficiency, and earned 1st Team Big West honors all as a true freshman! This guy is a big time talent and is a touchdown pass waiting to happen every time he drops back. He was just inches away from connecting on a few long touchdown passes last week that could have given them a big lead and led to a straight up win. Senior RB Chris Lemon is in search of his 4th consecutive 1,000+ yard season and senior WR Trevor Insley is an All-American candidate. Nevada averaged 33.7 points and 507 yards per game last year despite a very slow start and 10 (2 are injured) starters are back! In last years game vs CSU, Nevada had yet to settle on a new QB and their offense was struggling early on in the season. (They scored 21 points in their first two games compared to 33.7 points per game for the season.) They had a -4 turnover ratio in that game and still only lost 26-14. Neill made his first start the following week and the offense took off. This could not be a bigger sandwich game for CSU. They are coming off a huge win over Colorado last week and they play on national television again in just 5 days at BYU! They started off the CU game with an interception runback and benefited from 6 CU turnovers overall. They were actually outgained in the game despite winning 41-14. This will be Nevada's third shot at CSU in as many years and they are ready to make some noise this time. Regardless of what happens here, this will be a team to watch closely as they start getting players back in the coming weeks. Nevada 1 UNIT   WIN 

Memphis (+13.5) at Mississippi State - 5:30pm Pacific
We have been following this Memphis team closely for a while now, and they appear ready for a positive season. The Tigers return 14 starters from last year and have players at almost every position who have redshirted at one time or another so they are bigger, stronger, and more experienced than ever. They gave a good Ole Miss team all they could handle before falling 3-0 last week. Coaches decided to shuffle the offensive line around just 2 weeks before the season opener and they did not play well vs an experienced Ole Miss defense that returned 9 starters. Look for some improvement this week. The Tigers will find ways to get their explosive skill position players senior RB Arnold (only 46 yards last week) and senior WR Dodson (only 2 touches last week) going. The Memphis defense can speak for itself after holding Ole Miss to only a 4th quarter field goal last week. Big things are expected from this unit as they are now being coached by highly touted defensive coordinator John Thompson (formerly of Southern Miss). Miss State became badly overrated last year. They played in the SEC championship game without having to face Tennessee, Florida, or Georgia. They ended up getting spanked by Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Last years offensive line and RB were among the best in school history, but this year they only return one starter on the line who along with QB Wayne Madkin are the only 2 returning starters on offense! The Bulldog defense appears strong on paper as they return 7 starters and confuse offenses with several different schemes. But the defense suffered some key losses too. Gone our their top two tacklers from last year as well as starting senior CB Kendall Roberson who had a season ending knee injury in the preseason. No running back has yet to emerge for the Bulldogs (6 different RB's played) and they only averaged 3.5 yards per carry vs Middle Tennessee State who was making their division 1-A debut. The last two meetings of these teams have gone down to the wire and were decided by a combined 11 points. This looks like the Tigers best chance yet and it should be another low scoring close game. We give the Tigers a solid chance of an upset win. Regardless, +13.5 points will be huge. Memphis  1 UNIT    WIN