Now that paycheck games are largely behind the Group of Five teams, it’s time to identify a few schools flying under the national radar in college football.
This week I’m setting my sights on star passers who are primed to tear up the Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences.
Non-public teams have a better chance of ending a season as a gambling darling, compared to, say, an Alabama or Notre Dame.
You’re not paying a premium for the helmet, so to speak, when you back a team like San Jose State.
The Spartans are 4-0 ATS this season, easily covering by an average margin of 10.8 points per game.
So why are sportsbooks still hanging generous numbers when SJSU plays?
Well, there was reasonable skepticism surrounding the SJSU program just a month ago.
Brent Brennan was one of the last coaches to nab a major job during the offseason, leaving SJSU in the lurch late in the process.
AD Jeff Konya turned to Ken Niumatalolo, a proven winner at the Naval Academy (109 wins, 10 bowl bids).
But a big question remained: What kind of offense would the option-centric Niumatalolo implement in the Bay Area?
He quickly put that concern to rest by hiring Craig Stutzmann as his coordinator.
Stutzmann’s “Spread n’ Shred” offense has been a revelation.
Nick Nash, SJSU’s go-to receiver, leads the nation in receptions and receiving touchdowns.
And you’d never know that Niumatalolo coached up triple-option quarterbacks for two decades in Annapolis when you watch Emmett Brown spin it.
The undersized sophomore is thriving, averaging more than 320 passing yards per game with a stellar 13-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
This might be the last week to play the Spartans before the secret is out on this MWC contender.
Nevada will put up a good fight, but Brendon Lewis will likely wilt in a shootout when facing SJSU’s pressure defense.
The Spartans rank 30th in both pass-rushing grade and defensive havoc.
I expect a few costly turnovers from Lewis in a comfortable win for the Spartans.
Recommendation: San Jose State -6.5 (-115, FanDuel).
This game features two up-tempo offenses with dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks who are facing defenses ranked in the bottom 20 of the FBS.
Casual observers might see two inconsistent offenses, but there are simple explanations for that.
In the case of Arkansas State, it has drawn two elite Power Four defenses in the past two weeks (Michigan, Iowa State).
South Alabama, likewise, played on the road in Death Valley last week and was manhandled by LSU.
Additionally, USA played a game earlier in the season with star quarterback Gio Lopez sidelined with turf toe.
When Lopez and Arkansas State’s Jaylen Raynor are operating against lousy G5 defenses, they fill up the stat sheet.
In games against Central Arkansas and Tulsa, Raynor performed like an all-SBC quarterback, racking up 694 total yards and five total touchdowns.
With the exception of the LSU game, Lopez has accounted for three or more touchdowns in each of his starts this season, guiding South Alabama to a scoring average of 57.6 points per game across those three games.
He’s flanked in the backfield by Fluff Bothwell, one of the best-kept secrets in college football.
The breakout freshman is averaging more than 8 yards per carry and will be running into a lifeless ASU defense that ranks 130th in tackling, per Pro Football Focus.
Recommendation: Over 61 total points (-110, Caesars).
Mike Calabrese is a handicapper for the New York Post, with a sharp focus on college sports. His betting advice often centers around situational spots, including travel, rest and altitude disparities.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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