By Austin Turner — Staff Writer
Seven games into the 2018 season, San Jose State football (0-7) is still looking for its first win.
On Saturday, the Spartans will be trying to capture it as they take on another conference foe, the UNLV Rebels (2-5).
Both teams are coming off heartbreaking losses to conference opponents. The Spartans fell just short of a massive upset in San Diego last week when a late field goal gave San Diego State a three point victory.
Meanwhile, the Rebels almost erased a 20 point deficit against Air Force. They rallied late and drove the ball to the Falcons’ 30-yard line down six with under two minutes left, but were unable to punch it in.
UNLV quarterback Armani Rodgers will be out of the action again with a foot injury.
His replacement, Max Gilliam has been serviceable this season, throwing for 634 yards with eight touchdown passes and only three interceptions in three starts.
However, the loss of Rodgers is a huge blow to the Rebels, as Gilliam does not have the same running ability.
The Rebels will however, have their star running back.
Lexington “Lightning” Thomas has been one of the best running backs in all of college football this season. As his nickname would suggest, he is electric, with speed that can burn a defense at any moment. He has multiple rushes of over 70 yards this season.
The SJSU defense will have to put up another big game like last week in order to keep the Spartans in the game.
They held San Diego State to 16 points, its fewest output of the season. The front seven will have a big task in stopping Thomas, who gashed the Spartans last year for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Love will likely be the starting quarterback again for SJSU. He had a solid performance against one of the best defenses in the MWC last week.
He completed 72 percent of his passes and threw for 215 yards. However he struggled again in a late-high pressure situation. A big key for the Spartans in this one is that Love can perform to his abilities if they need a score late in the game.
Running back Tyler Nevens should be more involved against UNLV. He is in desperate need of a breakout game, and could be able to hit the 100-yard mark for the first time all season on Saturday.
Expect him to have the most touches he’s had all season, because UNLV sports the worst rush defense in the mountain west, as opponents average 221 yards per game on the ground.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. from CEFCU Stadium.
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurnt
