Quick Lane Bowl: Nevada vs Western Michigan 12/27/21 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Nevada Wolf Pack and Western Michigan Broncos square off Monday morning in the college football Quick Lane Bowl from Ford Field in Detroit.

The Western Michigan Broncos come into this game representing the MAC after finishing the regular season with a mark of 7-5. Kaleb Eleby has thrown for 3,115 yards, 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 63.8% passing while Sean Tyler’s rushed for 1,004 yards with 9 TDs and La’Darius Jefferson has 836 rushing yards with 10 scores this season. Skyy Moore leads WMU in receiving with 91 grabs for 1,256 yards and 10 TDs while Jaylen Hall has 752 receiving yards with 3 TDs and Corey Crooms has 43 grabs for 694 yards and 5 touchdowns. On defense, Zaire Barnes leads the Broncos with 67 total tackles while Ali Fayad has a team-high 11.5 sacks and Ralph Holley has 5.5 sacks as well this season.

The Nevada Wolf Pack will look to bring one home for the Mountain West after going 8-4 in the regular season. Carson Strong has thrown for 4,186 yards, 36 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on 70% passing while Toa Taua leads Nevada with 704 rushing yards and 5 scores. Romeo Doubs leads the Wolf Pack in receiving with 80 catches for 1,109 yards and 11 TDs while Cole Turner, Tory Horton and Melquan Stovall each have 600+ receiving yards with Turner logging 62 grabs for 677 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, Daiyan Henley has a team-high 94 total tackles and 4 interceptions while Tyson Williams has 3 interceptions and Tristan Nichols has a team-high 10 sacks this season. Sam Hammond and Dom Peterson each have 5.5 sacks as well for Nevada this season. It’s also worth noting that Bonner and Doubs have yet to decide if they will participate in the bowl game or sit out and potentially declare for the NFL draft.

Western Michigan is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record and 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win. Nevada is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 bowl games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 non-conference games.

I think a case could be made both ways here, but I’m looking at the Broncos here. Nevada or the over would’ve been a likely choice here, but the possibility of no Carson Strong or Romeo Doubs for this game is definitely casting a shadow on those prospects if you’re a Nevada fan and losing their head coach within the conference has to sting as well. Western Michigan has one of the more potent offenses in the entire MAC and I think they run right past a reeling Nevada team here.