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UNLV vs Michigan Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 2

Michigan is 1-0 after taking down ECU 30-3 last year and UNLV is 1-0 after beating Bryant 44-14.

By Josh Yourish

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9)
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Even without Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines, the Michigan Wolverines cruised to a Week 1 win over ECU, 30-3.

J.J. McCarthy was excellent and the defense was even better en route to the big win. They barely needed the best running back tandem in college football, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. However, it wasn't enough to cover and Michigan is an even bigger favorite this week. 

UNLV got a big win of their own over Bryant, but it’ll be a lot tougher for the Rebels up in Ann Arbor this week. 

I’ll give you my pick for this Week 2 non-conference matchup, but first make sure you take advantage of this great DraftKings Sportsbook promo. Just click the link below, deposit $5, bet this matchup, then receiver $200 in bonus bets win or lose. 

UNLV vs. Michigan Odds, Spread and Total

Michigan vs. UNLV Betting Trends

  • Michigan is 0-1 ATS 
  • The UNDER is 1-0 in Michigan’s games
  • UNLV is 1-0 ATS
  • The UNDER is 1-0 in UNLV’s games

UNLV vs. Michigan How to Watch

  • Date: Saturday, September 9
  • Game Time: 12:00 PM EST
  • Venue: McLane Stadium
  • How to Watch (TV): ESPN
  • UNLV Record: 0-0
  • Michigan Record: 0-0

UNLV vs. Michigan Key Players to Watch

UNLV

Doug Brumfield: The Rebels used a running back by committee method last week against Bryant, but one of their best runners was their quarterback, Doug Brumfield. Brumfield only threw for 86 yards, but he ran the ball seven times for 71 yards and a touchdown. He’ll need to be dynamic on the ground for UNLV to have a chance in this game. 

Michigan

J.J. McCarthy: Michigan knows that they can just pound any team into submission with their run-game, but last week instead of just handing it off to Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards all game, they let McCarthy air it out. The signal caller threw the ball 30 times and completed 26 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. The Wolverines want to see their quarterback dominate early in the year against lesser competition.  

UNLV vs. Michigan Prediction and Pick

Michigan is one of the best teams in college football and can absolutely dominate UNLV. It’s just a matter of how interested they’ll be in running up the score. They didn’t exactly run it up on ECU last week and didn’t cover that game as a 30+ point favorite. In the trenches, this will look like middle schoolers against the varsity state champions, but like last week that will show up a lot with Michigan on defense. 

There is almost no way that UNLV scores 10 points in this game. Against Bryant, their starting quarterback only threw for 86 yards and they ran for 283 yards. That’s not going to fly against Michigan who only allowed 103 yards on the ground to ECU last week and last season Michigan was fifth in the country in rushing yards allowed.

Michigan threw the ball all over the field last week and McCarthy was deadly accurate. If he completes over 80% of his passes against and the Wolverines pound the ball with Corum and Edwards more than the 22 carries that they combined for last week, the clock will be running all game and there’s no chance that this total gets over 57.5. 

The under will be my pick for this one, more as a compliment to the Michigan defense than an insult to their offense. Even if the Wolverines win 50-7 I win my bet and again I don’t see UNLV scoring much at all with a quarterback that didn’t surpass 2,000 yards passing last season and didn’t throw for over 100 last week. 

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change

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