Nevada at Troy College Football Week 1 Best Bet – 8/31/2024

The Nevada Wolf Pack will be facing off against the Troy Trojans on August 31, 2024, at 7:00 pm ET. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Nevada Wolf Pack as 9.0 point underdogs going into the game. Currently, 67% of spread bets are in favor of the Nevada Wolf Pack, while 33% are for the Troy Trojans. The opening total of 45.5 has resulted in 8% of bets going to the under and 92% of bets going to the over. Continue reading for our Nevada vs Troy prediction for this matchup from Troy, AL.

Can Nevada Avoid 0-2 Start?

The Nevada Wolf Pack opened their 2024 college football season with a Week 0 matchup against the SMU Mustangs. Despite being at home, Nevada was a four-touchdown underdog going into that matchup. And while the Wolf Pack did lose that game, it was a thrilling contest in which Nevada exceeded expectations in a losing effort. Nevada will look to take things a step further and get a win in this contest against Troy.

For Nevada to get a win this weekend, they are going to need to be better on the offensive side of the ball. While their defense was better than expected against an SMU team with a potent passing attack, the Wolf Pack was outgained by over 100 yards in that contest. Nevada can't afford a deficit like that if they want to avoid a second straight loss to open their season.

Coaching Change Takes Hold For Troy

Troy had a strong season in 2023, going 11-3 and winning the Sun Belt championship over App State. While there is an argument to be made that Troy was lucky that James Madison could not participate in postseason play last year, the Trojans beat the teams put in front of them and deserve credit for that. This year, Troy starts their season against Nevada with a new head coach who is hoping to keep things going in the right direction in 2024.

Gerad Parker is the new man in charge at Troy after he spent time as the offensive coordinator at schools like Notre Dame and West Virginia. An offensive-minded head coach should be licking his chops at the opportunity to start the year against a Nevada team that is expected to be dreadful on defense. But as Nevada showed last week, they are capable of digging in and making things tough on opposing offenses.

Nevada vs Troy Best Bet

As impressed as we were by the spirited effort from Nevada last week, asking them to deliver a similar performance on defense away from home is a bridge too far. We will lay the points with the Troy Trojans, who should get the Gerad Parker era of their program off to a strong start against a Nevada team that should struggle to keep up with the offense of the Trojans here.

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