Quick Lane Bowl Picks, Predictions and Odds | Nevada vs Western Michigan
Quick Lane Bowl Betting Preview
WagerTalk college football handicapper Tony Finn offers his Nevada vs Western Michigan Quick Lane Bowl betting preview for Monday, December 27. At the time of posting, Western Michigan has climbed to a 7-point favorite over the Wolf Pack from Nevada, with the total at 56 points.
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| Quick Lane Bowl | Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Western Michigan Broncos -7 vs Nevada Wolf Pack |
| Total: | 56 Points |
| Game Time: | 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT on Monday, December 27 |
| Stadium: | Ford Field in Detroit |
| TV: | ESPN |
Quick Lane Bowl Analysis
The 2021 Quick Lane Bowl is scheduled to kick early on the first workday after the Christmas holiday. The timing variable alone doesn’t assist in promoting the contest but essentially keeps it invisible in the big picture. The Mountain West Nevada Wolf Pack (8-4, Mountain West) square off against one of the better, if not the best of the MAC, Western Michigan Broncos (7-5, MAC).
Western Michigan and Nevada (8-4) are responsible for kicking off the second half of the 2021-22 holiday bowl schedule. A meeting in the vast spaces of the Detroit Lions home games at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, offers both programs that Power Five look and feel.
The two teams carry the momentum of blowout victories to close the regular season. The Broncos are a consensus 7-point favorite at most Vegas and Offshore sportsbooks with an over-under that appears low given the perspective of the Wolf Pack and their offensive numbers this season.
The ticket count in this 2021 Quick Lane Bowl continues to grow. The public is chasing the player personnel injuries and departures of key players. At the same time, the sharp money portrays that it would be a mistake to discount Nevada based on the assumed dichotomy and the expectations of the quarterback change for the Wolf Pack.
Drama can spark interest, and it almost always becomes a part of the bowl show when you have a team that loses their NFL-ready quarterback. Toss in the departure of quality running backs to the transfer portal, and it creates the potential for a 30-for-30 series. Circa of Las Vegas opened the Western Michigan Broncos as 1-point favorites with a total of 58.5 points. Circa has made 16 changes to the spread, and there have been eight money moves in the games over-under. When this bowl preview went to press, the Broncos were positioned as 6.5-point chalk over the Wolf Pack with a total of 56 points.
Bowl season presents a plethora of unique scenarios, and the Quick Lane Bowl is one of those that has grabbed our attention here at WagerTalk.
Nevada junior quarterback Carson Strong threw 36 touchdowns and 4,186 yards this year, top 10 in the FBS in both categories. However, strong removed himself from this bowl game when he declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Outside of Strong, the Nevada roster attempted 24 passes in 2021. Senior signal-caller Nate Cox registered his offensive action in the garbage time of three contests that were fourth-quarter Wolf Pack blowouts.
Western Michigan entered the 2021 campaign with expectations that they were not just the favorite to win the MAC but carry a top-25 ranking into the postseason. Instead, the Broncos suffered as many self-inflicted meltdowns on defense as they did in unfortunate circumstances. All of those variables created a level of roster apathy that became transparent in the season’s final month.
Nevada Wolf Pack
- The Wolf Pack were on the wrong end of three conference contests this season, with the defeats coming by a total of six points, two points in each of the losses.
- The handicapping question in this post-Christmas contest; does Nevada have a capable replacement to execute an offense built around the NFL-ready Carson Strong.
- When the public and the oddsmakers doubted the Wolf Pack during Strong’s tenure as the Nevada quarterback, Nevada was 10-1 ATS, in the eleven games that the team closed as underdogs.
Western Michigan Broncos
- Labeling the Western Michigan Broncos season a disappointment is an understatement. Of the respected groups that consolidate their resources and push investments across the brick and mortar and virtual sportsbook counters around the globe, nearly 100 percent of those groups believed that Western Michigan was the team to beat in the MAC.
- Strong’s absence is the primary reason why Western Michigan has steamed into a significant, if not superior talent, that wins boy margin.
- WMU averaged 463.8 yards of total offense per game, the 14th most in the country.
- Quarterback Kaleb Eleby passed for more than 3,000 yards, while a rushing attack led by Sean Tyler recorded over 1,000 yards, giving the Broncos a balanced offense.
- Top to bottom in terms of recruits and raw talent, the Broncos didn’t only have enough athletes to earn a MAC Championship but were mentioned more than once as a potential top-15 program this past summer.
- Western Michigan entered November a long shot to stage a run of victories that could propel them into the conference championship picture and closed the season 1-4 ATS as favorites across their last five games.
Quick Lane Bowl Prediction
This bowl game has received attention to what Nevada was offensively this season into what they will be without Strong behind center. However, it would be a mistake to discount the savvy and the DNA that the Broncos carry into this matchup.
Western Michigan passed the eye-test nearly every Saturday when asked if they were the MAC’s most efficient and dangerous passing attack. The Broncos’ offense controls the tempo in this bowl game, and a defense ranked as the MAC’s best comes up with one or two big plays that turn a game that many won’t watch into one of the biggest routs of the season.
The WagerTalk pick to click in the Quick Lane Bowl is a play on Western Michigan minus the points.
Both Oregon and Oklahoma will be welcoming new coaches next season. Who will get the campaign started on the right foot with a win in the Alamo Bowl? Join Ralph, Adam and Steve for College Football Daily. https://t.co/Wgff7VcPCF
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Quick Lane Bowl Preview from GoldSheet
This game turned on a dime first when Nevada HC Jay Norvell left the team to move to Colorado State and the subsequent hiring of Oregon DC Ken Wilson (an ex-Wolf Pack assistant) to replace him. At least nine Nevada players and five flipped high school commits along with most of the offensive coaching staff are headed to Fort Collins along with Norvell. If that weren’t enough, Wolf Pack star QB Carson Strong declared he was leaving the team in preparation for the NFL draft.
Nevada has moved from 6½-point favorites at the opener to 6-point dogs now. Strong threw for a whopping 4186 yds. and 36 TDs with only 8 ints. and was named the MWC player of the year. Backup sr. QB Nate Cox (a giraffe at 6-9, 225) saw some limited mop up duty, appearing in a handful of games and completing 14 of 20 passes for 158 yds. with a TD and 0 interceptions. Strong has been the primary cog in the Nevada offensive machine for three seasons and can’t help but be missed.
A ton of adjustments will have to be made by interim HC Vai Taua, who was named assistant head coach for his new staff, as the Wolf Pack were 4th in the nation in passing yards this season and 129th in rushing. TE Cole Turner, the 2nd-leading receiver on the team with 62 catches for 677 yds. and 10 TDs, is also out of this game for personal reasons, probably also related to feeling out NFL interest.
The Nevada defense ranked just 82nd in yardage, not terrible considering the offensively charged conference it plays in but ranked first in the country in turnover margin thanks to losing only 1 fumble and 8 interceptions on the season.
Western Michigan peaked early, perhaps, running out to a 4-1 SU mark early, highlighted by a 44-41 upset at Pittsburgh in Week 3. After that HC Tim Lester’s team was only 3-4 and yielded 31 pts or more 5 times, although it did defeat both MAC East champ Kent State and eventual conference champion Northern Illinois by a composite score of 106-52.
Bronco QB Kaleb Eleby was 2nd in the MAC with 3115 YP, completing 64% of his throws with 24 TDP and only 5 ints., While RBs Sean Tyler (1004 YR, 6.1 ypc) and La’Darius Jefferson (836), combined for 19 rushing TDs. The vet WMU defense ranked first in the MAC, allowing 338 ypg, but its 29 ppg was 5th and the 5.9 ypp allowed was sixth. Now the worrying part with the Bronco defense is that it was 95th in pass efficiency defense, and rarely saw attacks as sophisticated as that of OC Matt Mumme, but Mumme has already moved on to Colorado State and won’t be doing the game plan.
Quick Lane Bowl Video Preview
WagerTalk college football handicappers Dave Cokin, Teddy Covers and Tony Finn offer their Quick Lane Bowl betting preview.
Quick Lane Bowl Stats
College football handicappers Ralph Michaels and JM Sports have put together a 66-page Bowl Betting Guide featuring everything from first quarter scoring to yards per point to plays per minute. Don’t place a bet on the Quick Lane Bowl before diving into this FREE download.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, point spreads, first half lines and betting percentages for all of the college football bowl games, including this Quick Lane Bowl showdown between Nevada and Western Michigan, from your desktop or phone.
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