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FACTS & STATS: Site: Jones AT&T Stadium (60,454) -- Lubbock, Texas. Television: FCS. Home Record: Nevada 0-0, Texas Tech 1-0. Away Record: Nevada 1-1, Texas Tech 1-0. Neutral Record: Nevada 0-0, Texas Tech 0-0. Conference Record: Nevada 1-0, Texas Tech 0-0. Series Record: Texas Tech leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: Playing the third of four straight road games to kick off the 2011 campaign, the Nevada Wolf Pack will try to follow up their first league victory of the season with another strong outing against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock on Saturday.

Nevada, which opened the season with a demoralizing 69-20 setback against Oregon in Eugene, managed to get off on the right foot against the rest of the Western Athletic Conference thanks to a 17-14 victory over a hapless San Jose State bunch in California last weekend. Certainly a win is a win, but the triumph over SJSU must be taken with a grain of salt given that it was just by three points and the Spartans currently own the longest losing streak in the FBS (13 games).

As for the Red Raiders, they've shown some tremendous scoring power during their first two outings, ripping apart Texas State (50-10) in the opener and then crushing New Mexico (59-13) last Saturday. However, just like the Wolf Pack, Tech has to be careful about getting too excited too early, seeing as how its two opponents are a combined 1-5 so far this season and that lone win, courtesy of Texas State, was against little-known Tarleton State (38-28).

Texas Tech won the only previous meeting between these two teams three seasons ago with a 35-19 triumph in Reno.

Mike Ball scored on runs of four and one yard in the first and second quarters, respectively, last Saturday as the Wolf Pack eased by San Jose State at Spartan Stadium. Ball raced for a game-high 124 yards for a Nevada team that produced a healthy 261 yards on the ground on 60 attempts. Quarterback Tyler Lantrip struggled a bit as he converted 11-of-21 passes for 112 yards and was intercepted twice in the first triumph following the Colin Kaepernick era. The names may have changed on offense, but the approach is still the same by coach Chris Ault and his legions as they run the ball as much as possible and now average 272.0 ypg on the ground, which is second in the conference and seventh in the nation entering play this week. Because of the "Pistol Offense", a player like Lantrip doesn't stand to take as many hits behind the line of scrimmage if he runs it correctly and so far that appears to be the case, the team allowing just a single sack in two games.

While the Pack was focusing its offensive efforts on the ground, the same could be said for San Jose State which was allowed to average better than four and a half yards per carry. However, the Nevada run defense was actually quite strong in the meeting if you're able to overlook the one 70-yard touchdown run by SJSU quarterback Dasmen Stewart. Take that out of the equation and the Spartans were allowed just 68 rushing yards on 29 attempts, a much more respectable number. Unfortunately, the matchup against Oregon put the Wolf Pack far behind in terms of defensive stats, particularly when it comes to stopping the run as the squad shows that it is giving up 205 ypg on the ground which is 104th in the nation right now. It will also take several well-played games in order for the scoring defense to feel whole again, considering the group is still showing that it is permitting 41.5 ppg (113th nationally).

After dropping 50 points on Texas State, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, the Red Raiders should have had a bit of a harder time sizing up New Mexico, but that just wasn't the case as Quarterback Seth Doege delivered an incredible performance en route to a 46-point win. Doege not only threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns, his remarkable 40-of-44 accuracy set a national record for quarterbacks with at least 40 completions in a single game. Darrin Moore reeled in nine passes, which he turned into 118 yards and three TDs, while Eric Ward accounted for two scoring catches. Following in the footsteps of many great Texas Tech signal-callers, Doege has the passing attack off to an incredible start averaging 397.0 ypg which is third in the nation. Add to that another 167.5 ypg on the ground and it is easy to see why the Tech offense is something to marvel with a staggering 564.5 ypg overall. Once the team gets into the meat of its Big 12 Conference slate we will get a better read on just how strong they are and whether or not their 54.5 ppg will be an accurate portrayal of the unit.

While Doege was chewing up the New Mexico defense every time he put the ball in the air, the Texas Tech defense was also playing hard against a lackluster UNM squad, limiting the Lobos to only 337 yards of offense. Granted, that sounds like quite a bit, but when you realize the Lobos came up with all of those yards basically between the 20s and only because they were getting the ball back so often after Tech scores, it is understandable. Texas Tech defenders were responsible for three sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception so the Red Raiders were never really in danger of being challenged. Oddly enough, for a team that has blown out its first two opponents, you'd think the pass defense would be a bit more tested, yet the Red Raiders have allowed just 151.5 ypg through the air thus far, second-best in the Big 12 and 14th nationally. There is still plenty of games to be played, but the Tech coaching staff should still be encouraged by early returns seeing as how the Red Raiders were last in the league and 118th in the country last year with 293.8 ypg allowed passing.

If Nevada can take care of the ball on the ground and eat up some of the clock this weekend perhaps the Wolf Pack will not be pummeled like the other two victims on the Texas Tech schedule. However, the real key for Nevada will be slowing down Doege and that's no easy task.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Texas Tech 42, Nevada 21