FACTS & STATS: Site: Sam Boyd Stadium (36,800) -- Las Vegas, Nevada. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: Nevada 1-1, UNLV 2-0. Away Record: Nevada 0-1, UNLV 1-1. Neutral Record: Nevada 0-0, UNLV 0-0. Conference Record: Nevada 0-0, UNLV 0-1. Series Record: Nevada leads, 18-15.

GAME NOTES: Already with more wins this season than any other since going 6-6 in 2003, the UNLV Rebels battle for the Fremont Cannon in the Silver State this weekend versus the Nevada Wolf Pack at Sam Boyd Stadium. In each of the last three seasons, the Rebels have won just two games but last weekend the team defeated its second straight opponent from a BCS conference with a 34-31 overtime triumph versus Iowa State at home. A week earlier the Rebels logged just their fifth win all-time against a nationally-ranked program with a 23-20 overtime decision versus Arizona State. Coming into this season, UNLV had won just one of eight previous overtime matchups. As for the Wolf Pack, they've had to endure some untimely injuries and ugly efforts against prominent national powers, After defeating Grambling State rather easily in the opener (49-13), the Pack was dealt a 35-19 loss at the hands of the Texas Tech Red Raiders at home. Prior to the bye week, Nevada was battered and bruised by sixth-ranked Missouri on the road in a 69-17 decision. On the heels of this meeting, the Pack will start their Western Athletic Conference slate with a date against Idaho in Moscow the first week of October. Last season, the Wolf Pack posted a 27-20 win over UNLV in Reno to forge ahead in the series by three games at 18-15. The victory was the third in a row for Nevada over the Rebels, the team's 11th in 17 tries at home versus UNLV since the inaugural contest in 1969. In an effort to find more local ties between the two programs, one needs to look no further than the place kickers for both, as senior Brett Jaekle handles the duties for the Pack and younger brother Ben is a sophomore at UNLV.

The Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year from the 2007 campaign, Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been forced to try and do it all for the Pack recently. With all-conference running back Luke Lippincott sidelined with a torn left ACL for the rest of the season and Brandon Fragger also sitting out with a shoulder ailment, Kaepernick tried desperately to get the offense moving against Missouri. However, the signal-caller managed to hit 17- of-31 passes for just 152 yards and a single TD while also leading the squad with 71 yards and a TD on eight rushing attempts. The team enters play this week as the top run producers in the WAC and seventh in the nation with an astounding 277.8 ypg, but because both Lippincott and Fragger there's simply no way the pistol offense will be able to continue posting rapid-fire yardage on the ground. Already under the gun to perform, Kaepernick has to do better than his 179.3 ypg passing if he's going to keep fellow gun slinger Nick Graziano on the sidelines.

Against the Tigers and quarterback Chase Daniel the Nevada defense knew it would have its hands full, but there's no way the unit could have predicted being beaten down so much by Missouri in the miserable setback two weeks ago. Not only did Nevada surrender 519 yards and five touchdowns through the air, the Pack also allowed three rushing touchdowns as well. Despite permitting a mere 87 ypg on the ground, good enough to lead the WAC and place 20th in the nation this week, the Wolf Pack has still given up six rushing scores. While the run defense has been able to hold its own for the most part, the pass defense has been awful for the Pack, giving up 347 ypg, which is not only second-to-last in the WAC, it is also 118th in the country at the moment. In terms of scoring defense, there are only a handful of college programs that have done worse than Nevada and its 39 ypg allowed.

On their first play of overtime the Rebels put Iowa State away when Omar Clayton connected with Phillip Payne on a 25-yard TD pass, marking the second time in as many weeks that UNLV had won in overtime. Clayton, who opened the game's scoring with a 20-yard TD run in the first quarter, finished the contest 15-of-21 for 235 yards and three touchdowns. More importantly, he was sacked just once and did not throw an interception. Frank Summers pounded away on the ground for 109 yards and a score as well, the team posting 209 yards rushing overall. Clayton, who was named the MWC Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Cyclones, has been masterful when he puts the ball in the air this season, completing 63.1 percent of his attempts for nearly 200 ypg. But again, more than just the yardage, it is the fact that he has tossed nine touchdowns and has yet to be picked off. Payne has just 14 catches thus far, yet leads the program with five TDs, while Summers is third in the league with his 96.5 ypg on the ground.

The Rebels could have easily been caught in a trap game last Saturday, but the squad stepped up and defeated the Cyclones for the very first time, thanks in part to allowing only a field goal in the extra session. Overall, the defense permitted just 306 yards of offense to the visitors and caused ISU to fail on all but two of 14 third-down chances. Thor Pili dropped the hammer for the lone sack of the game for the Rebels, his first as a member of the team. Sacks seem to be a rare commodity in the early going for the Rebels with the team having posted just one per game to place eighth in the Mountain West and 98th in the nation this week. Tackles for loss are also a lost art to this point with the squad producing a mere four such stops per game which is seventh in the league and 108th in the nation. With only four gained turnovers the Rebels are lucky that they have not fallen harder against their opponents, but because the offense is keeping control of the ball the lack of turnovers on the defensive side of the ball is not as noticeable.

Clearly the only way the Wolf Pack is going to find its way into the win column this weekend is to lean heavily on Kaepernick. Everyone knows that's the plan, so expect UNLV to keep a close eye on the signal-caller and force someone else on Nevada to try and beat the home team in this case.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: UNLV 24, Nevada 17

Saturday, September 27th, 10:00 p.m. (et).