The reason so many teams like to schedule FCS opponents in week one is to work out the kinks, so to speak.
No matter how good your preseason preparation is, you always have unforced errors in week one.
Playing an FCS team in week one allows the team to make and fix those mistakes in a game they will probably win anyway.
UNLV already had the opportunity to do that in week one, so that doesn’t apply here.
Rest Players
Some teams like to schedule a weaker opponent in the middle or back half of their season to rest players. There aren’t many bye weeks in college football, so by the second half of the season, most teams are pretty beat up.
Playing an opponent several levels below you can serve as an extra bye week.
Alabama is well-known for doing this in the middle of their tough SEC schedule.
It’s only week two, so that doesn’t apply to UNLV’s situation.
UNLV’s No-win Situation
UNLV is in a no-win situation because winning doesn’t give them anything, and it would look terrible if they struggled or even lost.
The game also doesn’t really help them improve as a team.
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