UNLV vs Sam Houston Prediction, Game Preview & Betting Lines 2025

Originally posted on College Football News
By Pete Fiutak | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 10:34 PM ET

Those weren't the performances the two teams were hoping for.

UNLV beat Idaho State, but the 30+ point favorite needed to rally to put the game away 38-31. The defense was shaky, the offense was never quite right, and ... any landing you can walk away from is a good one. New head coach Dan Mullen got his first win with the program.

Sam Houston hung around with WKU for three quarters, but there wasn't an answer to the Hilltopper passing game late in the 41-24 loss.

The Bearkats have to take advantage of the home game - this is the only one until October 9th, with a trip to Hawaii up next. UNLV hosts UCLA next week.

UNLV vs Sam Houston Preview

UNLV vs Sam Houston: How To Watch
Date: Friday, August 29, 2025
Game Time: 9:30 PM ET
TV: CBS Sports Network
Location: Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, Huntsville, TX

Why UNLV Will Win

For all of the issues and concerns, there's a lot that went right in UNLV's win.

Star running back Jai'Den Thomas ripped off 147 yards and three scores on just ten carries, Virginia transfer quarterback Anthony Colandrea ran for 93 yards and threw for close to 200 yards with a score, and Sam Houston won't be able to handle most of it.

Idaho State was a true tune-up game. The pieces are there for the Rebel offense to be terrific against a Bearkat defense that got lit up for over 500 yards and couldn't come up with a meaningful stop against Western Kentucky, but ...

Why Sam Houston Will Win

UNLV's defense was expected to need a little bit of time to get all the pieces together. That was no joke against an Idaho State passing game that ripped off close to 400 yards.

Takeaways saved the Rebels, and Sam Houston has to be careful with the ball, but the offense has the pop to keep up the pace. The problem was on third downs - the Bearkats converted just two of 14 third down tries.

UNLV couldn't move the chains on third down, either, so ...

UNLV vs Sam Houston Who Will Win

Who can come up with more meaningful stops?

The answer is neither one, and that should lead to a ton of big plays, lots of scoring, and each side trading major body blows throughout.

UNLV's defense will keep buckling, but it'll get into the backfield just a little bit more and come up with the one extra takeaway to survive.

UNLV vs Sam Houston Prediction, Betting Lines

UNLV 37, Sam Houston 34
Consensus Line: UNLV -10.5, o/u: 60.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 2.5

Consensus Line from BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

This article first appeared on College Football News and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: