Preview: #25 BYU at Wyoming

Series history: BYU leads 42-30-3

 

Last year: BYU shutouts Wyoming 44-0 in Provo.  Ugly performance by the Cowboys as they gave little challenge to the Cougars.

 

Point Spread: BYU by 13

 

There is no love lost between these two teams and don't expect anything to change soon.  The Cowboys fans certainly don't make the Cougars feel very welcome when they come to Laramie.  That hasn't stopped the Cougars from dominating this series lately.  The Cowboys haven't beaten the Cougars since a 13-10 home victory on October 18, 2003.

Wyoming:  For the second game in a row the Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) blew a victory with a weak second half performance.  Wyoming led Utah 10-3 at halftime but gave up 19 unanswered points and took the loss.  The offense which was cruising during the beginning of October has only scored 10 points in the last eight quarters.  The Cowboy defense has been doing a good job of containing their opponents but is now longer getting any turnovers like earlier in the season.

 

QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has been effective for the Pokes but no one has else stepped this season and shown they can be a be a big time playmaker and take some of the load off.  WR David Leonard is having a great season with 52 receptions but is averaging only 8.7 yards per catch.

 

BYU: With the bye week the Cougars (6-2, 3-1) are rested and hopefully can forget the 38-7 loss to TCU off their minds.  Thanks to the some losses by other teams the Cougars moved back in to the rankings and now sit at #25.

 

Senior QB Max Hall has led the offense for three seasons has completed 170 passes for 2231 yards so far this season.  His favorite target has been Dennis Pitta with 38 catches for 533 yards.  The Cougars also will have WR McKay Robinson back on their roster this weekend as he returns from a hamstring injury.  Robinson is the only real deep threat on the team and can really open up the field for the Cougars.

 

Harvey Unga brings a power running game is the leading rusher in the Mountain West and is averaging just a tick under 100 yards per game.  Unga has found the endzone 10 times already this season.

 

Why Wyoming will win:  The Cowboys are 3-1 at home with their only coming against #2 Texas.  The weather will good and the Cowboys will be playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in nearly a month.  Max Hall has thrown 11 interceptions so far this and by taking advantage of those mistakes the Cowboys can really throw a wrench into the Cougars season.

 

Why BYU will win:  The high powered Cougar offense will just be too much the young Cowboy team.  The Cougars are rested and want to blow out Wyoming just like TCU did to them two weeks ago. 

 

Prediction:  Upset special here the Cowboys pull a few surprises and earn a victory in front of the home crowd: Wyoming 28 - BYU 24.