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The Wyoming Cowboys are at home this weekend w hen they host Northern Colorado out of the FCS ranks. This really should be a game that Wyoming should win, but based on last year's loss to Cal Poly the Cowboys will be taking this game very seriously.
Wyoming should use this game to keep the machine going that is their offense and work out any kinks they may have. Starting off fast, or at least not slow, should be the goal for the Cowboys offense. Last week against Idaho Brett Smith started of bad and was 1 of 10 before finishing 22 of 38 for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Slow starts will kill Wyoming's chances when they go up against Utah State, Fresno State, Boise State and other good opponents.
Outside of Wyoming getting off to a fast start, another key should be for the defense to keep playing well and getting better. Northern Colorado does have some talent on offense with quarterback Seth Lobato has 704 yards in two games, and their top receiver is Dimitri Stimphil who has 240 yards this season, but 219 came in the Bears season opening game against Langston.
The Wyoming secondary is solid enough behind Blair Burns to more than likely put a stop to any passing attack that Northern Colorado brings to the table. The front seven need to keep up the good play of stopping the running attack, and again they really should.
Assuming that Wyoming can win handily, this game could be used to get some backups some extra playing time late in the game to build depth. Again, that can not be a guarantee based on how Wyoming has played the past few years with inconsistent play towards lesser opponents.
Over at Cowboy Altitude, they put together some stats about this game everyone should check out. The one that stood out to me was that these two teams have played 25 times and the record is in favor of Wyoming 17-5-3. Also, it mentions last week's core which saw Northern Colorado lose to Division II CSU-Pueblo by two points.
Just another reason why this game should be an easy win for Wyoming