Boise State Football: Game-by-game predictions for the 2018 season
By Zach Bigalke
On their last trip to Laramie, Boise State fell by a safety in a 30-28 defeat. That Wyoming win gave the Cowboys the upper hand in a three-way tiebreaker in the 2016 MWC Mountain standings, blocking the Broncos from a shot at the Mountain West title and a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game.
But this year’s Wyoming squad no longer has Josh Allen bailing them out at quarterback. For all his ups and downs as the field general for the Cowboys, Allen was a huge reason for any success Wyoming enjoyed the past few seasons. Now Craig Bohl is ready to turn to redshirt freshman Tyler Vander Waal as the new starter.
By the end of September, Vander Waal should start to get up to speed at the college level. If Bohl has to turn to Nick Smith by this point, the result will be even better for the Broncos. But either way, Wyoming has some growing pains this season as they transition away from the Allen era.
What does that mean in the context of this contest? Only once has Boise State managed to lose to Wyoming, that 2016 thriller that resulted in disappointment for Bryan Harsin’s crew. This year, the Cowboys simply don’t have the same level of experienced talent that is likely to take down the Broncos, even at War Memorial Stadium 7,220 feet above sea level.