Wyoming Football: Game preview and prediction vs. New Mexico State

Here’s a look at one of this week’s upcoming matchups as both New Mexico State and Wyoming football look to get off to hot starts.

The Wyoming Cowboys went 8-5 last season in the team’s fourth year under head coach Craig Bohl. Much of their success could be attributed to the play of quarterback Josh Allen, the seventh overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. However, the Cowboys still have more to offer and will look to put that on display in their first matchup of the 2018 season.

As of now, freshman quarterback Tyler Vander Waal will be tasked with heading this Wyoming offense. The Cowboys will be returning last season’s running back duo of Trey Woods and Kellen Overstreet, with the former making the switch to defensive end. On the other side of the ball, Wyoming’s defense will look to build on last year’s 9th overall finish in opponent points per game.

However, the New Mexico State Aggies didn’t fare much worse than the Cowboys in 2017. Despite losses on both sides of the ball, head coach Doug Martin hopes that his Aggies will be able to build off of last season’s Arizona Bowl victory over Utah State. It should be interesting to watch this matchup play out as Mexico State averaged just under 30 points per game last season.

With the college football season nearly underway, here’s how to watch one of the first games of the year go down.

Date: Saturday, Aug. 25
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Venue: Aggie Memorial Stadium
TV: ESPN 2
Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

The key to victory for the Cowboys is quite simple. Will the Wyoming offense be able to work out the kinks that come along with a new quarterback? Considering Josh Allen’s placement in the draft, it’s pretty obvious that he played a significant role in the success of the Cowboys throughout the 2017 season. How much of a gap will there be between Vander Waal and Allen’s play?

The key to victory for New Mexico will likely be getting to the quarterback early. There’s nothing better than feeling like you’re in the signal caller’s head, and the best way to do that is to make him feel paranoid. The Aggies were tied for second in the nation in sacks per game, setting them up nicely against the Cowboys freshman quarterback.

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Wyoming -3.5
Over/Under: 46

Prediction

At the end of the day, this game will come down to which quarterback performs best in his new system. Both programs are bringing new quarterbacks into their respective systems, so there are bound to be some miscues along the way. However, Aggie quarterback Matt Romero has had more college football experience, tilting the scales slightly in his team’s favor.

Final Score: Wyoming 20, New Mexico State 24