Wyoming Cowboys
vs.
New Mexico Lobos
By Jason Green
11/26/16
It is pretty easy for Wyoming, as if they win this Game they will play in the MWC title Game, as they are tied with Boise State, who they beat this season. For New Mexico to play in the title Game they will have to beat Wyoming and have Boise State lose and then win the tiebreaker with them. Yeah not easy. Both of these teams have been surprises this season and they will be playing in bowl Games.
Wyoming scored a HUGE win in their last taking down San Diego State and while they have a high scoring offense they only rank 104th in the nation giving up an average of 33.6 ppg.
New Mexico was riding high winning 5 in a row before losing their last Game to Colorado State. They do not have a good defense either, but what they do have is the nation’s top ranked rushing offense that is averaging 342.1 yards per Game. To say they need to run the ball well to win is an understatement, as they rank 2nd to last in the nation in passing yards per Game.
In their last Game Wyoming scored a big upset beating SDSU 34-33 at home where they covered the spread as a 10-point underdog.
New Mexico had their 5-Game win streak snapped in their last Game where they lost to Colorado State 49-31 where they did not cover getting 7 points as the road underdog.
In their big win over SDSU Wyoming racked up 487 yards and they had balance with 282 passing yards and 205 rushing yards. Josh Allen passed for 282 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT and RB Brian Hill rushed for 131 yards with 2 TD. These are the 2 big guns that the Lobos have to worry about and on the season their D ranks 68th in the nation against the pass and 56th against the run.
For Wyoming and their D it is pretty easy, as they have to contain the New Mexico RB duo of Tyrone Owens, who rushed for 157 yards in the loss to Colorado State and Teriyon Gipson, who have combined to rush for 2.076 yards with 17 TD this season.
Wyoming ranks 61st in the nation in run defense and while they did give up 178 rushing yards in the win over SDSU they contained Heisman candidate and the nation’s rushing leader in Donnel Pumphrey to only 76 yards.
Wyoming is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Games overall, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 road Games, and in their last 7 Games the posted total has gone Over 6 times.
New Mexico is 4-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record and in their last 13 Games the posted total has gone Over 11 times.
While Wyoming is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Games facing New Mexico the road team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 Games between these MWC rivals.
Jason’s Pick: Wyoming is the better team. They beat a ranked Boise State squad and SDSU in their last Game and even on the road they will get the W and cover the spread. Wyoming -3