In a battle of two schools that like to run the football, Coach Craig Bohl and the Wyoming Cowboys (-14) are prepared to host their MWC foe Nevada Wolf Pack at Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium. ATSN will televise the action and the key afternoon game is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Betting Preview: Nevada Wolf Pack at Wyoming Cowboys
In this Saturday Mountain West game, Wyoming has been tabbed as the heavy favorite and the team’s currently giving up 14 points. If they want to play the moneyline, gamblers would currently have to put up $600 in order to win $100 back on the Cowboys (-600). The Wolf Pack are getting +425 moneyline odds. There will likely be some decent live betting possibilities for this game, and oddsmakers have determined the over/under (O/U) to be 45.5 points.
The game’s total has swung downward after opening at 48. The original spread (-14) has yet to change.
Both of these teams have rewarded gamblers this season as the Wolf Pack have gained 5.0 units while the Cowboys are up 7.0 units.
The Wolf Pack are 4-3 straight up (SU), including 1-2 SU against MWC opponents. The Cowboys are 5-2 SU overall and 2-1 SU in conference play.
The Wolf Pack fell to Utah State 36-10 in a thumping where their defense allowed the Aggies to eat up the clock by rushing for 244 yards on 44 attempts, including two rush TDs. Gerold Bright had a good day for the Aggies in that one with 126 rushing yards and both touchdowns on 15 attempts. On the offensive side of the ball, Malik Henry completed only 17-of-38 passes for 213 yards and two interceptions. Toa Taua (84 yards on 20 rush attempts, one TD) provided the ground attack in the loss while Elijah Cooks (four receptions, 39 yards) and Romeo Doubs (four catches, 80 yards) manned the receiving duties.
Wyoming enters this Saturday’s matchup having just earned a 23-10 win over New Mexico. The defensive unit allowed the Lobos to rush for 169 yards on 37 attempts. Jordan Kress was a bright spot in the loss, recording 94 yards on four catches for New Mexico. For Wyoming, Sean Chambers completed nine-of-15 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown. Xazavian Valladay (127 yards on 33 rush attempts, one TD) and the signal-caller Chambers (117 yards on 18 carries, one TD) led the ground game in the win while John Okwoli (three receptions, 33 yards) and Josh Harshman (two catches, 20 yards, one TD) led the pass-catching attack.
Nevada’s run the ball on 51.3 percent of its offensive plays this year, including 53.5 percent across possessions in conference play. Wyoming has a rush percentage of 72.5 percent, and has carried the ball 77.6 percent of the time against MWC opponents. The Wolf Pack have run for 134 yards per game (including 133.3 per game against Mountain West opponents) and have nine touchdowns via handoffs this year. The Cowboys are totaling 236.7 rushing yards per game (263.3 in conference) and have 18 total rush TDs.
It appears that the Cowboys may hold an advantage in all aspects of the ground game. Their running backs has generated 5.3 yards per carry while the defense is allowing a YPC of 2.8 to opponents. The Wolf Pack have recorded 3.5 yards per carry while allowing a YPC of 4.2 to opponents.
The Wolf Pack offense has logged 226.3 yards/game through the air overall (223.3 per game versus conference opposition) and has six passing scores so far. The Cowboys have produced 111.1 pass yards per game (106 in the MWC) and have five total pass TDs.
On the defensive side of the ball, Nevada has allowed 135.9 rush yards and 279.4 pass yards per game. The Wyoming defense has allowed 293.7 yards per game to opposing passers and 100.9 yards per game to opposing runners. The Cowboys are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 5.77 to opposing QBs, while the Wolf Pack have given up a 7.77 ANY/A.
Chambers has completed 41-of-98 passes for 648 yards, four TDs and one INT. Chambers’ adjusted net yards per pass attempt sits at 6.14 for the season and 4.94 over his past two games. In the other huddle, Henry is up to 241 passing yards this season, and has completed 20-of-41 attempts with zero passing touchdowns and two interceptions. Henry’s got a 3.00 ANY/A for the year, although that number sits at 4.84 over the last two games.
These two conference foes did not get a chance to face each other in 2018.
Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Wyoming Cowboys NCAA Pick
SU Winner: Nevada, ATS Winner: Nevada, O/U: Under
Team Betting Notes
- The Wyoming defense has created twice the sack total of Nevada this season (22 to 11).
- Wyoming has lost two fumbles in 2019 while Nevada has let six get away.
- The Wolf Pack offense has created three pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Cowboys have accounted for four such plays.
- The Nevada defense has allowed seven pass plays of 40+ yards, while Wyoming has given up four such plays.
- The Nevada offense has created four rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while Wyoming has created 17 such runs.
- The Wolf Pack defense has allowed eight rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Cowboys have given up three such runs.
- As a team, Nevada has produced 3.3 yards per carry over its last three contests and 3.5 over its last two.
- Wyoming has averaged 5.6 yards per carry over its last three matchups and 4.4 over its last two.
