The Wyoming Cowboys take on the BYU Cougars. Check out our college football odds series for our Wyoming BYU prediction and pick.
The Wyoming Cowboys were crushed by Illinois in their season opener. They were not remotely competitive. Their offense was completely dormant. Their defense got worn down. They looked like a terrible football team.
What a difference a few weeks can make.
Last week, Wyoming held Air Force to just 14 points in a huge Week 3 upset. The Cowboys were 17-point underdogs, but they prevailed outright, yet another outright win by a double-digit underdog. We have seen several of those in the first month of the 2022 college football season. Wyoming fell behind 14-10 in the fourth quarter but immediately responded to Air Force’s go-ahead touchdown by scoring a touchdown of its own. Wyoming has figured out how to stop Air Force’s diverse and intricate offense. It speaks to the quality of defensive coaching done by Craig Bohl and his staff. Wyoming’s season outlook is now very different. The Cowboys get to face BYU, a former Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference opponent. The last time these teams met was in the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl. It should be a festive and energetic environment in LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo for this night fight.
BYU is reeling after getting hammered by Oregon. The Cougars were no match for the Ducks. The game was very briefly competitive before Oregon took full control in the first half. Oregon gained a 38-7 lead midway through the third quarter and then rested its starters, knowing it had a big game against Washington State the next week. The Ducks probably could have beaten BYU by 45 points if they really wanted to, but they pulled the parachute early.
BYU is the focus of a very interesting question heading into Week 4: Are the Cougars just not very good, or were they physically and emotionally drained by playing Oregon one week after an overtime win against Baylor, a top Big 12 contender? Usually when teams schedule nonconference games, they don’t schedule top-tier opponents in consecutive weeks. BYU needed to play a much easier opponent in Week 3 after handling Baylor in Week 2. Nevertheless, are we entirely sure this was simply bad scheduling and a good performance by Oregon? Maybe BYU is weaker than a lot of us thought. It will be interesting to see how the Cougars react in this game.
Here are the Wyoming-BYU NCAAF odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Wyoming-BYU Odds
Wyoming Cowboys: +21.5 (-110)
BYU Cougars: -21.5 (-110)
Over: 49.5 (-114)
Under: 49.5 (-106)
Why Wyoming Could Cover the Spread
Wyoming’s defense has greatly improved from the Illinois game. The Cowboys have developed a measure of toughness and resilience, which might not be enough to win this game outright, but which can certainly be enough to stay relatively close (close enough to lose by fewer than three whole touchdowns), which would enable them to cover the spread in an old Western rivalry game.
Why BYU Could Cover the Spread
After the embarrassment against Oregon, you can trust that BYU is going to regroup for this game. The Cougars are a lot more talented than Wyoming. The Cowboys do not have elite offensive weapons or game-changing speed, the two big ingredients Oregon used to outflank the Cougars a week ago. BYU should be able to smother Wyoming’s offense. If that happens, the Cougars can score 30 points — which would be a relatively modest total, considering they scored 66 in a game last year — and still win very comfortably.
Final Wyoming-BYU Prediction & Pick
BYU is a lot better than it showed last week, and it is a lot better than Wyoming. This is going to be one-way traffic in favor of the Cougars.
Final Wyoming-BYU Prediction & Pick: BYU -21.5
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