Wyoming Cowboys 2016 NCAA Football Preview
WYOMING COWBOYS
Mountain West Conference – Mountain Division
2015 Record – 2-10
ATS – 6-6
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
Mountain Division #6
Conference #10
2015 Recap
The Cowboys’ season got off to a rough start to say the least. They used 3 QBs in the first two games of the season due to injuries and did not get into any kind of rhythm. The 0-6 start was not pretty – nor was the 2-10 final record – but the Cowboys look to take a step forward this season in HC Craig Bohl’s third year at the helm.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
The Cowboys are going to go with either Josh Allen or Nick Smith as the opening week starting QB. MEGALOCKS UNDERCOVER INSIDERS note that both QBs had their ups and downs in the spring game – but when asked about the situation after the contest – HC Bohl said that he anticipates Allen to be the starter despite being a bit of a “gunslinger”. The entire WR corps returns including potential star Tanner Gentry who had 678 yards and 4 TDs in only seven games. Wyoming should make some noise in the passing game.
The real bright spot for the Cowboys is their absolutely loaded backfield. Brian Hill returns off a fantastic 1,600-yard season (Wyoming record) along with 2014 breakout player Shaun Wick and Nico Evans who was very impressive in the spring game. The offensive line looks to be in better shape than previous seasons. They need to cut down on the sacks allowed (75 last two seasons) but this looks like a team ready to make a big leap forward in rushing yards per game. We can easily see them topping 200 per contest despite having some tough run defenses on the schedule.
JUGGERNAUT ALERT – RB Brian Hill may just be the best RB that nobody knows about. A school record 1,631 yards last season averaging almost six yards per carry. Teams knew what was coming – but it often did not matter. Multiple 200-yard performances including 35-232 against UNLV in the season finale. Now the Cowboys are deeper at RB heading into this season so his load will probably decrease but another big season looks to be in the cards for Hill.
DEFENSE
Wyoming’s defense was a special kind of bad last season ranking last in the Mountain West in pass efficiency defense and 10th in rushing defense. Oh, and they only had 10 sacks all year. They have to get a lot better if they want to have an outside shot of making a bowl game in 2016. The good news? The back 7 looks pretty decent and they have a budding star in sophomore FS Andrew Wingard who led the team with 122 tackles as a freshman. The bad news? There is serious concern about the defensive line yet again. Only one starter returns and they look pretty small. The Cowboys also said goodbye to long-time top performer Eddie Yarbrough. Overall – there are some nice pieces here but if the DL is horrific then we may not see much improvement in points allowed per game (34,33,36,33 last four years).
SPECIAL TEAMS
Wyoming has to get better in this area. It was a DEBACLE trying to make field goals last season (2/8 – not a typo) but the return game was ok. P Ethan Wood returns and he had a decent season in 2015. The Cowboys have to figure out a way to get the odd FG because they were ranked 127th (!) in red zone offense last season. They came away empty way too many times.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 8.0
MEGALOCKS says:
Wyoming is a team we are going to have our eye on every week looking for value. They were a train wreck last season and still managed to finish 6-6 against the number. Under the radar teams are where you want to look to help book a profitable season ATS. Of course, it goes without saying that if the defense does not improve they are still going to get crushed on more than one occasion. And it would help things if they could win the occasional road game (2-16 L18) because they have a few winnable ones on the docket.
Overall, we give the COWBOYS an 8.0 ATS Value Rating (Very Good) this season. We were tempted to make this rating a bit higher because of the potential at QB, but being realistic, we want to see how Allen looks early on including a tough tilt vs Northern Illinois. A strong performance in that game could really set the tone for a decent season. A team with a superstar RB and a proven winner at HC has to be given a shot to be a money-maker. This is especially the case as a road underdog where the Cowboys are on a devastating 24-11 ATS run (69%).
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