I like the dog here as Wyoming had a fantastic season and it could go down as their best ever with a win over BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl. This is an old rivalry from the time these teams shared the WAC and Mountain West together.
Wyoming has a very good QB in Josh Allen and a tremendous RB in Brian Hill who will be playing on Sundayâs. Allen can make mistakes which is a concern in this game, but he can also make plays with his feet and strong arm that should keep his team in the game.
BYU meanwhile is without their senior leader Tasom Hill who ended the year with another injury. Tanner Mangum is a better passer than Hill so that could open things up a bit, but I see them starting conservative. He started last yearâs bowl game off with two pick sixes. BYU has lost their last 3 bowl games and have been off for quite a while. Meanwhile Wyoming played in meaningful football against San Diego State just two weeks ago.
BYU is a huge favorite mostly because of their schedule with opponents in the Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12, but when you really look at it BYU got lucky this year. Only 5 bowl opponents and they went 2-3 against those. Both wins were at home by 2 and 7 points and one was against a 5-7 Mississippi State team that is in a bowl game. All the other opponents were a disappointment. Wyoming faced 9 bowl opponents and really were in every game. I think their run defense struggled down the stretch which is to be expected, but I think they have regrouped with a little extra time off and they will have their hands full against Jamal Williams.
At the end of the day I think Wyoming can actually win the turnover battle. Both teams have turned the ball over this year, but we have seen it in the past with Mangum and Wyoming has forced 25 turnovers on the year. This is a lot of points for a bowl game and Wyoming has to be excited to be here after winning two games last year. They beat Boise State, BYU lost to Boise if that makes you feel confident about Wyomingâs chances in this game tonight.
