Wyoming vs. San Jose State: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction
Cowboys looking to top Spartans Saturday night
Contact/Follow @MWCwire
A surprise big game
WEEK 5: San Jose State Spartans (2-1, 0-0 Mountain West) vs. Wyoming Cowboys (3-2, 1-0 MW)
WHEN: Saturday, October 1 — 4:30 PM PT/5:30 PM MT
WHERE: War Memorial Stadium; Laramie, WY
TV: CBS Sports Network
STREAMING: Fans can sign up to receive a free one-week trial of Fubo, which includes CBSSN, by following this link.
RADIO: The San Jose State Spartans broadcast can be found in the South Bay on 860 AM The Answer (KTRB). The Wyoming broadcast can be found on the affiliates of the Cowboy Radio Network, including flagship 1240 AM (KFBC) in Cheyenne.
SERIES RECORD: Wyoming leads the all-time series, 7-5. In the last meeting on October 30, 2021, the Spartans defeated the Cowboys, 27-21, in San Jose.
WEBSITES: SJSUSpartans.com, the official San Jose State athletics website | GoWyo.com, the official Wyoming athletics website
GAME NOTES (PDF): San Jose State | Wyoming
ODDS: San Jose State -2.5
SP+ PROJECTION: San Jose State by 0.2
FEI PROJECTION: Wyoming by 1.8
Wyoming heads back home to the friendly confines of War Memorial Stadium after a tough loss in Provo last week. The Cowboys came out swinging against the Cougars and were able to hang tough for three of the four quarters in the game, but ultimately fell short of pulling off the upset. The Cowboys now must put that game in the past and turn their attention to San Jose State.
San Jose State is just two years removed from a team that won the conference in convincing fashion and have many returning players from the team that won the conference title. The Spartans are coming off a convincing win against Western Michigan and are looking poised to make another run at the Mountain West Title. The Spartans come into Laramie as a 3 point favorite and are looking for a statement win to open up conference play. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are looking to make San Jose State the latest team to leave Laramie in an upset.
Three Keys to a Wyoming Victory
Control the Line of Scrimmage on Offense
It is well known what the Cowboys want to do when they are on offense, pound the rock. Titus Swen leads a potent rushing attack for the Pokes and is averaging almost 5 yards per carry on the ground, but a lot of Swen’s success and by extension the success the Cowboys as a whole comes from the Offensive line. The Cowboys Offensive line has allowed only 4 sacks this year and have been opening up not only the run game but the passing game as well. The Cowboys are at their best on offense when they can establish the run and play the pass off the run. I expect Offensive Coordinator Tim Polasek to dial up a heavy dose of the run with a decent amount of play action and short passes baked in, to test the Spartans early in the game. Rope together some long drives to keep the Spartan Defense on the field and the Cowboys will be in business.
Win the Battle in the Red Zone
Outside of the opening loss to Illinois, the Cowboys offense has taken their first drive of each game for a long 10 plus play drive that has ended every time in a John Hoyland Field Goal. The Cowboys offense has shown that they can drive the ball and get into the Red Zone but the Cowboys need to start finishing drives with Touchdowns. On the year Cowboys have scored 12 touchdowns, and kicked 13 field goals. Obviously you always want to come away with points, but the Cowboys need to start turning those field goals into touchdowns.
The Spartans have not been much better in the Red Zone this season; only coming away with five touchdowns in 14 tries, and have struggled mightily. This game looks like it could shape up to be whoever plays better in the Red Zone wins the game.
Get to Chevan Cordeiro
If there is one thing that the Spartans have struggled with more than perhaps anything else. It has been containing opposing pas Rushes. Through three games Chevan Cordeiro has been sacked 11 times for a loss of 82 yards. That is just short of being sacked 4 times per game. Cordeiro has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country if he is kept clean. Wyoming needs to make a point of keeping the pressure on Cordeiro, and keep him under duress as long as possible.
Final Thoughts
After the tough loss against BYU the Cowboys have all their goals still ahead of them, look for the Cowboys to rebound and put the Conference on notice.
Wyoming 30, San Jose State 21
