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Wyoming vs. San Jose State: Keys For A Cowboys Victory
Cowboys looking to get back on the winning ways.
Contact/Follow @AdamWyo & @MWCwire
Wyoming going with a new QB
WEEK 9: San Jose State Spartans (4-4, 2-2 Mountain West) vs Wyoming Cowboys (4-3, 0-3 Mountain West)
WHEN: Saturday, October 30th — 2 PM MT/1 PM PT
WHERE: CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, CA
TV: FS2
STREAMING: Fans can sign up to receive a free one-week trial of Fubo, which includes FS2, by following this link.
RADIO: The Wyoming broadcast can be found in and around the Laramie area on 1290 AM (KOWB). The San Jose State broadcast can be found in and around the San Jose area on 90.5 FM (KSJS).
SERIES RECORD: This will be the 12th matchup between these two schools. Wyoming leads the series 7-4. Wyoming won the last matchup 24-9 in Laramie in 2018.
Wyoming looks to rebound from three straight losses this weekend in San Jose when they take on the Spartans in CEFCU Stadium. After initially starting the season 4-0, the Cowboys have had a hard time establishing themselves on offense once conference play started. Although the team has yet to find their offensive rhythm, Wyoming is far from a bad team. Saved by their, seemingly, always stout defense, none of the pokes conference losses have felt like blowouts.
Wyoming Football: Levi Williams Named Starting Quarterback vs. San Jose State on Saturday
Coach Craig Bohl has instilled a goal amongst the team this season of going 1-0 each week, and while they have not accomplished this goal for multiple weeks, it’s only a matter of time before the team plays to their true potential and finishes the week 1-0.
As the Cowboys turn their attention to Silicon Valley and the San Jose State Spartans, they will need to work on multiple areas of the game if they are wishing to finish undefeated for the week. Here are three keys to a Cowboy victory.
1. Minimize mistakes
All season the Cowboy offense has been stalled by costly, and untimely, mistakes and penalties. Drives have faltered before they could get going, and with an offense that prides itself on running on first and second down a first and 20 is a long way to go. By minimizing the penalties that set the pokes up for failure, they can continue to execute their gameplan of hard nosed running on first and second, setting up a manageable third down. Thus should allow the pokes to, hopefully, score a touchdown for the first time in weeks.
2. Offensive line steps up
Before the start of the season, the offensive line was touted as one of the best in the conference. With multiple starters returning or was thought that the line was going to be an issue for Wyoming opponents, instead or has become a problem for Wyoming themselves.
The pokes have yet to really establish a run game that would help open up the passing game. When they do throw, the quarterbacks have little to no time to look downfield before they have multiple defenders in their lap. If the Cowboys are to win, it will be decided by how well the offensive line plays.
It will be interesting to see how that plays out with Levi Williams taking over the offense from Sean Chambers.
Wyoming has good offensive linemen, Logan Harris and Keegan Cryder were both all conference honorees last season, they just have yet to establish themselves this season, they will need to if they want to change the trajectory of their season.
3. Defense continue what you’re doing
In all of the let down that has been brought this season by the less than stellar offensive play, the Wyoming defense has been silently keeping the program from being completely embarrassed every week.
Anchored by Chad Muma and Garrett Crall, the Wyoming defense has kept the pokes theoretically in each game that they have played. No score seemed too much for the pokes to get back into the game, and they have kept good offensive teams in check.
The Cowboy defense has played their way to being the number three pass defense, and the number 16 total defense in the country. It’s a shame that they haven’t received the recognition that they deserve given their offensive woes, but if they continue to keep games close the offense should rebound in due time, and when that happens Wyoming will be a tough team to beat.
Final thoughts
Wyoming has their work cut out for them, they have serious issues on offense that needed addressed, and hopefully, Bohl and coaches addressed them during the week. I believe that it’s early to write off the Cowboys, if the offense can even score 14 points, I believe that the defense is good enough to keep the Spartans in check enough for a possible victory. That being said 14 points is asking a lot from this season’s Cowboys, even so I believe that the Cowboys find themselves this game, if they don’t then we may have bigger issues than initially thought.
Final Score: Wyoming 17- San Jose State 14
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