Keys to a Wyoming Victory:
Get Andrew Peasley rolling
Senior Quarterback Andrew Peasley will get the start for the Cowboys. Peasley showed flashes last year in his first season with the Cowboys with his best game coming against Tulsa, throwing for 256 yards, and 2 touchdowns, adding 45 yards on the ground. Peasley played through several injuries last season, that combined with the uncertainty behind him in the Quarterback room led the Cowboys to be more conservative with Peasley. This year his knee brace is gone, and the Quarterback room behind him is more stable. With the injuries to running backs right now the Cowboys need to get the senior into a rhythm in the passing attack. Expect the Cowboys to get Peasley going early with easy passes to his big Tight End Treyton Welch, and to receivers Wyatt Wieland and Alex Brown.
Put the pressure on Tyler Shough
The Cowboys front seven will need to live up to their billing as the best in the conference this week against the Red Raiders potent passing attack, and put the pressure on Quarterback Tyler Shough. Last year Texas Tech was the worst in the Big XII at protecting their Quarterback giving up 41 sacks for 255 yards on the year with more than half of those sacks coming in their losses. In games that the Red Raiders won they gave up 2.4 sacks per game, however in games that the Red Raiders lost they gave up 4.8 sacks per game. If the likes of Harris, Godbout, Bertagnole, and Seiders can make their names heard it will be a long day for Texas Tech.
Keep the Texas Tech Offense off the field.
The Cowboys need to shorten this game, and sustain offensive drives. The Red Raiders averaged close to 90 offensive plays per game last season, whereas the Cowboys averaged around 60 offensive plays per game. The Texas Tech defense gave up almost 170 yards per game to opponents on the ground last season, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. I expect the Cowboys to gameplan to exploit this and shorten the game with their run first attack. The fewer plays that Texas Tech has the better off the Cowboys will be.
Prediction
I expect the Red Raiders to come out swinging on Saturday, and jump out to a multi score lead, but the Cowboys Defense will dig deep in the second quarter and find some momentum to slow the Red Raiders down. Forced turnovers by the defense and solid play by Andrew Peasley will lead the Cowboys in the second half and the Cowboys will wear down the Texas Tech Defense.
Wyoming 32, Texas Tech 28
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