Staff Picks – Utah State vs Wyoming

on October 19, 2018 at 12:42 am

Jason Walker – @thejwalk67

I keep underestimating Utah State’s offense and just assume they won’t score 45-50 points. This week I’m at risk of making the same mistake because I think that the combination of playing at Laramie and Wyoming’s at least competent defense will slow down Utah State enough to keep them out of the 40-point range. That being said, there’s no way Wyoming’s abysmal offense is going to make the Aggies sweat. The Cowboys have not reached the 20-point mark once this season and haven’t scored more than 14 since week two. The Aggies have scored at least 14 points in the first half of every game this season and at least 21 in their last five games. Expect that to be reflected in the final score.

Utah State 38, Wyoming 13

Wes Mangum – @Dream_Breather_

This will be a nice midseason test for the Aggies. Going on the road to play a conference opponent that has a solid defense and has beaten you the last two times you’ve played will test USU a bit. Don’t be fooled, though. Utah State is drastically different than they were last year, and Wyoming is as well. Keep in mind how far this team has come as the Aggies are in the process of putting the Cowboys away in the third quarter. USU’s offense has made huge strides since the last time we played Wyoming, and this will be a springboard to even bigger strides over the last half of this season.

Utah State 41, Wyoming 10

Thomas Sorenson – @tomcat340

Setting aside the obligatory “Any team can win on any given day” mantra, the real drama of this game will come from whether or not the Aggies are able to play themselves into position for a spot in the AP poll this week. That, unfortunately, is probably going to be determined more by what other teams above Utah State do in their games, but the Aggies are close and might be able to turn enough heads with a dominant performance on Saturday. This has the look of a game that will only be competitive if USU allows it to be. The Aggies are better in every phase of the game than the Cowboys, and are significantly so on offense. Bill Connelly’s S&P+ numbers — an opponent-adjusted predictive analytical system — has Wyoming’s offense in the bottom 20 in the country, with Utah State 100 places higher (15th overall). The Cowboys have a maybe-above-average defense but without back-breaking turnovers by USU, Wyoming simply does not have the offensive ability to hang with the Aggies.

Utah State 45, Wyoming 3

Daniel Hansen – @thegranddanny

To be short, Wyoming’s defense is legitimately good, possibly great. The issue is that the Cowboy defense is handcuffed with a horribly inept offense. Allowing 25.7 points per game doesn’t seem impressive on paper, but given the context that the offense has only mustered 15.4 points per game this season, it becomes strikingly more impressive. Utah State’s five-game streak of scoring 40 points or more might be in danger of the offense sputters on a few drives, but Wyoming’s lack of offensive consistency should seal this game for the Aggies.

Utah State 47, Wyoming 9

Dalton Renshaw – @dren_sports

Man, this team looks a lot different without Josh Allen. Last year this was a matchup I was worried about coming into the weekend, but this time, I really see no way the the Aggies don’t come out of Laramie with a win. Wyoming gains 147.0 yards on the ground and 130.0 through the air. They also haven’t scored twenty points since August. That’s not going to be close to enough to keep up with Utah State who’s coming off five straight wins and five straight forty-point games. Love goes over 300 yards passing for the fourth time this year and the Aggies defense forces 3 turnovers. Just another day at the office.

Utah State 45 Wyoming 13

Jaden Johnson – @jadenjohnson00

When Wyoming saw Utah State last season, Jordan Love checked into the game in the second half and threw three interceptions, LaJuan hunt coughed up a crucial fumble, and Kent Myers gave up a safety to seal a Cowboy victory. It was really, really ugly. I think this year’s team remembers that, and they’re going to come at the Cowboys with a vengeance. Wyoming has a good defense with a few great players, but as my dear friend Logan Jones stated last season about USU after they faced Wyoming, “it’s unfair that this defense is married to the corpse of what should be an acceptably mediocre Mountain West offensive attack.” Wyoming’s defense holds strong for the first few drives, but Utah State wins big

Utah State 40 – Wyoming 6