College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Wyoming Cowboys season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Wyoming Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 8-5 overall, 4-4 in MW
Head Coach: Craig Bohl, 7th year, 36-40
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 62
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 48
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 91
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Offense 3 Things To Know
– Let’s just say the offense wasn’t always the top priority for the Cowboys. It was effective, and the running game was great, but the passing game was horribly inefficient and the O as a whole finished 106th in the nation.
QB Tyler Vander Waal – who started the Arizona Bowl against Georgia State – transferred to Idaho State, but 6-3, 225-pound sophomore Sean Chambers is back after getting knocked out for the year with a knee injury, and 6-5, 221-pound redshirt freshman Levi Williams is back. Now the passing game has to be stronger – Chambers only hit 43% of his passes, but he ran for 567 yards and ten scores.
CFN in 60 Video: Utah Preview
Utah at Wyoming, Sept. 19
– The receivers weren’t used all that often, but it still matters that the top guys are gone. Raghib Ismail Jr. and Austin Conway tied for the team lead with 23 grabs. They’re both finished, as is TE Josh Harshman. The top returning wide receiver, senior Ayden Eberhardt, only caught eight passes for 168 yards and two scores. Eberhardt is 6-2, and Gunner Gentry is 6-3 – there’s size in the receiving corps, there just isn’t a ton of experience. However …
– The running game has the potential to be phenomenal. Along with the running from the quarterbacks, 1,265-yard, six-touchdown run junior back Xazavian Valladay is back along with speedy Titus Swen. These two will each run for over five yards per pop, and there’s more talent ready to roll in the rotation, including former Louisville Cardinal Trey Smith, who ran for 227 yards and three scores in four games.
The injury problems of the line last year turn into a big positive this season with all five starters and almost all the top backups returning, starting with All-Mountain West center Keegan Cryder. Even with so much turnover and turmoil through the season, the line was still good in pass protection and was great for the ground game.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Defense 3 Things To Know
– It’s not that the defense was a brick wall, but it was a brick wall when it absolutely had to be. At least that’s how it seemed in game after suffocating game.
The Cowboys finished fourth in the Mountain West in total defense, but it only allowed 17.8 points per game and was 11th in the nation against the run.
And now it has to replace the top three tacklers, including do-it-all LB Logan Wilson and fellow All-Mountain West S Alijah Halliburton. There’s still enough back to be great again – the system is sound.
– It all starts around the defensive interior. Javaree Jackson is no longer with the team, but 275-pound sophomores Mario Mora and Cole Godbout are experienced now, and 266-pound sophomore Claude Cole is about to get a bigger role. The decent pass rush will continue, needing leading sackers Solomon Byrd and Garrett Crall to do even more.
The linebacking corps is a big more of a problem after losing Wilson and Cassh Maulia. 6-3, 227-pound junior Chad Muma was sixth on the team with 51 tackles and 5-10, 175-pound Keyon Blankenbacker – who’s really a safety playing linebacker – returns as the team’s leading tackler coming up with 57 stops.
– Two starters have to be replaced by the secondary that allowed 258 yards per game, but only gave up 15 touchdowns and 12 picks. Rome Weber got a year or experience in at free safety, and Azizi Hearn is a big 6-1, 193-pound junior corner. There are plenty of interesting options, but finding another Halliburton isn’t going to be easy.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Wyoming Cowboys Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Wyoming Cowboys Players
Best Wyoming Cowboys Offensive Player
RB Xazavian Valladay, Jr.
He’s not all that big, but the lanky 6-0, 196-pounder is tough, handled the ball 259 times, and earned First Team All-Mountain West honors with 1,265 yards and six scores, with 11 catches for 211 yards and two scores.
Ultra-quick, he hit the 100-yard mark six times and ran for 200 yards twice, including a 204-yard day in the NOVA Home Loans Bowl win over Georgia State. He won’t have to carry the offense with other good backs in the mix, but he can handle the job.
2. C Keegan Cryder, Jr.
3. OG Logan Harris, Sr.
4. QB Sean Chambers, Soph.
5. RB Trey Smith, Sr.
Best Wyoming Cowboys Defensive Player
DE Solomon Byrd, Soph.
The Wyoming defense lost a few heart-and-soul leaders. Those will emerge, and the 6-4, 247-pound Byrd could be one of them as the team’s best pass rusher and playmaker in the backfield. He made 45 tackles with 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in a steady season, and now he has the experience to do even more.
2. LB Keyon Blankenbaker, Jr.
3. LB Chad Muma, Jr.
4. S Rome Weber, Soph.
5. DT Mario Mora, Soph.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Wyoming Cowboys Offense
It’s a simple equation for Wyoming – if the running game is great, the team wins. If it doesn’t, the team loses.
The Cowboys will have another good defense, they’ll keep pushing the ball deep, and they’ll put the clamps down on the games by slowing the tempo to a dead stop here and there. That happens when the ground attack works.
They ran for 190 yards or more eight times – and they went 8-0. The ran for fewer than 190 yards five times – and they went 0-5. The program is 20-2 when hitting the mark or going over since the end of 2015.
Biggest Key To The Wyoming Cowboys Defense
Find a way to replace the stars. Logan Wilson was a fixture for the Cowboy defense for the last four years, closing out his career with 409 tackles and 34.5 tackles for loss from his linebacker position.
Next to him was Cassh Maluia, who made 181 tackles over the last three seasons and was terrific in pass coverage. He’s a New England Patriot, Wilson is a Cincinnati Bengal, and the Cowboys have to find more big play producers like those two.
Oh yeah, and the D has to find a new star in the secondary to replace Alijah Halliburton’s 130 tackles and 11 tackles for loss from last year.
The stat guys will rise up, and the UW defense will be find, but who’ll make the big stops at the big times? Those three leave massive holes to fill, so …
Key Wyoming Cowboys Player To A Successful Season
LB Chad Muma, Jr.
A good part of the linebacking corps last year, the 6-3, 227-pound Muma made 51 tackles with a sack. He’ll likely get the first look to try being the new Wilson, but he’s not as big, not as experienced, and he’s not Logan Wilson.
But Muma has great range and will be a volume tacklers. Everything will come his way in this defensive system, and he’ll have to hold up at one spot, 6-2, 216-pound redshirt freshman Easton Gibbs will likely be the new Cassh Maluia, and the D has to keep moving on.
Key Game To The Wyoming Cowboys Season
Boise State, Nov. 21
The Cowboys have to play San Diego State from the West – but that’s in Laramie. They get Utah State and Air Force at home, too. If they can just hold serve in War Memorial, they have the Mountain there for the taking when Boise State comes to town late in the season.
They pushed the Broncos last year in a 20-17 loss, and they’re 1-13 all-time in the series. They can’t play for the Mountain West title without this win.
– Wyoming Cowboys Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Wyoming Fun Stats
– Red Zone Scores: Wyoming 37-of-45 (82%) – Opponents 31-of-45 (69%)
– Wyoming 1st Quarter Scoring: 52, 2nd Quarter Scoring: 139
– Rushing Yards Per Carry: Wyoming 4.9 – Opponents 2.9
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Wyoming Cowboys Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Four straight seasons of six wins or more, two bowl victories, and a division title. It’s not exactly the way the Craig Bohl era was supposed to go in terms of style, but when it comes to results … okay.
There might not be Mountain West championships rolling in, and the offense isn’t bowing up like it was supposed to coming off Bohl’s days at North Dakota State – and as the guy who helped make Carson Wentz and Josh Allen into Carson Wentz and Josh Allen – but again, fine.
Wyoming has its system. It controls games with an offense that doesn’t screw up and can run the ball, the defense doesn’t break enough after bending, and the wins are coming.
It’s the first time since 1987 to 1990 that the program has won eight games or more in four seasons, and 1996 to 1999 was the last time it went four straight years without a losing campaign.
Set The Wyoming Cowboys Regular Season Win Total At … 6.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 6
This year’s team should be more efficient and effective offensively. There still needs to be more of a passing game, but the O line and running game will be among the Mountain West’s best.
The D might need a bit of a rebuild, but that’s where the system under Bohl kicks in – it’s not exactly plug-and-go, but it’s close.
There are just enough wins – Weber State, at Ball State, at UNLV, at New Mexico – should all be on Wyoming’s side, and there should be at least two more victories along the way.
It’s Wyoming under Bohl. After the bowl game, there will probably be eight wins, because that’s what Wyoming does under Bohl.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
