College Bowl Game Preview: Kent State vs. Wyoming

Dec 21, 2021

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Game: Kent State Golden Flashes vs. Wyoming Cowboys  

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET 

Odds: Golden Flashes +3, Cowboys -3 

Total: 59 

Kent State and Wyoming finished the 2021 season very differently, but both ended up in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl which will be played this afternoon. The Golden Flashes, with one of the best offenses in the nation, went 4-2 over its final six games to earn a spot in today’s bowl game. 

Wyoming started the season with four straight wins, but then they lost four straight. In the end, the Cowboys would win just two of their final six games of the regular season. That was enough though to get them into today’s bowl game. 

The two teams are very different as far as offensive style. Kent State led the MAC and finished eighth in the nation in total offense averaging 480.8 yards per game. They are an up-tempo spread offense that runs closer to 80 plays per game.  

Wyoming relies heavily on its ground game, one that averaged 195.1 yards per game this season. That was good enough for 29th nationally. The Cowboys transitioned quarterbacks about midway through the season. Freshman Levi Williams started the final five games of the season. Wyoming is not a big passing team. Williams threw for over 170 yards just once in those five starts. 

The Golden Flashes offense is led by one of the better quarterbacks in the country in Dustin Crum. He finished the season with nearly 3,000 passing yards. Kent State does run the football too. RB Marquez Cooper ran for over 1,000 yards and was one of three KSU players that ran for at least 600. Xavier Williams ran for 842 yards and Crum added 633. 

The Cowboys like to run at a much slower pace than Kent State. Wyoming averages about 65 offensive plays per game. The Cowboys’ passing game is almost nonexistent. Wyoming ranks 120th out of 130 FBS teams in passing offense with an average of 152.9 yards per game. The slow pace and lack of explosiveness meant that the Cowboys didn’t score much either. Wyoming ranked 107th in the country in scoring offense averaging 21.4 points per game. 

With the Cowboys’ low-scoring offense, one would think the Under would have been a trend. In four of Wyoming’s last five games, the total went Over. It was a similar story for Kent State. With their up-tempo offense pushing the ball up and down the field, one would think Over. For the season, the Under cashed in eight of the Golden Flashes 13 games this season. The Under is 4-0 in Kent State’s last four games outside of the MAC. 

Kent State is 4-2 ATS in its last six games. Wyoming has not had that type of success. The Cowboys are just 3-6 ATS in their last nine games. One thing to consider though is Wyoming’s performance in December. In their last six games played in the month of December, the Cowboys are 5-1 ATS.