Wyoming (2021: 7-6 SU, 6-7 ATS) will meet Illinois (2021: 5-7 SU, 7-5 ATS) on Saturday at 4pmET from Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
The Cowboys are coming off a pretty successful season, beating Kent State 52-38 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Illinois finished with a 47-14 win over Northwestern, but also lost at home to UTSA, Rutgers and Maryland. The Illini will need to find more consistency from the quarterback position if they are going to have their first winning season since 2011.
Wyoming had a very experienced offense last season and it showed. They put up 25.4 points per game and just 163 passing yards to that was a bit of a disappointment. They did average 212 rushing yards per game and that's always a key for the Cowboys' success. Titus Swan Jr. is the top returning player at running back after amassing 785 yards and seven TDs. They return just four starters on offense and both quarterbacks-Sean Chambers and Levi Williams-are both gone.
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— Wyoming Cowboy Football (@wyo_football) August 23, 2022
Williams left for Utah State and the Cowboys brought in Andrew Peasley in essentially a trade of quarterbacks. Peasley has some experience, having started twice at Utah State. Head coach Craig Bohl has not named a quarterback as of press time, but expect them to start off with Peasley, who threw for 830 yards but completed just 54% at Utah State.
Defensively, Wyoming had 11 returning starters last season and allowed just 23.7 points per game. However, they struggled against the run, giving up 181 yards per game. They lost 10 of their top 15 tacklers, but that doesn't mean new blood can help improve the defense. They also need to get to the quarterback more as they ranked 89th in the nation with 1.85 sacks per game.