Temple @ Wyoming preview
Dreamstyle Stadium
NEW MEXICO BOWL STORYLINES
1. The 2011 bowl season kicks off with one team – Wyoming – which cannot stop the run, meeting another – Temple – which cannot stop running. So it should come down to whether the Cowboys, who are 115th among the 120 FBS teams in run defense, can figure out a way to stop the No. 7 Owls’ rushing attack. If they do, Temple and its No. 117 passing attack could be in trouble.
2. Temple is making its fourth appearance in a bowl game (1-2). Its last was a 30-21 loss to UCLA in the 2009 EagleBank Bowl; its first was a 20-14 loss to Tulane in the inaugural Sugar Bowl in 1935 under coach Glen “Pop’’ Warner. Wyoming is 6-6 and has won two straight, including a 35-28 victory in double overtime over Fresno State in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl.
3. The teams had one common opponent in 2011. Temple lost to Mid-America Conference foe Bowling Green 13-10 while Wyoming defeated the Falcons 28-27. Both games were on the road.
4. The Owls are No. 3 in points allowed – behind Alabama and LSU – at 13.8 and 15th in total defense (313.5 yards per game).
TV: ESPN, ESPN3.com. LINE: Temple -6.5.
ABOUT WYOMING (8-4, 5-2 Mountain West): The Cowboys, who finished third in the MWC behind Top 25 teams TCU and Boise State (their two conference losses), have won three of their last four games. Dave Christensen and Brett Smith were named MWC coach and freshman of the year, respectively. Smith threw for 2,495 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 10 scores. Wyoming has scored and allowed 324 points this season. The Cowboys won the only previous meeting, 38-23 in 1990.
ABOUT TEMPLE (8-4, 5-3 MAC): Junior Bernard Pierce is sixth in the country with 125.5 rushing yards per game and has a school-record 25 touchdowns this season. Temple has won 30 games in the last four years, the most by a senior class in school history, and their 25 victories over the past three seasons is also a school record. The Owls registered their first victory over an FBS school, 38-7 at Maryland on Sept. 24. Temple needs 39 points to set a school record for points in a season (399 in 1979).
PREDICTION: Wyoming 31, Temple 17 – The Owls haven’t won a game against a winning team all season, and they won’t start now.
1. The 2011 bowl season kicks off with one team – Wyoming – which cannot stop the run, meeting another – Temple – which cannot stop running. So it should come down to whether the Cowboys, who are 115th among the 120 FBS teams in run defense, can figure out a way to stop the No. 7 Owls’ rushing attack. If they do, Temple and its No. 117 passing attack could be in trouble.
2. Temple is making its fourth appearance in a bowl game (1-2). Its last was a 30-21 loss to UCLA in the 2009 EagleBank Bowl; its first was a 20-14 loss to Tulane in the inaugural Sugar Bowl in 1935 under coach Glen “Pop’’ Warner. Wyoming is 6-6 and has won two straight, including a 35-28 victory in double overtime over Fresno State in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl.
3. The teams had one common opponent in 2011. Temple lost to Mid-America Conference foe Bowling Green 13-10 while Wyoming defeated the Falcons 28-27. Both games were on the road.
4. The Owls are No. 3 in points allowed – behind Alabama and LSU – at 13.8 and 15th in total defense (313.5 yards per game).
TV: ESPN, ESPN3.com. LINE: Temple -6.5.
ABOUT WYOMING (8-4, 5-2 Mountain West): The Cowboys, who finished third in the MWC behind Top 25 teams TCU and Boise State (their two conference losses), have won three of their last four games. Dave Christensen and Brett Smith were named MWC coach and freshman of the year, respectively. Smith threw for 2,495 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 10 scores. Wyoming has scored and allowed 324 points this season. The Cowboys won the only previous meeting, 38-23 in 1990.
ABOUT TEMPLE (8-4, 5-3 MAC): Junior Bernard Pierce is sixth in the country with 125.5 rushing yards per game and has a school-record 25 touchdowns this season. Temple has won 30 games in the last four years, the most by a senior class in school history, and their 25 victories over the past three seasons is also a school record. The Owls registered their first victory over an FBS school, 38-7 at Maryland on Sept. 24. Temple needs 39 points to set a school record for points in a season (399 in 1979).
PREDICTION: Wyoming 31, Temple 17 – The Owls haven’t won a game against a winning team all season, and they won’t start now.