It’s already been a better year than 2015 for both the Wyoming Cowboys and the Eastern Michigan Eagles. These teams combined to win just three games all of last season and are each 2-1 heading into this Friday night matchup. Now both sides will look to put themselves in good position for a bowl game by moving to 3-1 before the start of conference play when they meet in this interesting Week 4 college football game.
Watch this regular season Week 4 matchup live on Friday, September 23, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. ET
at Rynearson Stadium. This game will be broadcast on CBSS.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Eastern Michigan +2
Wyoming -2
Odds Analysis
It’s somewhat of a surprise that Wyoming is favored in this one as most of the stats seem to favor Eastern Michigan. The Cowboys have given up points to everyone they have played, while the Eagles have at least shown a backbone on defense.
Key Stats
This has the potential to be a very high-scoring game as both Wyoming and Eastern Michigan are averaging 70 total points in their games through the first three weeks of the season. However, these squads put up their points in different ways.
Eastern Michigan is primarily a passing team, averaging 7.7 yards per pass attempt on the season thanks to the welcome addition of Todd Porter. Porter transferred from Western Kentucky after it was clear that he wasn’t going to beat out Brandon Doughty for the starting job and has been the first quarterback with true potential in Ypsilanti since the Charlie Batch days. Although he has the potential to get away with his mobility, he prefers to pass and has been impressive in the Eagles two wins.
Craig Bohl and the Cowboys prefer to run the ball and with a back like Brian Hill it’s hard not to. Hill is a bull of a running back at 6’1 220 and finally ran wild last week after being stifled against Northern Illinois and Nebraska. Bohl will look to run him as much as possible behind a veteran offensive line although Eastern Michigan’s defense has been pretty stout against the run.
Last Meeting
Hill was able to run wild on EMU’s defense when these teams squared off in Laramie last year, averaging 11.5 yards a carry on the evening. However, the Cowboys couldn’t do anything through the air with either Nick Smith or Josh Allen and that cost them the game. Smith and Allen combined to complete 6 of 17 passes for 32 yards and that doomed Wyoming despite an eye-popping 430 yards on the ground.
The Eagles had their best passing game of the season last year against Wyoming, torching the Cowboys’ secondary for 330 yards and three scores on the night. It was the one time all season long that Brogan Roback threw for over 300 yards and Porter should be able to do the same against a secondary that is still very young.
Free ATS Pick
If this game is close, Wyoming is going to be at a disadvantage because of its less than stellar production from the kicking game. Cooper Rothe is only hitting 50 percent of his field goals on the season and is 0-3 from 40 or more yards. That’s a continuing theme for Wyoming and the Cowboys keep being put in awkward situations as defenses tighten in the red zone.
This is one of those games that has a major advantage for the bettor if you’re willing to do a little bit a little bit of digging. Wyoming is allowing 8.62 yards per attempt through the air and hasn’t played a team yet that prefers to air it out. Eastern Michigan should be able to take advantage of that and have its way with Wyoming’s cornerbacks all night long in a big victory.
College Football Odds: Eagles 45, Cowboys 27
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