FACTS & STATS: Site: Bulldog Stadium (41,031) — Fresno, California.
Television: ESPN 2. Home Record: Wyoming 3-1, FSU 2-1. Away Record: Wyoming
0-4, FSU 1-4. Neutral Record: Wyoming 0-0, FSU 0-0. Conference Record: Wyoming
1-3, FSU 2-2. Series Record: Fresno State leads, 5-4.
GAME NOTES: The Wyoming Cowboys go searching for their first road win of the
season on Saturday night, as they pay a visit to the Fresno State Bulldogs for
a Mountain West Conference clash.
Wyoming, which last won on the road on Sept. 21, 2013 versus Air Force in
Colorado Springs, has lost four in a row overall and five of the last six
outings, after opening the campaign with back-to-back victories over Montana
and the aforementioned Falcons.
Last weekend, the team was caught up in a dog fight with Colorado State in
Fort Collins, where the Rams secured a 45-31 victory. Not only are the Cowboys
0-4 on the road this season, they are also just 1-3 in conference.
As for the Bulldogs, they were 3-3 after six games but are now two games under
.500, and could very easily miss out on the postseason unless they run the
table, and even then nothing is promised to a program that is a mere two games
over .500 by season’s end. The squad has been stewing since the last outing on
Oct. 17 in Idaho when it bowed to Boise State by a final of 37-27 on the blue
turf.
The Bulldogs hold a narrow 5-4 advantage in the all-time series, thanks to a
48-10 romp in the 2013 clash between the two programs.
Just minutes into the second half last Saturday, the Cowboys found themselves
trailing by a score of 31-3 to CSU, but at least the Pokes showed signs of
life and never gave up, scoring four touchdowns in the final 20 minutes.
Wyoming generated 454 yards of total offense, but at the same time surrendered
558 yards to a Colorado State team that is earning votes in this week’s
AP poll.
Quarterback Colby Kirkegaard had a career day for the Pokes, throwing for 335
yards and two touchdowns, hitting 24-of-38 passes while being sacked three
times in the annual Border War. Tanner Gentry reeled in six passes for a team-
best 96 yards and a score, while Brian Hill ran for a game-high 121 yards and
tallied two TDs on 28 attempts.
Unfortunately, as well as Kirkegaard and Hill performed, the defense for the
Cowboys was exposed by CSU signal caller Garrett Grayson, who completed all
but three of his 21 attempts for 390 yards and five touchdowns.
Through eight games, the Wyoming pass defense has been rather week, giving up
255.9 ypg and ranking 120th in the nation in terms of pass efficiency defense
with a rating of 156.54. Allowing opponents to convert 49.2 percent of their
third-down efforts (118th in the country) hasn’t helped the Pokes either.
Kirkegaard has had his moments, but too often he has come up short when trying
to get his team over the hump. He has completed 57.9 percent of his passes for
210.2 ypg and nine TDs, but also has six interceptions. Dominic Rufran may
pace the program with 33 catches for 454 yards, but he has yet to cross the
goal line which has to be frustrating for a receiver who was supposed to be
one of the elite threats in the MWC heading into this season.
On the ground, the Cowboys are putting their faith in Shaun Wick who has 705
yards and five of their nine scoring runs, but that’s what you would expect
from a player who has twice as many carries (112) as any of his teammates.
The most notable change for the Bulldogs, having had a couple of weeks to
prepare for this meeting, is the news that redshirt freshman Zach Greenlee
will be making his first career start at quarterback. Greenlee, who threw for
109 yards and a score in a meeting with Utah State earlier in the campaign, is
taking over for Brian Burrell who started the first eight games, throwing for
1,468 yards and 12 TDs, but also seven interceptions.
With the insertion of Greenlee into the lineup, this marks the first time
since 2006 that the Bulldogs have had more than one starter at quarterback in
any season. The move to Greenlee might also have something to do with the fact
that FSU ra 29.0
Boston 96.0 42.9 33.5 77.5 12.0 29.8
Defense Against FG% 3P% FT% Off.Reb Def. Reb
Brooklyn 101.7 46.7 37.8 76.5 11.2 32.7
Boston 102.4 47.6 35.0 75.4 10.4 32.4
Recent Meetings
—————
Date Home Away Fav. Line ATS
03/21/14 BOS 98 BRK 114 BRK -8.5/197 BRK/O
03/07/14 BRK 84 BOS 91 BRK -5/200 BOS/U
01/26/14 BRK 85 BOS 79 BRK -4.5/191.5 BRK/U
12/10/13 BOS 96 BRK 104 BRK -2/193.5 BRK/O
04/10/13 BRK 101 BOS 93 BOS -3.5/191 BRK/O
12/25/12 BOS 93 BRK 76 BRK -2.5/184 BOS/U
11/28/12 BRK 95 BOS 83 BOS -3.5/190 BRK/U
11/15/12 BOS 97 BRK 102 BRK -4.5/191.5 BRK/O
04/14/12 BOS 94 BRK 82 BOS -7/184.5 BOS/U
03/02/12 BRK 94 BOS 107 BOS -6.5/186 BOS/O
Boston’s Next 5 and Last 5
————————–
Date Vs.
10/29/14 Brooklyn
11/01/14 @Houston
11/03/14 @Dallas
11/05/14 Toronto
11/07/14 Indiana
Date Away Home Fav. Line ATS
04/16/14 WAS 118 BOS 102 WAS -7.5/197.5 WAS/O
04/14/14 BOS 108 PHI 113 BOS -2.5/212.5 PHI/O
04/12/14 BOS 111 CLE 99 CLE -9/206 BOS/O
04/11/14 CHA 103 BOS 106 CHA -5/192 BOS/O
04/09/14 BOS 97 ATL 105 ATL -7.5/203.5 ATL/U
Brooklyn’s Next 5 and Last 5
—————————-
Date Vs.
10/29/14 @Boston
11/01/14 @Detroit
11/03/14 Oklahoma City
11/05/14 Minnesota
11/07/14 New York
Date Away Home Fav. Line ATS
04/16/14 BRK 85 CLE 114 CLE -7.5/198 CLE/O
04/15/14 NYK 109 BRK 98 BRK -7/193.5 NYK/O
04/13/14 ORL 88 BRK 97 BRK -11.5/195 ORL/U
04/11/14 ATL 93 BRK 88 BRK -4/198.5 ATL/U
04/09/14 BRK 111 ORL 115 BRK -5/191.5 ORL/O
