2009 New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming vs. Fresno State Betting Lines

Written December 18, 2009 by Kyle Hunter

This year it will be the New Mexico Bowl that kicks off the college football bowl season. The best of time of the year for college football fans will be underway at 4:30 eastern this coming Saturday. It will be the 6-6 Wyoming Cowboys taking on the 8-4 Fresno State Bulldogs. Wyoming turned their season around behind the play of a freshman quarterback and Fresno State won in amazing fashion in their last regular season game. Let’s take a look at how the teams stack up. If you want to get an extra $100 to bet on football, sign up at Bodog and deposit at least $100.

The Wyoming Cowboys saw improvement this year behind the freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels. He wasn’t dynamic and the offense didn’t light up the scoreboard at all, but his consistently solid play made this team a formidable opponent. The 298.7 yards they averaged per game in offense is certainly not impressive, and neither is the 17 points per game they averaged. The truth is, the Cowboys found ways to win games this season. For example, at San Diego State they trailed 27-6 going into the fourth quarter and came all the way back to win the game 30-27. Those who sided with the Cowboys against the spread in their football picks were happy this year, as Wyoming went 8-3 against the spread. The defense allowed 27 points per game, and they were especially weak against the run, which is a real concern against Fresno State and their high powered running attack.

Fresno State ended their regular season at 8-4 after one of the most amazing and ridiculous plays I’ve ever seen on a game winning 2 point conversion over Illinois. Fresno State started the season slowly, but they finished by winning seven of their last eight games. Ryan Matthews has been injured some this season, but he is expected to play in this weekend’s game. Matthews is a star running back for the Bulldogs who jumped to the top of the charts in college football this year with an amazing year. Even with the injury hampering him some Matthews tallied up 1,664 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per carry on the year. Matthews gives Fresno State one of the best rushing attacks in the country. Ryan Colburn has done a fairly good job at quarterback, though much of the time he isn’t asked to do a whole lot throwing the football. Fresno definitely prefers to run the football early and often. The Fresno State defense has been pretty good against the pass and terrible against the run this season. Fresno State is allowing about 28 points per game this season.

The college football odds for the bowl season show Fresno State as an 11 point favorite in the New Mexico Bowl. The posted total is set at 55 points. The Bulldogs are just 8-22 against the spread in their last 30 games as the favorite. Wyoming is just 3-13-1 against the spread in their last 17 games against teams with a winning record.

Wyoming will have its hands full trying to stop the running game of Fresno State in this one. Wyoming will have to generate some offense and score some touchdowns to win this game because I simply don’t see their defense shutting down the running game of Fresno State.

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