Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Betting Preview
Tags: Sportsbetting, Collegefootball

A contrast of styles makes for an interesting game on the blue turf in Boise.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Kent State (7–6) vs Wyoming (6–6)

Tuesday, 3:30pm, ESPN

Wyoming -3/Total 59

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The Tuesday bowl doubleheader kicks off in Boise in a classic “styles make fights” kind of game between Kent State and Wyoming. Sean Lewis has done a great job at Kent State which is a notoriously tough place to win. After a brutal non-conference slate that featured Texas A&M, Iowa and Maryland, Lewis guided the Golden Flashes to a 6–2 MAC record and their second appearance in the MAC Championship Game. They didn’t play well in that game, but it’s still quite an achievement for a program that hasn’t won a conference title since 1972. Wyoming had a strange season. Interestingly, the Cowboys have already played two MAC opponents winning by seven at Northern Illinois and by 33 at home against Ball State. Wyoming started 4–0, lost four in a row and finished 2–2 down the stretch. They blew out the Mountain West champions Utah State before losing to Hawaii in its regular season finale.

The contrast in styles comes from the pace at which these offenses like to go. Kent State tries to live up to the “flash” part of their nickname. Kent State is tied for 11th in offensive plays per game and have the third lowest average time of possession in the country. Dustin Crum is a dual threat at quarterback throwing for almost 3,000 yards and adding over 600 yards on the ground. Crum accounted for 27 touchdowns this year. Along with Crum, Kent State has two running backs who can tote the rock in Marquez Cooper and Xavier Williams who combined for almost 1,900 yards and 14 touchdowns. Dante Cephas is their go-to receiver with 78 catches, 1,124 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Kent State won’t be confused for a defensive powerhouse. They give up 190 yards per game on the ground and are 71st in pass efficiency defense, but that’s only because they’re proficient at taking the ball away with 16 interceptions. Kent State’s three MAC losses followed a similar script in that they really struggled to stop the run and it limited how many plays they were able to run.

That plays right into the hands of Wyoming because the Cowboys want to run the ball, run the ball and then run the ball some more. Wyoming plays much slower than Kent State averaging 12 fewer plays per game on offense. They want to grind the game out. They have a thunder and lightning duo at running back with Xazavian Valladay and Titus Swen. Valladay needs 16 yards to reach the thousand yard mark for the season. Swen has seen his role increase of late and went over 160 yards against both Colorado State and Utah State. Wyoming isn’t very successful throwing the ball, ranking 104th in the country in passing efficiency. Sean Chambers and Levi Williams combined for fewer than 2,000 passing yards and a 14–12 TD to INT ratio. Wyoming isn’t as stout defensively as you’d expect a Craig Bohl team to be. They give up 169.1 yards and 4.37 yards per carry on the ground and they’re 84th in FBS in third down defense.

From a handicapping perspective this is a tricky one because it’s possible both teams can control this game. Kent State is worse on third downs defensively than Wyoming so if Wyoming is grinding out drives and playing keep away they’ll win. On the flip side, if Kent State gets some scoring drives early, Wyoming just isn’t built to come from behind. With it being a total toss up, I’d consider a Kent State moneyline bet. They’re somewhere between +120 and +140 at most books.