Gildan New Mexico Bowl

The Gildan ( a clothing manufacturing company) New Mexico Bowl was established in 2006 and is always played before Christmas. The bowl conference tie-in is with the Mountain West (MWC) and the PAC 12, that is….  when these respective conferences have teams available to fill the spots. If the conferences do not have a team available, than a committee will select an at-large team.  Not surprising, yet interesting, is the fact that the Gildan New Mexico Bowl is the only sporting  event hosted in the state of New Mexico that is nationally televised. In the first New Mexico Bowl, New Mexico of the MWC took on the San Jose State Spartans of the WAC, the Lobos lost a hard fought game, 20-12, to the Spartans. Last year’s game saw BYU (MWC) pound a Conference USA representative, UTEP, 52-24.

This year, Wyoming (8-4), from the Mountain West Conference meets Temple (8-4) from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). These teams have not played one another in the past five years and as a matter of fact, have met only once in their respective football histories, in 1990, a 38-23 victory for the Cowboys. They did have a common opponent this season, Bowling Green, whom the Cowboys beat 28-27 and a team that the Owls lost to, 13-10. Both of these games were played on Bowling Green’s home field, Perry Stadium.

Alright… I am now going to work with information on the site, to give you a statistical perspective and based on that data, identify the winner.

Total Offense & Total Defense

Temple averages 380 YPG (yards per game) while the Cowboys move the ball to the tune of 400 YPG. On defense Wyoming allows opposing offenses 429 YPG while the Owls hold their opponents to 316 YPG.  Advantage: Temple

Rushing Offense & Defense

Temple rushes the ball for 257 YPG, while Wyoming carries the rock for 187 YPG. Defending the run, Temple shines at 123 YPG and Wyoming struggles @ 229 YPG. Advantage Temple

Passing Offense & Defense

Temple’s passing game producers a meager 123 YPG while the Cowboys put the ball in the air for a total of 214 YPG. In defending the pass, Wyoming gives up 200 YPG with Temple slightly more affect @ 193 YPG. Advantage Wyoming 

Scoring Offense & Defense

Temple puts up 30 PPG and the Cowboys counter with 27 PPG. Defensively, Wyoming equals its offensive output by permitting an identical 27 PPG meanwhile the Owls limits their opposition to an anemic 14 PPG. Advantage Temple

Turnovers Offensive & Defense

Temple give the ball up once a game and takes it away 1.5 times…. for a plus .5, ….. while Wyoming turns it over 1.25  times per game and takes it away 2.58…. for a positive 1.33 take away’s per game.  Advantage Wyoming

Third Down Conversions & Stops

Wyoming coverts 43.7 percent of its third down attempts while holding their opponents to a 40% success rate. Meanwhile, Temple is successful on 45.1 percent of its 3rd down tries and limits their opponents to 33.7 percent ratio. Advantage Temple

Red Zone Offense & Defense

Temple scores 84% of the time when it enters the red zone… of which 59% are TD’s, while Wyoming scores on 74 percent of its red zone penetrations with 64% of the scores being touchdowns. When defending the red zone, Wyoming allows scores 81% of the time and 70 percent of the scores are TD’s. Temple permits scores 76 percent of the time of which 65% are touchdowns. Advantage Temple

One last consideration… Temple lost to Penn State, 14-10 and bombed Maryland, 38-7, two impressive outings. Wyoming was hammered by Nebraska 38-14 (Nebraska beat PSU 17-14) and 2 of their 8 wins were against FCS opponents, Texas State 45-10 and a nail-biter against Weber State, 35-32. Bill Cosby will be proud!

Temple 35 Wyoming 17