Game Recap
by CFP Staff
December 18, 2011
The New Mexico Bowl kicked off the bowl season with a blowout as Temple blasted Wyoming 37-15 in a game that wasn't even that close.
A late touchdown and 2-point conversion make the final score look slightly more respectable, but the Owls took a quick 21-0 lead and never looked back.
It's the second straight year that the New Mexico Bowl was over before it barely started. Last season, BYU routed UTEP 52-24 in a battle of teams that were barely bowl eligible at 6-6.
At least this season's matchup offered a pair of 8-4 teams. Wyoming ended the regular season winning three of its last four and five of its last seven. Temple leaves on a 4-game winning streak.
In Steve Addazio's first year as head coach, the former Florida offensive coordinator led Temple to its first bowl win since 1979 and a 9-4 season overall record.
The Owls are 26-12 over the last three seasons, exceeding the 25 total victories for the school from the nine seasons prior to that span (2000-2008).
Wyoming dropped to 6-7 in bowl games while closing out its 2011 campaign at 8-5, still good enough for a 5-win improvement from a year ago and not bad at all for a team that was projected to go 3-9 again this year.
It was only the second meeting ever between the two teams as Wyoming beat the Owls 28-23 in Laramie in 1990.
57.9% of CollegeFootballPoll.com voters picked Temple to win and the Congrove Computer Rankings had the Owls as a 10.92-point favorite for the 6th-highest projected margin of all the bowl games.
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