UW-New Mexico post-game thoughts

That’s what a team should do against one that is — simply put — bad.

The University of Wyoming’s 37-13 victory over New Mexico Saturday was convincing. It could have been even more so had UW not messed up on a fake punt . It also came away with no points twice in goal-to-go territory.

UW coach Dave Christensen said he was just trying to be aggressive on going for it on fourth down on those goal-to-go scenarios.

UW is now 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico is 0-6, 0-2.

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The second half was arguably the best half of football for the Cowboys’ defense this season. They posted a shutout and held New Mexico to minus-14 yards rushing.

Very impressive.

The Cowboys had four guys record double-digits in tackles. They had five sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Senior outside linebacker Weston Johnson had an interception, his third of the season. UW now has three guys with three picks — Johnson, true freshman safety Shamiel Gary and sophomore cornerback Tashaun Gipson.

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Had a question on the live blog about true freshman defensive lineman Mike Purcell and if he was going to play. I said no at the time, but late in the game he played. Christensen said some extra depth was needed due to the injury to sophomore nose guard Alex Stover (groin) who has missed the last four games. Purcell is the 12th true freshman to play this season. He did not get in on a tackle.

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Sophomore offensive tackle Clayton Kirven went out with a left knee injury in the first half, and Christensen said he doesn’t expect him to play at Air Force next week. The extent of Kirven’s injury wasn’t known after the game.

Sophomore linebacker Gabe Knapton had a team-best 11 tackles. He had a wrap around his leg after the game, but he said he was fine.

And, true freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels suffered another cut on his arm that bled quite profusly. He didn’t miss any playing time.

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The temperature at kickoff was 15 degrees.

The cold didn’t seem to bother UW, but Cowboys senior defensive end Mitch Unrein said it bothered some of the New Mexico players.

“I heard them complain on the field a little bit saying ‘how do you guys live in this stuff?’ ” Unrein said. “You’ve got to love it.”

Unrein said he liked the cold.

“I could breathe better and everything like that. I like it when it’s nice and cold out,” he said.

But the quote of the day about the cold came from Carta-Samuels: “It gets pretty cold in California (Carta-Samuels is from San Jose), but cold in California is a completely different thing than cold out here.”

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See Sunday’s paper for more on the game, including my column on how the second half of the season poses a lot more stiffer tests for the Cowboys.