Another close one for Wyoming against one of the nation’s best defenses in its 22-10 loss at Utah Saturday night.
I find it a little ironic that in its last two games the Cowboys lost to teams both with top 25 defenses nationally in terms of scoring and total yards. They also lost to teams that replaced their starting quarterbacks with backups in the second half.
But more importantly, or disturbingly for UW, its offense continues to sputter.
Granted, Air Force and Utah’s defenses have done that a lot this season. But this game was another example that the Cowboys lack play-makers offensively and the line is still a work in progress.
Perhaps UW found another playmaker as junior quarterback Robert Benjamin saw time at receiver. He caught three passes for 17 yards, and on a frazzle-dazzle play threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels. Benjamin wasn’t happy his team lost, and said a ball that deflected off his hands and into a Utah defender in the fourth quarter was why UW lost.
That’s debatable, but Benjamin seemed happy that he is back in the team’s plans. Benjamin said this was the first time he had ever played receiver. See more on him in Monday’s paper.
Also, it was nice to see senior receiver Greg Bolling have a solid game. He had three catches for 35 yards. On a team desperate for play-makers it can use all the help it can get.
One of the the more underrated players in the game was sophomore punter Austin McCoy. He averaged 44 yards on six punts with a long of 57. Two punts were downed inside Utah’s 20-yard line. He kept Utah pinned back in its own territory early on.
Utah changed its play-calling duties prior to the game as offensive coordinator Dave Schramm went down on the field and receivers coach Aaron Roderick was up in the booth calling plays. Could a quarterback change be coming as well as freshman Jordan Wynn replaced junior Terrance Cain in the second half?
We will see, but even though it wasn’t overly impressive, Utah won and showed why it has won 21 of its last 22 games and 28 of its last 30.
If UW can get some consistency going on offense it has a chance to win some games in November. If it can’t, it may not win another one this season.
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i was more than pleased with the defense. the offense will come around in time but not this year. i dont get to see the team much in my neck of the woods but one thing i saw struck me. does wyo. ever go over the top and challenge teams with the deep ball?
As far as taking shots down the field that is and has been one of the problems with this team. … it doesn’t have a player that can stretch the field vertically like that.
Overall there is a lack of a legitimate “play-maker” on this offense right now. A guy with 4.4 speed that defenses have to account for. Hopefully that will improve down the road but right now it simply isn’t there.
On the other hand, it probably wouldn’t hurt to throw deep to somebody once in a while just to take a shot. Maybe a penalty would be called or you simply get lucky. However, it would be easy for speedy and skilled secondaries to close in on that and get a pick on a slow-developing play deep down the field.
Good question and post. I appreciate it.
RG