Wofford/Wyoming Recap

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? That was my first thought after this game. I’d live to delve into that a little more after the game recap.

The Recap

It was a perfect day for football in Laramie, and the Cowboys and Terriers played a close, evenly-matched game.

Early on, the two teams exchanged punts. Wyoming broke the drought with a field goal after the Cowboys recovered a fumble deep in Wofford territory with 10:22 to play in the 2nd quarter.

This seemed to get things going offensively. Wofford would take the ensuing kickoff and march down the field for a touchdown. Immediately, Wyoming would answer and match Wofford with their own touchdown drive.

Wyoming went into the half up 10 to 7.

To start the second half, Wofford had a nice drive going before throwing an interception in the back of the endzone for a touchback. A few punts later, Wofford had the ball again, starting with good field position. Wofford would capitalize this time with another touchdown drive, taking the lead with 13:06 remaining in the 4th quarter.

After a couple more punts, Wyoming put together a solid drive all the way to the Wofford 16. However, Wofford would intercept a Tyler Vander Waal pass with 4:08 remaining in the game, and Wyoming would come up empty.

The Cowboy defense was able to force a punt though, and Wyoming got the back with 2:05 left in the game.

At this point, things looked bleak for Wyoming. The Cowboys needed a touchdown and had to go 80 yards. So far this game and this season, the Wyoming offense had not looked capable of such a drive. Luckily, college football is crazy and beautiful. Vander Waal led a drive down the field, even converting on a 4th and 4 from the Wofford 19. Two plays later, Wyoming would score the go-ahead touchdown with just 17 seconds remaining.

After the kickoff, Wofford threw an interception on their second play of the drive. Wyoming took a knee and got the win. Wofford 14, Wyoming 17.

My Thoughts

First, Wyoming could only score 17 points.

Glass Half-Empty : Obviously, the Wyoming offense is still struggling. Wyoming could not run the ball on an FCS team at home and could not consistently move the ball most of the day. This is just more of the same as the Cowboy offense has not looked halfway decent since Nico Evans got injured in the 3rd quarter of the Washington State game.

Glass Half-Full : The Wyoming offense did enough to win. Tyler Vander Waal had his first two touchdown passes of the year. The Wyoming defense rebounded from giving up 40 points in back-to-back weeks to Washington State and Missouri. Wyoming managed to win a game with a redshirt freshman QB carrying the load, and Nico Evans should be back soon to help the Cowboy running game.

Second, Wyoming almost lost to an FCS team.

Glass Half-Empty : For a team coming off of consecutive, 8-win seasons and in Year 5 under Bohl, this is a big disappointment. The Cowboys are clearly in trouble this season if they continue to play like this.

Glass Half-Full : Wyoming won. Not only won, but a struggling, young QB was able to lead the Cowboys on a game-winning touchdown drive. Wofford is a good FCS program, and it might be too early to completely overreact this early in the season. Just look at San Diego State from last week to this week.

Third, Wyoming is 2-2, so far on the season.

Glass Half-Empty : Wyoming has beaten a New Mexico State team that is 0-4 and an FCS team. The Cowboys were beaten by multiple scores by the two teams they played from the Power 5. The Cowboys do not look very good and should be worried about conference play.

Glass Half-Full : Wyoming is 2-2. At the start of the season, this was pretty much the most likely outcome. Regardless of how the Cowboys got here, Wyoming is still in a good position going into conference play to try to have another winning season.