Cowboys Win Texas Battle with Bobcats

Quick Take

It was a win. Not the prettiest win, but it was still a win. Wyoming fell down 14 to 3 early into the 2nd quarter. After that, Wyoming outscored Texas State, 20 to 0. However, the Cowboys win never seemed that safe until late into the 4th quarter.

The Recap

For the second week in a row, Wyoming did not start like a team that was going to win the game. Thanks to a good opening kickoff return from Tyler Hall, Wyoming started with great field position. After just one first down, Copper Rothe missed a 43 yard field goal, and Wyoming squandered the opportunity to score first.

Immediately afterward, Texas State drove down the field for a TD. Wyoming would three-and-out on their next possession. Texas State would put together another nice drive, but it was the Bobcats turn to miss a field goal when their drive stalled at the Wyoming 20.

After a couple of punts were exchanged, the Cowboys offense finally got something going. Wyoming put together a nice drive that ended in a field goal to put them on the board.

Unfortunately, the Bobcats quickly responded with a TD on their next drive. It was 14 to 3, Texas State.

Wyoming would get the ball and punt. Texas State was starting to drive again until Braden Smith made an interception that was return to midfield. Like the week prior versus Missouri, it was a turnover by the defense in the 2nd half that started to turn the momentum towards Wyoming.

Buoyed by a 15 yard personal foul penalty against Texas State, the Cowboys drove down the field. Sean Chambers finished it with a 7 yard touchdown run.

On the next Texas State drive, Wyoming would force another turnover at midfield on a strip-sack by Mario Mora. However, the Cowboys offense did nothing this time.

After a couple of punts, the half ended with a Texas State interception on a hail mary heave from Sean Chambers into the end zone as time expired. Texas State was up, 14 to 10.

Texas State got the kickoff to start the 2nd half and immediately went three-and-out. The Cowboys drove down the field for another field goal, making it 14 to 13, Texas State.

Texas State got the ball and made it to midfield before this play, finally, put Wyoming on top.

With a 20 to 14 lead, Wyoming would force a Texas State punt on the next possession. Once the Cowboys got the ball again, Wyoming would proceed to burn 9 minutes and 12 seconds off the clock on an 88 yard drive. The only negative to this would be the drive stalling at the Texas State 2 yard-line as the Cowboys settled for another field goal.

From there, the teams exchanged a couple more punts. Texas State would miss a 53 yard field goal with 2:57 left in the game. Just about destroying their chances of coming back down by 9.

Still, after forcing another Wyoming punt, Texas State got the ball back with 1:37 in the game at the Texas State 19. However, time would run out on the Bobcats before they could get another score, driving all the way down to the Wyoming 6 as time expired.

Wyoming 23, Texas State 14.

My Thoughts

I’m very happy that the Cowboys are 2-0 to start the year. Wyoming has now won six straight games (longest winning streak in the MWC) going back to last season.

Still, some things are now starting to emerge as potential patterns. Two games is not much of a sample size, but here are some things I’d like to highlight from the first couple of games.

• Wyoming has won the turnover battle in both games. Against Missouri, Wyoming won the turnover battle, 3 to 0. Against Texas State, 3 to 1 (with the one coming on the hail mary interception before half). This has been crucial to the the 2-0 start.
• Turnovers have been so important because Wyoming has been out-gained by both of their opponents. Missouri had 537 yards to 389 yards for Wyoming. Missouri had 28 1st downs to 16 for Wyoming. Texas State had 444 yards to 293 yards from Wyoming. Texas State had 27 1st downs to 16 for Wyoming. As a Wyoming fan, you’d like to see the defense start to tighten up a little more, and the offense become a little more consistent at sustaining drives.
• The Cowboy offense can run the ball, but still has a long ways to go in the passing game. On the season, Chambers is now 14 of 34 passing for 195 yards. That is good for a 41.2% completion percentage. Improvement is still needed.