Matthew Fabian
Mfabian1@uwyo.edu
History repeated itself in Boise on Saturday night, and the Wyoming Cowboy football program fell to 0-10 all-time against the Broncos with a 34-14 loss.
The loss entails lost bowl eligibility for the Cowboys, who can finish no better than 5-7 at the end of this season. Not that this factoid comes as a surprise. The Cowboys will be listed as underdogs, possibly all by double digits, in all of their remaining games. The best possibility for a win comes in the final game of the season, against the UNLV Rebels.
The Cowboys also did not come away unscathed, with Cam Coffman going down with a shoulder injury and will not be playing against Utah State on Friday, barring some miracle. Coffman left the game against Boise with a passing touchdown and an interception that eventually led to another Boise score. The interception came on a screen-play, and Coffman failed to throw over the Bronco defender standing directly in front of him.
The game was ugly. The Cowboys fell into the same woes that plagued them early in the year, when they lost six straight games to start the 2015 campaign. They allowed 24 unanswered points to start the game, surely a deficit on the road against a team of Boise’s caliber is not a recipe for a second straight win. The Broncos converted 12 of 19 third downs, an alarming 63 percent success rate. On the other side, the Cowboys converted only three of 10 third downs.
A combo of that nature is not the recipe to beat the Broncos on the Smurf Turf, especially as a 30-point underdog.
The Cowboys now move their efforts to Utah State on Friday night in Logan. The Aggies are once again without their notable quarterback, Chuckie Keeton, who missed last year’s game against the Cowboys in Laramie. Utah State gave the reigns to Kent Myers, and went on to a passer rating of 142.9 with six touchdowns and one interception. Myers by far played his worst game of the season against San Diego State in Qualcomm Stadium. Myers finished with a touchdown and interception, in a 48-14 loss to the Aztecs.
“Utah State did not perform up to their standards [last week], but [going into the game against San Diego State] they were the hottest team in our league,” head coach Craig Bohl said at his weekly Monday press conference.
The Cowboys will be starting their third quarterback of the season, with Nick Smith at the helm. Do not tell Bohl that Smith is the number three quarterback.
“Nick is our number one quarterback and we will prepare him as such,” Bohl said.
Tanner Gentry will be out another week, with a shoulder separation. Gentry will be looking to come back against Colorado State – at the earliest – according to a report from Ryan Holmgren of the Casper Star Tribune. Jake Maulhardt, who caught the lone touchdown pass against Boise, will once again become the security blanket target. This time, he will have to do so for a freshmen quarterback in Smith.
An amalgam of injuries and an elite Utah State defense with potent scoring potential could make for a scary night in Logan on Halloween weekend.
