The Wyoming Cowboys lost to the Washington State Cougars 41-19 after committing 13 penalties resulting in 109 yards against the Cowboys.
Wyoming rushed for 139 yards in the loss but gained just 67 yards through the air. Vader Waal would be 8-20 with an interception in his second start. Nico Evans lead the Cowboys with 93 yards on 18 rushes good for a 4.9 average yards per rush. Evans would also add a touchdown to his day. The other Wyoming Cowboys with a touchdown would be wide receiver Avante’ Cox who took a handoff 23 yards for his first colligate touchdown.
“When I got the ball I saw just one defender on the outside,” said Cox. “I knew all I had to do was make a cut and not trip this time.”
Freshman Jevon Bigelow helped the rushing attack by adding 47 of his own yards on 11 rushes. Bigelow contributed on special teams by forcing a safety when WSU had a miscue on a punt in the first quarter..
Washington State boasted an explosive offense last year and in their first game of the season they put up 394 yards against Wyoming. WSU passed for 319 yards and rushed for another 75 yards. Without the 28-yard loss on the punt that resulted in a safety WSU would have rushed for 103 yards. James Williams lead the rushing attack for the Cougars gaining 84 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Gardner Minshew II completed 38 out of 57 passes with 3 touchdowns and a single interception. Receivers Williams, Max Borghi and Easop Winston caught Minshew’s touchdown throws.
Wyoming struggled to move the ball early but thanks to turnovers in the second quarter Wyoming scored two touchdowns. At halftime Wyoming lead 16 to 13. Wyoming opened the second half strong with a field goal by Cooper Rothe from 30 yards out and extend the lead to 19 to 13. Wyoming looked like they would pull out the vitory but WSU controlled the game scoring 28 unanswered points on their way to the 41-19 victory.
Wyoming’s defense was not able to sack Minshew once the whole game and had trouble getting pressure to the quarterback. At the same time Minshew found open receivers for big gains. The defense also did not help their effort, committing penalties on third downs giving Washington State free first downs when they would have been punting.
“We have to get better collectively and as individual units,” said starting junior middle linebacker Logan Wilson. “We needed to execute better today.”
Wyoming will have to face off against another power-5 team next week when they travel to Columbia Missouri to take on Missouri.
Cornerback Antonio Hull said in his post-game conference that this this defense will bounce back next week and he is not worried.
