




In a game that was never really competitive, Arizona bested Wyoming by a final score of 41-17. The Wildcats finish with a 7-6 (4-5) record and the Pokes drop to 10-4 (9-1) after consecutive losses in their two biggest games of the year. Something about peaking at the right time?
As for what went wrong for the Pokes in this one, well, it's more a question of what went right. The answer is almost nothing. Arizona dominated all facets of this football game.
Turnovers played a massive role--Wyoming committed five of them to Arizona's zero. It got so bad that Chandler Garrett was benched at halftime following four interceptions and several terribly located passes. Garrett's first pick came on his first pass (a USER mistake hitting the wrong button). He would throw two more in the first quarter. The 4th INT, the one that got Garrett benched in favor of Terry Brooks, wasn't in the same zip code as the intended receiver. It was bad. How bad? Real bad. Garrett finished 9/19 (47%) for 116 yards with four INTs (56.5 QB rating). It's almost as if Garrett was purposefully inviting a position battle entering camp next season...
Complicating matters further, Wyoming was completely unable to run the ball effectively. Although Wyoming entered the game with the 28th-ranked rushing offense in the country (204.2 YPG), they limped to a meager 81 yards on 26 carries (3.1 YPC). By far the lowest output of the previous two seasons. It was a near miracle to gain more than a yard or two on 1st down. It was actually uncanny how consistenly Arizona's 4th-rated run defense (139.8 YPG) held Wyoming to nothing on 1st down. Wyoming tailback Emmett Nash, who led the NCAA in rushing yards this season, ended his collegiate career with a whimper: 18 carries for 70 yards (3.8 YPC).

The Arizona defense was extremely pesky. They played a base 3-4 front where their linebackers created havoc. They were filling rush lanes like they knew what was coming and they were also dropping into zones and picking off passes. Senior linebacker Scott Smith picked off an astonishing three passes from his MLB spot, including a pick-six. It was extremely frustrating to see #95 play pass coverage like prime Darrell Green. Safety Devon Brewer and linebacker Kahi Neves also had interceptions.
Arizona's relatively basic offense was orchestrated by junior QB Khalil Tate. Tate was a dual threat as you'd expect from a RichRod-coached offense, and he amassed 109 yards passing and 125 yards rushing along with three total TDs.

The third play in the playbook, a passing play, was the screen pass. In fact, Arizona's first six passes of the game were all screen passes. About two-thirds of Tate's 18 attempts were screen passes.
All in all, a good season for Wyoming that landed with a thud. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the offseason--rumors are already heating up about Coach Bohl being sought after for a variety of coaching openings.


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