Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona @ Wyoming
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Oof.
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).
Wyoming was kept out of the endzone altogether until QB Terry Brooks orchestrated a couple of garbage-time drives in the 4th quarter. The silver lining, such that there was one, was a decent outing for redshirt freshman quarterback from Lancaster, CA. Brooks completed 15/20 (75%) for 181 yards with two TDs and one INT (174.0 QB rating). All in a day's work for the 62-OVR player that projects to be the 3rd string QB next year.
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.
Arizona seemed to choose from about three plays all game. There was an option play, which was the core of their rushing attack. Then there was a scramble play. Those were the running plays and it seemed to work out nicely for the Wildcats. They gained 334 yards rushing on 58 carries (5.8 YPC). They nearly had three players with 100 yards rushing, including Branden Leon's 26 carries for 97 yards (3.7 YPC) and J.J. Taylor's 13 rushes for 98 yards (7.5 YPC). The Wildcat ground game broke eight tackles.
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.
RichRod's Wildcats celebrate a dominating Las Vegas Bowl victory over Wyoming.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Oof.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).
Wyoming was kept out of the endzone altogether until QB Terry Brooks orchestrated a couple of garbage-time drives in the 4th quarter. The silver lining, such that there was one, was a decent outing for redshirt freshman quarterback from Lancaster, CA. Brooks completed 15/20 (75%) for 181 yards with two TDs and one INT (174.0 QB rating). All in a day's work for the 62-OVR player that projects to be the 3rd string QB next year.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.
Arizona seemed to choose from about three plays all game. There was an option play, which was the core of their rushing attack. Then there was a scramble play. Those were the running plays and it seemed to work out nicely for the Wildcats. They gained 334 yards rushing on 58 carries (5.8 YPC). They nearly had three players with 100 yards rushing, including Branden Leon's 26 carries for 97 yards (3.7 YPC) and J.J. Taylor's 13 rushes for 98 yards (7.5 YPC). The Wildcat ground game broke eight tackles.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.
The 2014-2016 Wyoming Cowboys were a disaster. The 2017 version was a disappointment. The 2018 iteration, a shock. And the 2019 WYO squad was about what people are coming to expect. Yea, expectations are a risin'. This will be the final year of the dynasty with original roster players.
The only Mountain West team that has shown the gumption to go toe-to-toe with the Pokes lately has been Fresno State. The Bulldogs of Frenso State have beaten Wyoming two out of the previous three tries. Sadly, they aren't on the schedule this time around.
LARAMIE, Wyo. -- A good start. Wyoming broke out of their losing streak in season openers with a tight, 27-23 rivalry win over Utah at War Memorial Stadium.
Although the Wyoming offense did some decent things, it was ultimately the defense that powered this win. They harangued, harried, and harrassed dual threat QB Dane Wood throughout. The Pokes notched four first half sacks, five total, and shut the Utes out in the 1st and 4th quarters. Weakside defensive end Cassh Maluia led the way with 2.0 sacks.
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Pokes were bested easily by the Red Raiders of Texas Tech 31-16. It was one of the most toothless Wyoming performances of the Craig Bohl era. The line from Castle Anthrax: "he'll defeat us easily! We haven't a chance!" is what this game felt like to Wyoming fans.
As can be gathered from the above paragraphs, Wyoming's defense did them no favors. They missed a whopping 13 tackles according to the run game stat sheet and missed untold more in the pass game. Written in the game notes: "WYO nightmarish lack of tackling" and "WYO epic fail at tackling." The Cowboy defense was unable to force a turnover or a redzone stop, and only forced the Red Raiders into ten 3rd down situations despite running 64 plays.
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