The Utah Utes rolled into Laramie as the 20th ranked football team in the nation and backed up the number next to their name, stacking up over 540 yards on offense and holding the Cowboys to just 6 points to secure a 31-6 victory.
“A tale of two halves,” is how linebacker Evan Eller described the loss. The Wyoming defense put themselves in favorable situations early, and there were 3 missed or blocked field goals by the unit in the first two quarters.
That changed after the first 30 minutes however, with Utah tacking on a TD just four minutes into the second half. Despite this, the Pokes were still hanging in the game into the waning minutes of the 3rd quarter, but it was a first down conversion on a 3rd and 21 by the Utes that put this game completely in their hands.
“We had a chance to get off the field and get out of the third quarter down 10-0 and we gave up a 3rd and 21 play into a coverage that should never have happened,” said head coach Jay Sawvel after the game. “It’s inexcusable.”
That broken coverage led to another Utah TD which capped a 19 play, 80 yard drive that truly hurt the Poke’s chances. The 4th quarter clicked by and Utah came out on top 31-6, but the box score didn’t truly encapsulate how much Wyoming was able to compete with the Utes into the late stages.
“I don’t think anyone in our program didn’t think that this was going to be a very difficult football game, but I think that we could have put ourselves in a better position a couple times,” said Sawvel. “We’ve got a lot to improve.”
The offense was a glaring problem for Wyoming, something that also popped up in the Pokes win over Akron. QB Kaden Anderson tossed for just 108 yards with an interception and fumble, and the scoring capability of Wyoming was stunted time and time again. It wasn’t until the late 4th quarter that Wyoming scored a TD on a 15-yard scamper by RB Terron Kellman and by that time, it was too late.
“I put this loss on myself,” said Anderson. “I gotta do better…I missed a lot of throws. We had this game…it was very winnable,” he said.
QB Devon Dampier was the driving force of the formidable Utes offense that eventually wore the Pokes down. Dampier threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while also leading the team with 89 yards on the ground.
“He’s a very good athlete,” said safety Andrew Johnson. “We knew that coming in and that he was going to run the ball…he’s a weapon.”
Wyoming was handed its first loss but they will have to move on to their game next week on the road against Colorado quickly.
“I’m proud of our effort, and we’re going to learn from this,” said Sawvel. “We are going to become a better football team because of playing Utah, and we have to now prove that going forward.”
