Panozzo Confident Despite ‘Welcome to College Football’ Moment

LARAMIE -- Wyoming offensive line coach Joe Tripodi reminded his unit before kickoff, everyone has a "Welcome to college football" moment. That's the sort of pre-game warning you receive when three of your front five are making their first-career start.

For Giovanni Panozzo, one of the members of that young trio, that indeed happened with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.

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Fortunately -- or maybe unfortunately -- for him, that snap won't be remembered for the right guard landing on his backside, but instead Tyler Hughes tossing his second interception of the afternoon in a mostly forgettable 35-13 setback in Fort Collins.

Oumar Diomande, now the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, crept up to the line on that 3rd-and-4 play, eventually bull rushing the 314-pound sophomore. His knees buckled before he landed squarely on his back on the turf inside Canvas Stadium.

"That's the one play that really got to me," Panozzo said. "I had my eyes locked on him, I just had bad footwork. He caught me off guard."

Diomande finished his Colorado State debut with 11 tackles. He also picked off a pass in the third quarter. That halted a promising Cowboy drive and almost immediately flipped the momentum. Hauss Hejny, who claimed the conference's Offensive Player of the Week honors, found RJ Vick Jr. all alone down the middle of the field two plays later.

The result was a 57-yard touchdown pass and, ultimately, the back-breaker.

Panozzo was on the field for all 55 offensive snaps. He allowed just a single quarterback hurry. That's an impressive mark, considering Tyson Summers' defense blitzed on what seemed like every single play.

While the Arvada, Colo., product was still less than thrilled about the final result -- even 48 hours later -- he had to admit, confidence is now on his side after an impactful introduction at this level.

"As for my own personal experience from it, I think it was a great first game to start and how I wanted it to go," Panozzo said. "I feel so much better now that I finally got that first game out of the way."

He wasn't the only one left impressed.

"Gio is a great player," said starting center Jason Maciejczak, who was also making his initial FBS start. "He comes in and works every day. Like, there's not a day where you question if Gio's going to be here or not. He's going to work. I think that just showed off on the playing field. He did a great job."

After watching the film, Jay Sawvel said there was some good and some bad about the performance of the line, as a whole. Wyoming's third-year head coach said the same when it came to Panozzo.

Wyoming averaged nearly six yards per play in the first half. The front was getting push, too, leading to 185 yards of total offense. Samuel "Tote" Harris led the visitors with 63 rushing yards on 16 attempts. As a team, the Cowboys amassed 143 yards on the ground, including a nine-yard touchdown scamper by Hughes to cap the opening drive of the second half.

Panozzo said he wishes the Northern Colorado tilt was on Monday. This team is ready for its next opportunity, he admitted. One, to get the bad taste out of its collective mouth from a sloppy, four-turnover performance, but also to "stack days."

Sawvel said experience is all Panozzo is missing.

"Gio's had a very good spring, a very good summer and a very good fall," he continued. "I think there's a big ceiling for Gio. He moves very well, he's big and he's powerful."

Panozzo said they won't need any extra fuel for Saturday's home opener. CSU already provided that.

"We've got to move on to the next game," he said. "I mean, the loss sucks, a lot. It stings. I still think about it, but I think we're going to use that so we can go get ourselves a win."

The Cowboys and Bears will kick off at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed exclusively on MW+.

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