Turning Point, Unsung Hero and What’s Next For UW Football

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich., -- With the play clock dwindling down to zero and personnel frantically running on and off the field, Tyler Hughes got the fourth-down snap off just in time.

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Wyoming's signal caller waited as long as he could before firing a short pass to Eric Richardson, who was immediately dumped near Central Michigan's 10-yard line.

He needed the nine.

That turnover-on-downs -- which happened deep inside Chippewa territory late in the first half -- thwarted the Cowboys' opportunity to cut into a 10-0 lead.

Why didn't Jay Sawvel call a timeout in such an important situation?

"We tried to get them in a man-coverage situation where we get something that maybe gets them out of alignment, out of position," the third-year head coach said, adding he asked offensive coordinator Christian Taylor if he wanted him to stop the clock. "So there was a design to that part of it."

It didn't work.

Sawvel, though, isn't putting this failure on just the frantic situation.

"By the same token, we have to get another half yard," he continued. "We can't run the route to where we're slightly short of the first down."

That wasn't the last time Wyoming's offense stumbled inside the red zone.

The prerogative quickly shifted to getting a three-and-out. That didn't work, either. What ensued was an Air Force-esque masterclass in ground and pound.

A 24-yard run by Angel Flores opened that critical possession. The senior quarterback also eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground with that jaunt right through the teeth -- or dentures, on this day -- of the Cowboys' defense. Then came the really maddening stuff: 7, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 4, 5. Even when CMU found itself in a third-down situation, the yardage to gain was: 1, 3, 5.

A 13-yard hookup between Flores and Shawn Foster followed. Then came an 8-yard toss to Jayden Clerveaux. Those accounted for two of the Chippewas' four pass completions on the day.

Two more runs and an incompletion came next. A misfire on that third-down throw to a wide-open Tayte Vanderleest left CMU head coach Matt Drinkall and his offensive staff with a big decision: Go for it on 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line with five seconds and no timeouts remaining, or send in the field-goal unit?

The Cowboys wouldn't be fortunate enough for the latter.

Going back to their bread and butter, Flores patiently waited for his big offensive line to do its thing and easily crossed over the white stripe, giving CMU a commanding 17-0 lead at the half.

When the dust settled, that was a 17-play, 90-yard drive that essentially milked the final 5:05 off the clock.

"It's incredibly frustrating," said middle linebacker Dash Bauman, who finished with a dozen tackles in his first-career start, filling in for an injured Ethan Stuhlsatz. "Especially on defense, being something we pride ourselves on. It's something we're really trying to build, as a program."

That unit definitely received a lesson inside a soggy Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

Wyoming gave up 339 rushing yards on 59 carries. Flores capped his career outing with 163 on 28 attempts. He also found the end zone twice with his legs. Clerveaux rumbled for an additional 81 yards and Vaughn Blue finished with 55.

CMU was just 5-of-13 on third but converted all three of its fourth-down opportunities.

Plays of more than 25 yards have hampered this Cowboy defense through two weeks. That group has allowed seven of those. The Chippewas tacked on two more of those Saturday, including a 38-yard touchdown run by Brock Townsend late in the third quarter.

Nine missed tackles -- generous grading by Pro Football Focus -- certainly didn't help, either.

"We've got to be better at responding," Sawvel said. "There's a mix of things in there, too, and the fact that you've got some leadership, OK? Those leaders have to lead. You also have a lot of youth in certain positions, and they have to understand what it takes to fight back if something doesn't go right."

Central Michigan 24, Wyoming 10

UNSUNG HERO

Frendt hauled in four passes for a career-high 95 yards in this loss to CMU. That's an eye-popping average of 23.8 yards per catch.

That's the good news.

It's the play he didn't have an opportunity to make that still sticks with Sawvel.

After snagging a 39-yard pass down the seam, Wyoming was setting up shop at the Chippewas' 19-yard line with 6:28 remaining in the second quarter. On the very next snap, Hughes dropped back and immediately looked to his left where Deion DeBlanc was running down the sideline.

He was covered. Frendt, waving his arms, wasn't.

"We come up on a no-huddle tempo play and Frendt is wide open in the middle of the field. Nobody's covering him. We don't throw it to him," Sawvel said, followed with a head shake. "So, it's one of those things. It's like, OK, put the ball on him right now and now it's 10-7. It changes the whole game."

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end from Woodbury, Minn., isn't pointing fingers.

"If it's a pass play, we're all supposed to get open," he said. "So, that's all I can do."

Frendt now has seven catches for 128 in three games.

QUOTEABLE

"I mean, it comes down to an attack mentality, right? You kind of have to go out there with a chip on your shoulder. I don't want to have a three-and-out. I take offense to that. It's not easy. So, I think more guys just need to have that versus playing in a way like a 'me' type of football, play as a team. I think if we do that, I think we can be a really good football team."

-- Wyoming tight end Kyle Frendt on the issues plaguing the Cowboys' offense, especially early in games.

"I think we're as confident as ever. I mean, I think we know who we are and we know what we need to do. It's something that we've already talked about that we're coming in tomorrow and having players-only meetings and really setting the tone of where we want to go from now on."

-- Wyoming linebacker Dash Bauman on how the locker room is handling the lopsided loss in Mount Pleasant.

"I'm disappointed in our whole thing, offensively, right now, because we've been so inconsistent and we've been so spotty. That's not a knock on coach Taylor, and it's not a knock on anything else that way, but we have been too much of our own worst enemy far too often."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel's thoughts on "taking a blowtorch" to that side of the ball in the offseason and its early-season struggles.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Wyoming (1-2) will return home Saturday to take on Hawaii (1-2). This is the 30th meeting between these two programs and the first Mountain West game for the Cowboys. It is also homecoming in Laramie. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised on CW. The Rainbow Warriors knocked off the visitors 27-7 last November in Honolulu. These two also play for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming holds a 17-12 advantage in the series. Hawaii was idle this weekend.

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