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

FRESNO, Calif., -- That ball floated to the flat in slow motion.

Carson Conklin reeled in the shotgun snap and took a three-step drop before cocking his right arm. He had his favorite target, Josiah Freeman, in his sights near the boundary.

The throw never made it that far.

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Wyoming edge rusher Esaia Bogar used a speed-rip move to get to the outside of Fresno State's right tackle Rolan Fullwood before throwing up his right arm as he approached Conklin. He made just enough contact to send a knuckler into the secondary.

Desman Hearns was right there.

The junior nickelback, who has had a nose for the football all season, misjudged the wobbler and was unable to haul it in as he dove to the soggy turf inside Valley Children's Stadium.

The Southern Illinois transfer, who already has two interceptions to his credit this season, put his hands on top of his helmet in disbelief.

If he keeps his feet and tracks the ball, he's likely racing down the sideline 30 yards for six. Instead, two plays later, an extremely patient Bulldog running back, Rayshon Luke, waited for his blocks and took a simple handoff 24 yards off the right side.

That came on a 3rd-and-10 with just 1:15 remaining in the first half and his team clinging to a 7-3 lead.

Fresno State would eventually cap that 11-play, 58-yard drive with a 40-yard field goal off the right foot of Dylan Lynch.

Wyoming sure could've used a defensive touchdown in this one.

"Look, defensively, there's still a handful of plays where we made mistakes in critical times," head coach Jay Sawvel said postgame. "Sometimes you got to win a super-ugly game, and to do that, when you play that type of game, the one thing you can't do is make a mistake."

This was far and away the worst offensive outing of the season. And that's saying something. You might recall, the last time out, the Cowboys fell flat at San Diego State, tallying only 185 yards of total offense, 75 of which came on the opening drive of the night in that 24-7 loss.

Kaden Anderson, coming off a three-interception night in Montezuma Mesa, tossed another one of those Saturday night early in the final frame. That unwanted number now stands at 10. The sophomore signal caller completed just 6-of-23 throws for 64 yards, too. Forty of those came on a first-quarter pass to wideout Chris Durr Jr.

In fact, that was Anderson's only completion in the first half.

If it wasn't for a 96-yard rushing performance from running back Samuel Harris, this could've been even worse.

"Offensively, we couldn't string together enough plays in a row without just bogging ourselves down. And there's a lot of different layers to it," Sawvel said, taking some of the blame of his embattled quarterback. "We've got to coach better, and that's what it starts from. We're not sitting there and going to say, we don't have this, we don't have that. We've got to coach better. That's the bottom line to it."

Wyoming needs to win both of its final regular season games -- at home against Nevada and on the road in Honolulu -- if it hopes to reach six wins and postseason eligibility.

Fresno State 24, Wyoming 3

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UNSUNG HERO

Wyoming's entire defense deserves a game ball after that performance.

That unit, made up of transfers, walk-on's and afterthoughts, was on the field for a whopping 42:36 of this outing thanks to an ineffective offense. They limited Fresno State to just 5-of-16 on third down and forced a turnover on downs midway through the second quarter.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Cowboys' defense does its job, no one else does.

Linebackers Evan Eller and Brayden Johnson both capped this one with a team-best nine tackles. So did safety Jones Thomas. Bogar, as mentioned above, deflected a pass and tallied a sack. Ben Florentine was as disruptive as ever in the trenches, too.

While punter Bart Edmiston has been the busiest guy in the building --20 kicks in the last three games -- Wyoming defense has also forced 19 punts, four interceptions and two turnovers on downs.

What do they have to show for it?

A 28-0 blanking of Border War rival Colorado State and back-to-back losses, giving up just 24 points in both.

QUOTEABLE

"Like we told the players in there, I said, look, here's the deal, when I go and look in the mirror the person looking back at me is the first one that's gotta improve in a lot of different things. So that's a piece of it. I'm not giving up on anybody in that locker room. I'm not sitting there blaming anybody in that locker room. The blame goes to me first."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel following a 24-3 road loss at Fresno State, a place the Cowboys haven't won since 2014.

"No, probably not, because they played in the same ones that we did. They're wired very similar to us: They want to run the football, they want to eliminate some possessions, probably, by their opponent by staying on the field and having time of possession."

-- Fresno State head coach Matt Entz on whether or not the steady rain throughout the night played to the Bulldogs' advantage.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen will be making his first trip back to the high plains since his final year under center in Laramie back in 2017. The No. 17, Allen's jersey number, will be the first digits that are officially retired in program history. Oh, the Cowboys are also taking on a Nevada team that coming into Saturday had just one win under its belt. That came against Sacramento State, an FCS team, all the way back in Week 2. Now, the Wolf Pack have two after an impressive 55-10 victory over San Jose State inside Mackay Stadium. Kickoff next Saturday is slated for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised on Altitude. Allen will be honored at halftime.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players