Troy Calhoun Says He Didn't Expect Wildcat Throw at Goal Line

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- "No."

That was Troy Calhoun's response when asked if he thought Wyoming would attempt a pass near the goal line early in the fourth quarter of last year's tilt in Colorado Springs.

"But I'm glad he did," Air Force's longtime head coach said with a smile.

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There's good reason for that.

Lining up at the Falcons' 3-yard line with an opportunity to put a stranglehold on a much-needed road victory over a rival, Evan Svoboda, the Cowboys' 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end, reeled in the shotgun snap and faked an inside run.

In hindsight, he should've kept it.

Instead, that ill-fated third-down heave was underthrown and landed in the hands of Roger Jones Jr. He's an Air Force safety.

What could've been at the very least a three-point lead for the visitors turned into a seven-point deficit in just eight plays. Kaden Anderson, Wyoming's actual starting quarterback, was picked off on the following third-down attempt.

Ball game.

While Calhoun might have been surprised, a pair of his linebackers say they weren't. Even though the Cowboys hadn't thrown a pass out of that "wildcat formation" all season up to that point, Blake Fletcher said in film study that week they identified Svoboda as the signal caller from the 2024 meeting in Laramie.

He connected on 15-of-21 passes for 165 yards and added 70 more and a pair of scores on the ground, including a game-sealing 17-yard dash to the end zone with 2:13 remaining in regulation.

"Although they hadn't shown it on camera, we knew they had that in their bag somewhere," said Fletcher, who finished with six tackles in the 24-21 win. "We're pretty big rivals with them, so we knew that might come out that week. All week in practice, I'm sitting there telling the safeties every time our scout team would rep wildcat, 'Hey, watch the pop-pass, watch the pop-pass, just to remind them that just because it's a wildcat quarterback doesn't mean they can't throw it."

He added that constant reminder stuck with Jones throughout the week.

"And what do you know?" Fletcher said with a grin.

"That changed the whole game," fellow linebacker Isaac Hubert chimed in. "That pretty much won us the game."

There was a ripple effect in Laramie after that disheartening setback.

"Anytime there's a mistake made, it's a coaching mistake," Sawvel said postgame, deep inside the bowels of Falcon Stadium. "So, that's the way we got to look at it."

Less than 24 hours later, Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel relieved offensive coordinator Jay Johnson of his duties. Wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight was inserted with an interim tag ahead of the bye week.

The Cowboys responded with a resounding 28-0 blanking of Border War rival Colorado State. Landon Sims for the first time in his FBS career climbed under center, sharing reps with Anderson. Tyson Shamsid-Deen, a rookie cornerback, lined up at wide receiver. 300-plus pound guard Caden Barnett set up in the offensive backfield and excelled in his short-yardage role, playing the part of fullback.

The magic quickly ran out on the Cowpokes the following Saturday night in San Diego. And against Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii.

Calhoun pointed to the second interception as the real gamechanger. Admittedly, Wyoming was running wild on his down-trodden defense, a unit that oddly ranked amongst one of the worst in the nation. The visitors averaged 5.5 yards per carry while finishing two rushing yards short of 200 on the afternoon.

Terron Kellman broke off a 23-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He added another 23-yard dash to cap the opening drive of the second half, too.

"We struggled to stop them a little bit," Calhoun said. "Those (interceptions) were difference makers."

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