Rants & Raves: Akron Edition

AKRON, Ohio -- Wyoming's defense hadn't pitched a shutout since 2017.

That was Josh Allen's Cowboys blanking visiting Gardner-Webb 27-0 inside the friendly confines of War Memorial Stadium.

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The last time this program threw up a goose egg against an FBS opponent?

That happened back in Laramie in 2010. I'm betting you remember that one, too. Alvester Alexander found the end zone a record five times in a 44-0 dismantling of Border War rival Colorado State.

A zero did appear on the scoreboard in a season opener in 1977. The issue? Wyoming was also held scoreless in a 0-0 tie with Front Range foe Air Force.

If there was a concern coming into Thursday night's tilt with Akron, it lied on that side of the ball. With nine new starters atop the depth chart, mistakes and miscues were bound to happen, right?

Wrong.

Ben Finley, one of the most-efficient passers in the MAC, didn't even eclipse the 100-yard mark through the air until the dying minutes of regulation. The senior completed just 16-of-38 throws and heaved a costly third-quarter interception into the hands of Wyoming linebacker Brayden Johnson, who snagged that gift two yards deep in his own end zone.

Finley was also sacked three times. He spent plenty of time lying on the soggy turf inside InfoCision Stadium. Defensive tackles Lucas Samsula (1.5) and Ben Florentine got to the 6-foot-3 signal caller. So did edge rusher Chisolm Ifeanyi (0.5).

The Zips found little success on the ground, too, rolling up only 92 yards on 27 attempts. That's an average of just 3.4 yards per carry.

Akron converted 3-of-15 opportunities on third down. It also turned the ball over on downs while reaching the red zone just once. Heck, Finley led his unit to the visitor's side of the 50 only four times all night.

"I knew that for 60 minutes we were going to play like our hair was on fire because I watched that daily in practice for the last three weeks," the Cowboys' second-year head coach Jay Sawvel said after the 10-0 victory over the Zips. "I didn't worry about, like, OK, at some point, defensively, that we will let off the gas, right? We've got a bunch of guys that play really hard."

Indeed they did.

Here are this week's rants and raves:

FIRST HALF:

SECOND HALF:

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players