Wyoming’s Starting Left Tackle Out for Season With Knee Injury

LARAMIE -- Nate Gieger's season is finished.

Jay Sawvel broke that news during his Monday press conference, adding the left tackle suffered a similar left knee injury to the one that sidelined him for the year just 10 snaps into the 2024 opener at Arizona State.

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"He'll have a surgery on Oct. 6, so he'll be out the rest of the year," Wyoming's head coach said from behind the podium, adding the damage again is to the ACL and MCL. "... It's unfortunate for Nate, because he worked so hard to get back and was playing pretty well."

The 6-foot-5, 295-pound Geiger was undercut by CU edge rusher Wade Keaten on an early second-quarter sack in Boulder. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., product immediately reached for his surgically-repaired left knee before making the slow, tear-filled walk to the visiting sideline.

Sawvel said the following Monday Gieger would miss a significant amount of time. Now, we know why.

So, who will replace the sophomore on the edge?

Like last fall, that task again falls to Jake Davies, who played a majority of the final three quarters in the Cowboys' last outing at Colorado. The 6-foot-7, 300-pound sophomore, on 51 offensive plays, allowed one sack in that 37-20 setback against the Buffaloes.

It was a big one, too.

Already trailing by 15 points and pinned inside their own 3-yard line, Davies couldn't corral defensive end Arden Walker, who blew right through the line, sacking Kaden Anderson in the end zone for a safety.

Starting the final 11 games of the '24 campaign, Davies allowed 42 pressures on 394 passing attempts, including seven sacks and 21 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. opponents also landed 14 hits on the quarterback. He earned a pass-block rating of 23.6. The average grade is a 60.

What if Davies struggles?

"Everybody is kind of in that mix," Sawvel said.

Who's everybody?

Redshirt freshman Giovanni Panozzo could see time on the perimeter. So could Long Beach City College transfer Josiah Petaia. Though Sawvel has said all along he does not want to move Caden Barnett back to the position he played last season, all options are on the table.

"Barnett could bounce out to tackle -- at times," Sawvel added. "I mean, that's a possibility, because Luke Sandy does play for us on the O-line. So, we've got Wes King, who plays most of the time (at left guard), and Luke Sandy plays part of the time. Barnett plays all the time at guard, right? Well, there's a possibility that we could put Sandy and King at guard and move Barnett back out to tackle, at times."

Unbeaten UNLV will pay a visit to the high plains this Saturday night. The Rebels have 59 total quarterback pressures through the first four games of the season, including seven sacks. None of the latter currently belong to an edge rusher.

Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

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