Q&A With Frustrated Wyoming Play-Caller Christian Taylor

LARAMIE -- It's student-athlete mental health week on campus at the University of Wyoming.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, therapy goats will be made available near the Cowboys' indoor practice facility.

Christian Taylor, the first-year play-caller in Laramie, joked on Monday that you might see him outside, hanging with the herd. All kidding aside, the Virginia native will be the first to tell you the early-season production from his unit is unacceptable.

The numbers, in this instance, don't lie.

Only three teams in the FBS scored less points than Wyoming's 14.2 an outing: Utah State, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green, respectively. Taylor's offense ranks 131st out of 138 programs, netting only 293.2 yards per game.

On the NCAA's official stats website, you have to scroll all the way to page 3 in these categories: Third-down percentage (19-of-56), completion percentage (67-of-113), first downs (81), intercepted passes (6), passing offense (143 yards per game), passing yards per completion (10.7), red-zone offense (12-of-16) and time of possession (28 minutes).

Pass the goats.

"Nope, but it's all right," Taylor said when asked if he's ever been this frustrated in his coaching career. "Respond to adversity and move on. It's all about finding solutions. Every year is a different puzzle. Every week's a different puzzle. It's a learning experience, but enjoy it and work through it and find a way."

The Cowboys had their worst showing of the season last Saturday in Fargo, amassing just 162 yards of offense and eight first downs. North Dakota State, which is unbeaten in its first five games as a new FBS member, finished with 407 and 23, respectively, in that 28-0 shutout inside a sold-out Fargodome.

Wyoming was just 2-of-11 on third down. Tyler Hughes and Co. turned the ball over on downs twice, including once inside the Bison 5-yard line in the third quarter. The inexperienced offensive line also allowed three sacks, all in the first half.

Hughes, who connected on just 5-of-12 throws for 52 yards, also tossed an interception on the very first play from scrimmage. NDSU was in the end zone five plays later.

Taylor, transparent as always, spoke to 7220sports.com on Monday about the many issues facing his offense over the first five weeks of the season:

Q: I just picture you getting on the airplane, watching the iPad and just scratching your head. Where do you go from here?

A: "Definitely, but I watched it on the bus ride before I even got to the plane. I watched it three more times at night. You learn from the mistakes. I could have put the guys in some better situations. I think it was a learning experience for some of our guys, especially some of the younger guys. That is a credit to that whole (NDSU) setup. That is a hell of a place for a college football game. It's an awesome environment and very challenging for away teams. I mean, if you look at their home record over the past, what, 20 years and how many points they give up at home, it's very different than on the road. So, credit to them. Our guys have to handle the external factors better. We got beat 1-on-1 probably more times than we should have, and I can put the guys in better situations. So, it's just kind of a combination of all that, and then it kind of snowballs as the game goes along."

Q: Might not be an easy question to pinpoint, but where do you even begin?

A: "You take it step by step. I think it goes back to everyone just focusing on doing their job on every play. That's it. Football is a simple game. We all make it too complicated at times, especially coaches. It literally comes down to that. We had more mental mistakes in that game than we've probably had combined all season."

Q: Why was that?

A: "I'd be lying to you if I sit here and had the exact answer. We had a very average week of practice. I think that was part of it. I think the guys had a good game against Hawaii and we're feeling good about themselves, thinking, 'Oh, we've arrived.' You get humbled really quick in this profession and in this sport."

Q: So, that kind of leads me to my next question. People call you a 'mad scientist' and all that ...

A: "Not right now."

Q: You have all this stuff going on: all this motion and position-less players. Would now be a good time to 'dumb it down,' so to speak?

A: "We're doing very minimal things, conceptually, each week. It's just like, how can you stress the defense the most? How can we get North Dakota State communicating the most? How can we get them talking the most between series? How can we shrink their game plan so that we can have a better idea of what they're doing? So, conceptually, it's not too much. I think in that environment, we had to limit our motions, because when you have to utilize a silent count, there's a lot of motions you can't utilize in your offense. So, it was a pretty dumbed down game plan, believe it or not. But the real results obviously did not show."

Q: Obviously, I'm not an offensive coordinator, but from my layman eyes, it looked like (North Dakota State QB) Nathan Hayes, who's not a runner, he looked decisive and in control, and Tyler really didn't and sometimes hasn't. Why do you think that is?

A: "So, I think, again, quarterbacks and a head coach always get more blame and credit than they should. Tyler had just a few poor decisions in that game. I have to spearhead and help get it fixed. He needs help around him. There's times we don't have a route adjustment or we miss a protection or a skill player doesn't see something that he's supposed to. He actually did a good job not forcing the ball in some of those situations where maybe he looked indecisive, but it's a result of someone else maybe not doing their job."

Q: On that first play ...

A: "So, a couple things there. First, we were hoping to see a stick route to Jake (Wilson). It was a little read route to Jake. I was hoping it would be a nice pitch and catch for a six-yard gain. The MIKE linebacker basically covered it. He still could have thrown it to him. We had Kyle (Frendt) on what's called a speed route, going behind him. His landmark is 15 yards and on the opposite hash -- and he was short. Then Tyler didn't put enough air on the ball. Those are throws we work on weekly in practice because they're more difficult throws than it looks. You've got to put just enough air on it to get it over the linebacker and put in front of the safety. So, it was between the short route, the underthrown ball and a good play by the MIKE."

Q: What improvements do you need to see out of Tyler, though? Because, like you said, they get a lot of credit and they get a lot of blame. But, right now, he's getting the blame.

A: "I think he's done a better job the last two weeks, not trying to force things. That was his issue the first couple weeks. He'd start to press and try to force things. I think during the week, just helping make sure everyone is on the same page about what is the intent of the play, what is the goal of the play, and how do we want to get it executed? That's my job, ultimately, but as players, in their extra meetings, they can help fine tune those details. I think that's probably the biggest thing."

Q: There have been a lot of slow starts, especially on the road -- and that's been the case even before you got here. But any chance we could see a switch under center just to see if a spark happens Friday in San Jose?

A: No, not at all. I think it's night and day. He's by far our best guy, leading the helm. Again, I understand why the outside perspective wonders that if they don't see the big picture. I get it. He gets it. But he's by far the best guy to help us get points on the road."

Q: Coach Sawvel kind of talked about last week everybody's patting the offensive line on the back, and maybe -- these are my words -- took a week ... I don't want to say 'off,' but ...

A: "It wasn't a lack of effort. Nothing that happened was a lack of effort. I think we lost some 1-on-1 battles, and I think we were overwhelmed with some of the external factors. Then, it becomes a mental game. And when you're 18 and 23 years old, you have to respond to adversity in some challenging environments. We didn't -- flat out. We didn't. That was a tough tape. You can sit there, offensively, and watch the tape -- no one had a good game. I can put them in better positions. It's all of us, together."

Q: How critical is it for this offense right now -- and it's easier said than done -- to focus on first and second down so that you can start getting in some manageable third-down situations?

A: "It just goes back to understanding the critical importance of every play. There's a lot of eight-and-nine-man football on that tape. It's been like 10-and-11-man football, but when you get to eight-and-nine-man football, you're going to get yourselves in some challenging situations, especially on the road. Easy stuff. It's easy stuff. So, just understand the importance of every play and having that first-and-second-down success to avoid those situations."

Q: We keep hearing about eight, nine, and even even 10-man football. As coaches, how do you get that message through? Because, I mean, ultimately, you guys are getting the blame.

A: "Sure, as we should. I think it goes back to: we put a lot of thought into spring ball and training camp and what you install and how you install it, how you teach it, and do the same thing over and over and over. Do your rules handle everything that you can see? Like, if your rules have too many exceptions or asterisks, then it's not a good rule. So, I think it just goes to the foundations of what you do, offensively, and then applies to defense, also. It's not fully clicking yet, which it needs to be."

Q: This has to pain you: 14.2 points per game?

A: "It's very frustrating with learning experience. But we're taking the bull by the horns and going to figure it out."

Q: You're also a human and you know that time is not of the essence for college football coaches. So how do you balance that?

A: "You can't think about that. You really can't. You do your job to the best of your ability. You love the coaches you're with and the players you're with, you support them, you guide them and you exhaust all measures to put everyone in positions to succeed. And, at the end of the day, if you've given it all that you have, you have to live with the result. I promise you, I'll have zero regret because I'm giving this thing everything I've got. So, optimistically, we can tweak it, adjust it, and get some things fixed."

Q: So, that's small tweaks and not wholesale changes?

A: "It's really not. It's a block here, a route here, a play here. Close games are decided by a handful of plays. That game, if five or six plays go differently, that's a different score now, too. If we can snap the ball on the half-yard line and run the ball in, it's different. That was painful. That was one of the more painful plays or experiences I've ever had. I thought going under center would be easier. That's why we had the under-center goal-line package because we knew it would be friggin blasting. I wish we just stayed in the gun."

Q: Well, short week but another opportunity.

A: "Yep. Hopefully we'll have an easier conversation next week."

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