What Was it Like to Cover the Nation's Leading Receiver?

LARAMIE -- Danny Scudero bolted off the line and made a quick right turn.

San Jose State's sophomore wideout was tasked with running a 10-yard out route on the first play from scrimmage last Saturday night inside War Memorial Stadium.

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When he began his break, Desman Hearns got a grip on his shoulder pad, slowing down the 5-foot-9 speedster just enough to make sure the Walker Eget throw was off target.

After the ball landed harmlessly out of bounds at the visitor's bench, Wyoming's nickel corner had a word or two for Scudero, who entered this meeting as the leading receiver in college football with 665 yards under his belt in just five games.

"I said, 'I hope you have a great game for the rest of the game,'" Hearns said, sarcastically, followed by a slight head shake and a grin.

Scudero obliged him.

Five snaps later, with more than a 10-yard cushion at the line, the Sacramento State transfer took advantage of a slight Hearns' misstep and blew right past the 6-foot junior before hauling in a picture-perfect heave from Walker near the goal line before sliding into the end zone.

Scudero, before celebrating the grab, relayed a message to No. 12 in brown.

"He told me, 'have a good rest of my game, too,'" he joked.

Scudero wasn't done making lightwork of the Cowboys' secondary yet. Not by a long shot.

On the Spartans' ensuing drive, the San Jose native again darted past Hearns, snagging a pass around the opposing 30-yard line and easily cruising untouched past the white stripe for a 72-yard touchdown.

On its face, it appeared the Southern Illinois' transfer was again to blame for yet another explosive play. But on that particular route, Scudero wasn't even his responsibility. Redshirt freshman cornerback Tyrese Boss was supposed to mirror him down field. Hearns was entrusted with locking down Matthew Coleman, who was in motion ahead of the shotgun snap.

"He's the fastest receiver I've faced," Hearns added. "I wouldn't say the best."

Scudero would tack on two more short scoring strikes over the first 19-plus minutes of play, capping his first half with six catches for 151 yards and four touchdowns.

"This was the plan," Wyoming's cornerbacks coach Benny Boyd said, "We're gonna turn into a rope-a-dope. We're gonna let him wear himself out by running so far in the first half that he had no juice left in the second."

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Obviously kidding, Scudero was a shell of himself over the final two quarters, plucking four balls for 29 yards. He also dropped six balls, a couple of which would've certainly gone for long gainers.

After allowing 212 yards of total offense over the first 15 minutes, Wyoming limited the visitors to just 171 more. Scudero glided into the brown-and-gold paint one last time with 10:19 remaining in the second quarter.

The Spartans, who at that time held a 28-14 lead, never got on the scoreboard again.

"As the game went on, our guys started trusting their techniques," defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl said. "We said, 'OK, hey, we can survive. And, you know, we can shift the game a little bit.'"

The Cowboys limited SJSU to 43 rushing yards on 27 attempts. Entering Saturday with the most-potent receiving corps in the Mountain West, everyone not named Scudero combined for just 160 yards on 21 catches.

An apparent throwing-arm injury to Eget early in the third quarter certainly didn't help matters.

Wyoming scored 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter, sparked by a 65-yard interception return by linebacker Brayden Johnson. Kaden Anderson split a pair of defenders with laser to wideout Charlie Coenen on the following drive. The junior walk-on outraced the secondary 45 yards to tie this one at 28-28 with 2:44 to go.

Running back Terron Kellman took care of the rest with this highlight reel run:

Hearns had a real opportunity late to turn the tables on Scudero and be the ultimate savior.

Eget, with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, again tried an out route to his right. Again it was heading in the direction of his favorite target. Again, Hearns was in coverage.

Only this time, he jumped the route, getting both hands on the ball but was unable to reel it in. If he did, it's likely six points -- and undoubtedly some trash talk to follow -- the other way.

"I'm still thinking about that now," Hearns said, that head shake making another appearance. "That's the one I'm really kicking myself for. This week, I'm going to get on the JUGS machine. We'll get right."

Good thing, too. You may have heard -- Air Force throws the ball now.