Wyoming Cowboys vs Texas State Bobcats Football Recap

Wyoming 45, Texas State 10

Before taking on the big boys in the Mountain West Conference, the Wyoming Cowboys need to develop as much team-wide confidence and offensive rhythm as they possibly can. While a game against a tomato can from the Football Championship Subdivision won’t answer too many questions in a definitive manner, Wyoming handled this situation as well as it reasonably could. A hard day’s work and a superb defensive performance were more encouraging than not for a program that languished in the bottom tier of the Mountain West last season.

Brett Smith added to his experience as the true freshman quarterback led Wyoming to take control in the second half in a 45-10 win over Texas State in Laramie on Saturday.

Texas State competed in the first half, taking an early 3-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal from Will Johnson. But Wyoming would work quite quickly to turn the game around, as Smith connected on two passes to Dominic Rufran to move the ball from its own 20 to the Bobcats’ 15-yard line. When Brandon Miller rushed in for a 1-yard touchdown, the Cowboys had scored in just over 2 minutes. Mark Nzeocha picked off Texas State quarterback Shaun Rutherford on the very next play from scrimmage, and four plays later Alvester Alexander had a 1-yard touchdown run of his own. After trading field goals, Wyoming led at halftime 17-10.

The Bobcats had managed to hang around in the first half, but the second half was all Wyoming. On three full Texas State possessions, Wyoming held them to -1 total yards. Despite the fact that Smith threw an interception in the quarter, Wyoming still added two touchdowns to put the game out of reach at 31-10. The Cowboys shook off rust, gathered themselves at halftime, redoubled their efforts, and played with the clearheaded intensity they’ll need to display for the rest of the season. Getting rid of two things - rust and the doubt that comes with it – is a paramount objective for a team trying to develop a winning mindset, and Wyoming appeared to take that small but forward step on its home campus.

The story of Wyoming’s tally of 618 total yards was the run game, as Ghaali Muhammad rushed 10 times for 123 yards, and Miller added 101 yards on 11 carries. Smith also added 73 rushing yards to his 236-yard passing performance.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer