Wyoming’s Lackluster Offense Leads to a 33-16 Loss

By Kaycee Clark-Mellott

Special to the Wyoming Truth

LARAMIE, Wyo.—The Wyoming Cowboys fell to the San Jose State Spartans in their second Mountain West Conference game of the season on Saturday. The loss takes them to 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in the conference.

Early in the first quarter, after forcing a three and out for the Spartans, Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley went down with an injury that kept him out of the game for a couple plays. He returned to the field, but only threw for 85 yards with six completions on 20 attempts.

Wyoming scored on a field goal by kicker John Hoyland on the team’s first drive. After another defensive stop, Wyoming got the ball on its own one-yard line and San Jose stopped Titus Swen in the end zone for a safety. This was the only scoring in the first quarter, with Wyoming leading 3-2. 

Early in the second quarter, the Spartans were driving and with 12:20 left on the clock, the ball was ripped from a San Jose receiver with the Pokes recovering the fumble. However, the play was reviewed, and to the dismay of many fans in the stands, it was ruled an incomplete pass.  This prompted  Wyoming Head Coach Craig Bohl to look at the referee, wink and say, “that was three steps,” alluding that it should have been a fumble with Wyoming taking over.

On the next play, the Pokes strip-sacked the San Jose quarterback, Chevan Cordeiro, but failed to recover the loose ball. San Jose subsequently took the lead, 5-3, with a 40-yard field goal.

The Spartans scored a touchdown after a 52-yard completion to standout wide receiver Elijah Cooks. The Pokes responded with a touchdown of their own the next drive, aided by a Wyatt Wieland kick return, a late hit out of bounds penalty on the kickoff and then a 38-yard touchdown to Wieland. The game remained close at 12-10, with San Jose leading.

However, the Spartans added another touchdown before halftime on a 10 play, 75-yard drive ending in a Cordeiro rushing touchdown, to give San Jose State the 19-10 lead at halftime.

A very stagnant Wyoming offense, except for the one drive with the touchdown in the first half, came out sluggish in the second half. On the second play, Peasley threw an interception on a tipped pass and San Jose turned it into a touchdown two plays later, making the score 26-10.

Wyoming stayed in the game as San Jose missed its second field goal of the night. Wyoming drove downfield and scored a 13-yard touchdown to Parker Christenson after a Peasley 61-yard scramble. They went for a two-point conversion, but fell unsuccessful and made it a 10-point game, 26-16.

Wyoming never scored again, while San Jose State added another touchdown to increase its lead and then drained the clock by killing nearly six minutes. The Pokes fell 33-16.   

The Cowboys don’t have many names popping out on the stat sheet, other than punter Clayton Stewart. Stewart punted six times with a long of 67-yards and three punts being downed inside the 20-yard line.

Besides Peasley, who added 74 rushing yards, Swen rushed the ball for 61 yards and Wieland added 44 receiving yards with his touchdown.

For the Spartans, Cordeiro threw for 314 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 24 yards and two touchdowns. Kairee Robinson rushed for 102 yards plus a touchdown, and Cooks stood out for the San Jose offense as he racked up 177 receiving yards on eight catches.

The biggest difference in statistics was the time of possession. Wyoming only held the ball for 23 minutes and eight seconds while San Jose possessed it for nearly 37 minutes. With a 14-minute gap between the two teams, the Wyoming defense was worn down and tired. 

Wyoming had only 10 first downs on the night compared to 25 for San Jose State. 

Looking to get back in the win column, Wyoming will travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to face the New Mexico Lobos on Oct. 8. Kickoff is set for five p.m. and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.