The Slide Continues for Cowboy Football in 27-3 Loss
The Wyoming Cowboys have now opened conference play with three consecutive losses after a 27-3 defeat at Fresno State Saturday night.
Once again, Wyoming showed an anemic offense that produced only 221 yards and no touchdowns for a second straight game.
Cowboys’ head coach Craig Bohl credited the Bulldogs for their adjustment during the game in a release from the university.
“Coming out of the gate we got off the field defensively and offensively moved the ball. As the game progressed Fresno State did a great job defensively. We had a hard time completing passes. Beating a good team like this requires on-point football.”
Wyoming (2-5, 0-3) scored on the first possession of the game. The drive was capped by Cooper Rothe’s 44-yard field goal, which made it 3-0 Cowboys with 11:46 left in the first quarter.
Fresno State (5-1, 2-0) capitalized on field position all game. They utilized a short field from the UW 35-yard line and took the lead on Marcus McMaryion’s 35-yard TD pass to Jared Rice. That made it 7-3 Bulldogs midway through the first quarter. McMaryion added two rushing touchdowns of one and six-yards, respectively and another TD pass to David Tangipa from 3-yards away to account for the scoring.
McMaryion went 22-32 for 287 yards and the two scores. He finished with 53 yards on the ground and the two scores.
The Cowboys began five of their drives inside their own 15-yards line. Meanwhile, Fresno State’s average starting field position was their own 37-yard line.
Bohl knew that was a factor, “The field position was created by lack of us getting off the field and creating turnovers. I think Fresno is a good team, but we need to play better in all three phases. They are a team that doesn't beat themselves. Their quarterback did a nice job and we need to make some adjustments offensively.”
UW quarterback Tyler Vander Waal was only 12-32 for 117 yards and one interception. Nico Evans added 58 yards rushing. Defensively, Alijah Halliburton and Cassh Maluia had eight tackles apiece. Maluia had 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass break-up.
The Pokes will host Utah State for their Homecoming game next Saturday in Laramie. Kick-off at War Memorial Stadium is at 12:30 p.m.