The Cowboy Chronicles

Moving…

October 26th, 2009 No comments »

The blog has been such a success over the last two and a half months that we’ve decided to move it out on its own. This blog will continue to exist for another few weeks, but any new posts that Robert does will be located here: http://www.wyomingcowboysblog.com/

Everything is really the same at the new location just a new address (shorter and easier to remember!) and we’ve added a polling feature as well. There are other things that we hope to add down the road, but this is the first step in making this happen.

So update those bookmarks and head on over to: http://www.wyomingcowboysblog.com/ for all things related to the Wyoming Cowboys!

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Posted in General

Fake field goal fodder

October 25th, 2009 No comments »

A person I know who officiates high school and small-college football talked to an official who worked the UW-Florida Atlantic game back on Oct. 3.

Remember the fake field goal by UW that went for a touchdown but was called back for unsportsman-like conduct? The written explanation for the call was “substitution deception.”

UW coach Dave Christensen was upset over the call, especially since he told an official prior to the game the Cowboys were going to try something like that and wasn’t told it was illegal. To this day Christensen still thinks the play was legal.

The person I know who talked to the official who worked that game said that Christensen wasn’t told the play was illegal because of the way he explained it prior to the game. Apparently Christensen didn’t say that the guy split wide in the formation (Orlando Arnold) would be in a group of players leaving the field, or that he would be standing along the sideline (even if still in the field of play) facing the field and not the goal line.

Hence no warning was given.

None of this matters now. UW won 30-27, but I found that a little interesting.

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Posted in UW-Florida Atlantic Game

Blackout in Salt Lake City

October 25th, 2009 No comments »

The University of Wyoming football team (4-3 overall, 2-1 Mountain West Conference) got back to into its normal game-week mode Sunday as it prepares for its next game at No. 19 Utah (6-1, 3-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Utah won a dramatic 23-16 overtime game against Air Force this past Saturday in Salt Lake.

“I think I have an ulcer,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told The Salt Lake Tribune after he watched his team get just eight first downs against the stingy Air Force defense.

While that game was close, previous UW-Utah contests have not.

Utah has won eight of the last nine, including the last two by a combined score of 90-7. UW has lost four straight at Utah by a combined score of 165-30.

The Cowboys lost 50-0 at Utah in 2007 in the infamous game where former coach Joe Glenn was caught on camera flipping off the Utah sideline after the Utes attempted an onside kick in the third quarter up 43-0.

Utah is promoting this year’s game as a “Blackout” and is encouraging fans to wear black attire. There also will be a Halloween costume contest, a trick-or-treating zone for kids and a pre-game function where members of the men’s basketball team signs autographs.

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Here are some quotes from around the MWC after last Saturday’s games:

“I thought I was done.” — Utah junior running back Eddie Wide told The Salt Lake Tribune after he suffered a high ankle sprain against Air Force. Wide returned, rushed for more than 100 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

“Speed defeats everybody.” — TCU junior receiver and return specialist Jeremy Kerley told The Salt Lake Tribune after No. 8 TCU hammered No. 16 Brigham Young 38-7 in Provo, Utah.

“Bottom line is that are just better than us.” — BYU senior quarterback Max Hall about TCU as told to The Salt Lake Tribune.

“How do you go out there and hold a team to seven points and then give up 35 the second half?” — Colorado State defensive coordinator Larry Kerr in the Fort Collins Coloradoan after CSU’s 42-28 home loss to San Diego State.

“They’ve got a receiver that’s a first-day (NFL) draft pick and he didn’t play. Lord knows what would have happened if he’d been out there.” — CSU coach Steve Fairchild in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the fact SDSU junior receiver Vincent Brown didn’t play much because of a sprained thumb, but senior receiver DeMarco Sampson came through wtih 15 catches for 257 yards and three touchdowns.

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See Monday’s paper on the latest college football polls, including my Harris Poll. Also, there are three stories about UW men’s and women’s basketball.

Check out the blog Monday night with an update from the football team’s weekly news conference from Laramie. And, this blog could be moving — kind of. Details to come soon.

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Posted in UW-Utah Game

Who wins in the MWC Saturday

October 23rd, 2009 1 comment »

This is normally the day I give you the “five things to watch” for the Wyoming football game on Saturday. But with the Cowboys off I thought I would try and breakdown and predict the four games in the Mountain West Conference.

San Diego State at Colorado State

After a 3-0 start CSU has lost four straight, but those teams are combined 23-3. The Rams are bruised and battered physically and mentally, but they bounce back against an improving San Diego State team. CSU 28, SDSU 20

A little side note here to UW fans. The Cowboys play these two teams on the road later in the season, and at least on paper, will be their best chances to pick up victories.

UNLV at New Mexico

They often say two bad teams make for a good game. Well, these certainly are two bad teams. UNLV is 2-5 and New Mexico is 0-6.

Actually, New Mexico is beyond bad. Coach Mike Locksley is out as he serves a one game suspension for allegedly hitting an assistant coach. One of the Lobos’ better receivers, Ty Kirk, is also out with a suspension. UNLV should win, but if it loses this for sure means coach Mike Sanford will be fired. Heck, if UNLV loses it may give Sanford his walking papers right there in Albuquerque. UNLV 31, New Mexico 24

Air Force at No. 19 Utah

This is an intriguing game for UW fans because Air Force was the Cowboys’ last game (a 10-o loss) and Utah is the Cowboys’ next opponent Halloween night in Salt Lake City.

This is the first of three straight home games for Utah. It’s a crucial game in terms of a top three finish for both in the conference standings. Air Force is good, especially on defense, but Utah has more firepower on offense and better athletes overall. Utah 23, Air Force 20

No. 10 TCU at No. 16 Brigham Young

The game of the week in the country and the game of the year in the MWC so far this season.

BYU is 3-1 at home all-time against TCU. The Horned Frogs’ only win in Provo was a 51-50 game back in 2005. Today’s game could be similar.

TCU statistically dominates teams and has for the last few years, but that doesn’t always equate to points. TCU needs to score points, not roll up yards. Especially on the road.

Even though BYU is good at home and it’s homecoming, I like TCU’s defense, its highly underrated offense (33.8 points per game) and its overall speed and athleticism to win this one and keep its BCS bowl hopes alive. TCU 27, BYU 23

I would like to know what you think about these games, and others. Perhaps we can make weekly predictions in the MWC and other big games.

Not a lot of other marquee matchups in college football this week, but teams I would put on — to coin a term from ESPN — “upset alert” would be No. 7 Iowa against Michigan State; No. 10 LSU against Auburn and No. 13 Penn State against Michigan.

See Sunday’s paper for an analysis on the UW football team through seven games. On Monday, look for three stories involving UW men’s and women’s basketball.

And coming early next week, look for some minor changes to this blog that hopefully makes things a little easier for everyone.

Have a great weekend!

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Posted in Moutain West Conference

New bowl tie for MWC

October 22nd, 2009 No comments »

The Mountain West Conference will play in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., starting in 2010 against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The league will have a contract with that bowl from 2010-13. The bowl will have the third selection from the MWC and the seventh from the ACC.

The Independence Bowl has more of a name recognition out there than most of the current bowl tie-ins the MWC has, but to play the seventh choice in the 12-team ACC? Does that do the MWC any good? Maybe in the fact the ACC is a BCS conference.

The Las Vegas Bowl gets first choice in the MWC unless one of its teams gets to a BCS bowl. The Poinsettia Bowl gets the second. Starting next year the Independence gets the third and that leaves the New Mexico and Armed Forces Bowl to take whoever is bowl eligible and makes for a decent game.

Where would you rather go to watch a bowl game?

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Talked to UW senior center Russ Arnold this week for an analysis piece I am working on for Sunday’s paper on the football team in terms of what it has done so far and what lies ahead.

I asked him about the struggles the offense had in last week’s 10-0 loss at Air Force where the Falcons recorded six sacks, eight tackles for loss and held UW to 174 yards of total offense.

“I think we’re going to take a little more attention to reading the defense pre-snap so we can have a little better idea of what we need to get done to protect (true freshman quarterback) Austyn (Carta-Samuels,” he said.

Not a bad idea as you can bet teams will be looking to do anything they can to fluster Carta-Samuels from here on out.

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Kind of weird not getting ready for another UW football game on Saturday. But I am really interested in the BYU-TCU and Utah-Air Force games.

I’d like to hear who you think will win and why. I will tell you what I think here in a day or two.