One play that Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel bemoaned multiple times following his team’s 31-6 loss to No. 20 Utah Saturday night was a third-and-21 that the Cowboys allowed the Utes to convert.
At the time, the Utes held a slim 10-0 lead and, despite scoring their first touchdown of the night on the possession prior to that, Utah hadn’t shown the ability to finish drives for much of the evening to that point.
Thanks to a couple penalties, a recurring issue for the Utes against Wyoming, Utah appeared to be in a no-win situation when it lined up for the third-and-21 play at the Wyoming 46.
The Utes, though, converted the inexplicably long third-down attempt, as Utah quarterback Devon Dampier had plenty of time to survey the field before he threw a strike to tight end Dallen Bentley, a completion that netted 22 yards and a first down.
“Look, we’re (down) 10-0, going to get the ball, it’s third-and-21 and give up that play. And that, to me, that was kind of a backbreaker at that point,” Sawvel told reporters, according to a postgame press conference video shared by the team. “Because, okay, we get the ball back to start the fourth quarter, and it’s a 10-point game, and you go take your chances and go play a little bit.”
Four plays later, another stomach-churning moment for Wyoming came when Dampier, facing a second-and-goal at the 8, initially fumbled the ball, only to recover it, then throw a dart to Larry Simmons in the end zone to make the score 17-0 in the final minute of the third quarter.
That capped a 19-play, 80-yard drive, a possession that all but sealed the victory.
“It’s just inexcusable for us to not execute in that spot to get us then to the fourth quarter,” Sawvel said, about the inability to hold on that third-and-21 play.
While Wyoming held the Utes to 4 of 10 on third down in the first half, Utah converted all five of its third downs in the second half. As a result, the Utes scored touchdowns on all four of their second-half possessions to pull away.
Winning the conversion battle was one of three keys Sawvel said his staff emphasized that the Cowboys would need to win to be competitive against their ranked opponent.
Those three keys included:
- Being plus in turnovers
- Win conversion downs
- Be efficient offensively and control the ball
The Cowboys didn’t win any of them, and Utah eventually turned the game into a rout.
“Those three markers were things that we needed to try to do and needed to be and we weren’t good enough to do it, and Utah was better than us in that situation tonight,” Sawvel said.
Utah “really doesn’t have a weakness,” Wyoming’s coach said, and while he was pleased with the effort his players gave, the execution wasn’t there.
“They’ve got a big offensive line, they’ve got a quarterback that can run, and they live in a space that they can get you in third and 1 and 2, and that is a nightmare space to be in against them,” Sawvel said.
He was impressed with both sides of the ball for Utah.
“I think that they won both sides of the line of scrimmage tonight, and particularly in the second half on our defense, and really for the whole game on our offense,” Sawvel said.
Wyoming’s coach shared his thoughts on the Jason Beck-led offense, which is averaging more than 500 yards per game this season. Against the Cowboys, Utah had a season-high 541 yards and converted 9 of 15 third downs.
“The one thing that they do a good job with is the volume of run offense that (they use) — the quarterback run, along with all the big people and pullers and all this other stuff. There’s a lot of things to fit that are unconventional, that a lot of other teams can’t really do, right?” Sawvel said.
“A big piece of it was we were unable in the second half to consistently get them into long yardage. In the first half, we were a little bit better spot with some of that.”
On defense, the Utes held Wyoming to 229 total yards, 3 of 12 on third-down conversions and didn’t let the Cowboys enter the red zone until less than six minutes remained in the game.
“They’re well coached, and they time out when they really want to take their shot on blitzes and do that type of thing,” Sawvel said. “And look, (Utah defensive coordinator Morgan) Scalley is a really good defensive coach, and I appreciate him a lot for how well that he does on that side of it. They’ve got good players — I mean, they do at all the levels.”
