Utah's next opponent at one time appeared to be the team to beat in the Mountain West. A month later, and they're trying to find any traction they can to get the school's first bowl bid in four years. The odds, though, are stacked for Wyoming, who have to most likely win out if there is any chance of playing in a bowl game. With Utah, BYU and CSU left on their schedule, that's going to be a very difficult task. So what went wrong?
A lot, in fact. Wyoming started the season with an impressive victory over Virginia and rolled to a 4-1 record. It looked as if the Cowboys would easily trounce through the Mountain West and finally return to being a conference force. Except it didn't go that way and Wyoming is now a woeful 1-3 since that quick start. The struggles aren't because of poor defense, Wyoming has been respectable in that department, rather it's been their completely impotent offense. An offense over the past four weeks that has only averaged a rather meager 17 points per game. And that includes the Cowboys' 29-24 victory over UNLV.
The lack of success on offense has made it extremely difficult for Wyoming to string together just enough. That was on full display Saturday against San Diego State, as the Aztecs' mediocre defense held Wyoming to only 3 second half points. That allowed San Diego State back into the game and subsequently gave them the victory. But where do the offensive deficiencies lie? Well firstly, Wyoming ranks dead last in the Mountain West in yards per game at 349. That number is shockingly bad and a team won't win many games with results like that. But beyond just total offensive yards per game, Wyoming's passing game is horrible. Wyoming only averages 192 yards of passing per game, which is 2nd to last -- the last is Air Force, who runs a more option style offense, which heavily relies on the ground game. Karsten Sween and the Cowboy passing attack has thrown a league leading 16 interceptions this season. That's an ugly figure that won't improve this week.
Wyoming will most likely limp to a 6-6 season, since Colorado State is on the schedule. That might appear to be an ok record for a program that had struggled greatly prior to Joe Glenn taking over. But deep down Cowboy fans know this team can perform better. While it's difficult to recruit there, this team does have talent and their losses at home to New Mexico and last week against San Diego State are inexcusable. That will also prove to be their downfall, as it doesn't look like they will have enough to get above .500. Which is surprising, since a month ago they were coming off a big victory against TCU and looked like a lock for a bowl game. Now the Cowboys will be lucky to finish better than 7th in the Mountain West.