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Wyoming falls apart in second half, loses to North Texas 44-17

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Wyoming falls apart in second half, loses to North Texas 44-17


Consistency…consistency.

The blips of success witnessed in the last two weeks have yet to be sustained.

When the Cowboys begin establishing themselves, it feels like a mirage.

You want to believe it will continue, but know it won’t last.

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Apathy is in abundance in Laramie.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter (7-3 UNT Advantage)

9:54 – 30-yard field goal by K John Hoyland

Wyoming 3 – North Texas 0

7:18 – 29-yard pass from QB Chandler Morris to WR DT Sheffield (Kali Nguma PAT)

Wyoming 3 – North Texas 7

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2nd Quarter (20-14 UNT Advantage)

14:12 – 23-yard field goal by K Kali Nguma

Wyoming 3 – North Texas 10

5:54 – 19-yard pass from QB Chandler Morris to WR Blair Conwright (Kali Nguma PAT)

Wyoming 3 – North Texas 17

2:15 – 41-yard pass from QB Evan Svoboda to RB Sam Scott (John Hoyland PAT)

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Wyoming 10 – North Texas 17

1:17 – 4-yard run by RB Makenzie McGill (Kali Nguma PAT)

Wyoming 10 – North Texas 24

1:03 – 100-yard kickoff return by WR Tyler King (John Hoyland PAT)

Wyoming 17 – North Texas 24

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0:00 – 45-yard field goal by K Kali Nguma

Wyoming 17 – North Texas 27

HALFTIME

3rd Quarter (14-0 UNT Advantage)

10:10 – 2-yard run by RB Makenzie McGill (Kali Nguma PAT)

Wyoming 17 – North Texas 34

5:17 – 24-yard run by RB Makenzie McGill (Kali Nguma PAT)

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Wyoming 17 – North Texas 41

4th Quarter (3-0 UNT Advantage)

2:07 – 34-yard field goal by Kali Nguma

Wyoming 17 – North Texas 44

FINAL

NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN 44 – WYOMING COWBOYS 17

WYOMING PLAYER OF THE GAME

WR Tyler King – Special teams were anemic in 2024. King made sure to end that in Denton. With North Texas extending their lead to 14 with just over a minute left in the first half, any momentum that Wyoming held dissipated. But, the sophomore maneuvered his way to the left side of the field before turning on the jets to the endzone.

He gave the Pokes life before halftime.

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*Courtesy of ESPN and Wyoming Athletics

GRADES

Offense – D

Starting the game with their scripted plays, Wyoming did a solid job of methodically driving down the field for points. However, the longer the game went, the less success they had.

Evan Svoboda was okay but still lacked the reliability on throws that needed to be converted.

He finished with a sub-50% completion rate and only 155 passing yards.

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The run game was bad.

Real bad.

Sam Scott managed 39 yards.

D.J. Jones…22 yards.

Jamari Ferrell?

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-6 yards.

The longest run of the day was a Svoboda eight-yard scamper.

Two critical pieces in Jay Johnson’s offense were Sam Scott and tight end John Michael Gyllenborg. Scott hauled in a 41-yard receiving TD that showcased his speed, while Gyllenborg did what he does best.

Get open and be a consistent target when attempting to move the chains.

He led the team in receptions (five) and receiving yards (56).

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Something you won’t find in the box score is the handful of botched snaps by center Nofoafia Tulafono. On each occasion, Svoboda could not clean up the mess – resulting in stalled-out drives.

Defense – D-

Two of North Texas’ three opening drives in the second half resulted in touchdowns.

The Cowboys knew going into this game that the Mean Green would be tough to slow down in the air.

Chandler Morris had a field day against the Pokes – passing for 305 yards, two touchdowns, and a 68.2% completion rate.

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Despite North Texas not having their top two running backs, Shane Porter had no trouble taking the mantle.

The junior tallied 120 yards on 13 carries.

Allowing over 500 yards of offense and your opponent to convert all four of their 4th down attempts is not winning football.

Not getting off the field in pivotal moments was compounded by Morris’ ability to scramble for first downs.

The “bend, but don’t break” defense only works if you…don’t break.

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In Denton, the Cowboys’ defense was softer than a toasted marshmallow.

Special Teams – B+

This was the best performance by a Wyoming unit in 2024.

Tyler King’s kick return TD carries a lot of weight, but John Hoyland was perfect on the day (one field goal and two PATs).

Jack Culbreath didn’t have his best outing, averaging 38.7 yards a punt.

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However, he did pin two of his six attempts inside the 20.

There have been a select amount of times this season where one of the Pokes’ three phases contributed positively the entire game.

Kudos to co-special teams coordinators Benny Boyd and Shannon Moore.

WHAT DOES THIS RESULT SIGNIFY?

Wyoming is in limbo.

With the amount of veterans returning, 2024 was not intended to be a rebuild.

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But it is clear that this team is miles upon miles away from being where they want.

Head coach Jay Sawvel sums it up best with two quotes following today’s loss.

“We’re not good right now. We’re not good at anything right now.”

“I take ownership of it. I’ve jacked it all up for our whole program right now, and we have to get it fixed.”

*Alex Taylor of WyoSports published these remarks on X (Twitter)

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GOING FORWARD

Wyoming sits at 0-4 for the first time since 2015.

That year, their winless campaign finally ended after a 0-6 start.

The Cowboys will face Mountain West competition between now and a November 30th matchup with Washington State on the Palouse.

Some have been better than advertised in the preseason.

San Jose State and New Mexico, for example.

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Others have disappointed.

Looking at you, Air Force and Utah State.

Wyoming will return to Laramie and host the Falcons next Saturday in a battle of Mountain West cellar-dwellers.

For Poke fans, a loss on September 28th forces them to hope for their first win in mid-October.

What are your reactions to Wyoming’s loss against North Texas and how the season has unraveled so quickly?

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Leave your comments down below!



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Wyoming

Rod Miller: The Separation Of Church And School In Wyoming

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Rod Miller: The Separation Of Church And School In Wyoming


I want you to read something, and see if you find any ambiguity or waffle-language in what it says. Here it is.

Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article 1, Section 19, Appropriations for sectarian or religious societies or institutions prohibited. No money of the state shall ever be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution.

It appears to me that Wyoming’s Founders minced no words in saying that our tax dollars should never find their way into the collection plates of church-run schools. Never.

If you’d like a clear definition of the constitutional separation of church and state, read Article 1, Section 19 of our foundational document alongside the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment prevents government from establishing any religion, and also from monkeying around with a citizen’s right to practice any religion.

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The Wyoming Constitution says that religious organizations will never get one thin dime of taxpayer money. Things don’t get much more separate than that. Things are rendered to either Caesar or to God, not to both.

And yet, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is hell-bent on violating that constitutional separation. They are pushing through legislation that would provide taxpayer dollars through public vouchers to private schools, including religious institutions, to compete with public schools in Wyoming.

That sounds a lot to me like the Freedom Caucus zealots want to establish publicly-funded madrassahs where the “Four R’s” – readin’, ritin’, rithmetic and religious dogma – will be taught to Wyoming students. One need only look toward theocratic states like Pakistan or Iran to see how that turns out.

I really don’t give a rat’s ass who teaches our kids, as long as our students are taught critical-thinking skills along with subjects that will make them good citizens of the Big Empty. But, for the life of me, I don’t see how immersing our students in Levitical Law, or the mysteries of endtime prophecy will help them one damn bit

Don’t get me wrong, I love Jesus as much as anyone does. I’m saved, baptized in the Holy Ghost, and have several gifts of the Spirit. One of those God-given gifts is the gift of discernment, and I can spot bullshit from a mile away. And the Freedom Caucus wanting to use public money to pay preachers strikes me as bullshit.

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Nevertheless, they mount their pulpits and sermonize that their religious doctrine trumps our Wyoming Constitution. The zeal of their house hath eaten them up, (Psalm 69:9), and they want religious zeal to gobble up the rest of Wyoming. All on the taxpayers wallet, I might add.

If the Freedom Caucus can ram its school voucher program, including for religious schools, through the legislature, then it will be up to the Wyoming Supreme Court to maintain the crucial separation between the church and the Cowboy State.

If that happens, expect to see an army of out-of-state Pharisees…. er, ah, I mean Freedom Caucus lawyers…. argue for a religious state in Wyoming like they are arguing for the salvation of Christianity at the Council of Nicea.

They’ll thump on their Bibles, and quote the prophet Daniel to try to prove that there is no difference between religion and the state, and that taxpayer money should fund religious instruction.. They’ll try to convince our black-robed Supreme Court justices that Oklahoma, Kentucky and Pakistan agree with Freedom Caucus dogma, therefore Wyoming should, too.

But, I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that the Wyoming Supreme Court knows exactly what our Constitution has to say about that.

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And now, you know too.

Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com



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Reusse: Before he became leader of the NFL’s Bills, quarterback Josh Allen proved others wrong and his Wyoming coach right

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Reusse: Before he became leader of the NFL’s Bills, quarterback Josh Allen proved others wrong and his Wyoming coach right


Allen came back from the broken collarbone in 2016 and things changed. “He was 6-foot-3½ and 210 when he got to Wyoming, and on his way to 6-5 and 240 when he left,” Bohl said. “And he had that arm … always had that.”

Wyoming went 6-2 in the conference, won its division and lost 27-24 to San Diego State in the conference title game.

“The NFL teams were around,” Bohl said. “He would’ve been taken in the first round, I believe, if he had gone pro after that first year as a starter for us. The NFL loved his size, strength, his arm, his competitiveness.

“We played BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. We lost 27-24, and he was trying to decide … whether to enter the draft or come back with us.

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“You know what I think swayed him? His parents, the whole family, are tremendously competitive, get-the-job-done people. And his mother, LaVonne, said to him when it was getting down to decision time: ‘Josh, do you really want the last pass you throw in college to be an interception to BYU to end a three-point bowl loss?’ ”

The answer was no. He went back to Wyoming for 2017. He had a shoulder sprain and missed a couple of games late in the season.



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Davis scores 22 as San Jose State knocks off Wyoming 67-58

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Davis scores 22 as San Jose State knocks off Wyoming 67-58


Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Latrell Davis’ 22 points off of the bench led San Jose State to a 67-58 victory over Wyoming on Saturday night.

Davis also contributed five rebounds for the Spartans (10-11, 3-6 Mountain West Conference). Sadaidriene Hall scored 13 points and added seven rebounds. Will McClendon had 11 points and shot 4 for 13, including 1 for 4 from beyond the arc.

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The Cowboys (10-10, 3-6) were led by Scottie Ebube, who posted 22 points and six rebounds. Wyoming also got seven points, seven rebounds and three steals from Jordan Nesbitt. Obi Agbim had seven points and six assists.

San Jose State took the lead with 4:50 to go in the first half and never looked back. The score was 23-19 at halftime, with Davis racking up 10 points. San Jose State turned a three-point second-half lead into a 10-point advantage with a 7-0 run to make it a 41-31 lead with 13:34 left in the half. Davis scored 12 second-half points in the victory.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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