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Cowboys' defense could pose problems for BYU |
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JaredCowley | Wednesday, November 8, 2006, 11:47 pm
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Darnell Dickson
DAILY HERALD
Silly sportswriters.
When the Mountain West Conference preseason media poll came out in July, the Wyoming Cowboys were picked to finish ninth — dead last. Wyoming coach Joe Glenn tilted his cowboy hat up on his head, spat out a wad of tobacco and drawled, "There’s no way this team is going to finish last.”
That all actually happened — well, except for the part about the hat and the tobacco.
Glenn and the Cowboys, after a 1-4 start, have surprised those silly sportswriters and most MWC fans by posting a 4-2 league mark coming into today’s Thursday night special in Provo against BYU.
Don’t put BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall among those who thought the Cowboys would throw a horseshoe in 2006.
"I don't think any of the coaches thought that was going to happen,” Mendenhall said. “None of us expected them to be last and now they're in second at this point and battling to the end. That's what we've all prepared for and it's been no surprise to our team."
Wyoming has done it with defense, switching to the 3-4 to take advantage of its depth at linebacker. The Cowboys are fourth in the country in pass defense (140.1 yards allowed per game) and eighth in total defense (248 ypg).
Senior safety John Wendling (63 tackles, two fumble recoveries) and sophomore linebacker Ward Dobbs (62 tackles, five tackles for loss) are All-MWC candidates. Wyoming has posted 26 sacks in 2006, led by Dobbs and junior linebacker Brandon Haugen with three each. The Cowboys also have 10 interceptions, including four from senior safety Dorsey Golsten.
BYU sophomore running back Manase Tonga said the Cougars are looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s always good to know you’re facing a quality opponent,” Tonga said. “It allows you to showcase your talents. Win, lose or draw, you know you’ve played a very tough team.”
Wyoming’s top-rated pass defense faces the No. 4 passing team in the country in BYU and senior quarterback John Beck, who has completed 71 percent of his passes this season for 2,358 yards, 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
“We’re going to give him different looks,” Wyoming defensive coordinator Mike Breske told the Casper Star-Tribune. “I feel like you can’t just rush four and play vanilla. He’ll pick us to pieces. We’ve got to pick and choose when we want to pressure, when we want to play coverage and change up our coverages.”
Beck is just 50 yards from moving past boyhood idol Jim McMahon into second place on the all-time BYU passing yards list and 224 yards from jumping McMahon for second place in total offense.
"I think its phenomenal,” Mendenhall said. “What's more impressive is the growth as a player and a person that has happened along the way in the past three years. If you put John Beck the player today on the field and compared him to how he was three years ago there has been an amazing transformation.
“It's come step by step by step and has been all hard earned through diligence. It has been much like the growth of the program and I see a lot parallels between the two.”
Wyoming’s offense has improved under freshman quarterback Karsten Sween, who has led the Cowboys to a 4-1 record since taking over the starting role. In his five starts, Sween has completed 58 percent of his passes for 792 yards, six touchdowns and only three interceptions.
“Their backs are really elusive and they run well between the tackles,” BYU junior safety Dustin Gabriel said. “Their quarterback does a good job of managing the game. They are capable.”
BYU’s defense is giving up only 9.6 points per game in league play.
“We like to go out there when it’s on us,” Gabriel said. “We like the pressure. When we get together in our huddle we’re smiling, we’re excited for the challenge because we’re confident in each other.”
BYU is 4-0 at home this season and outscoring opponents 46.5 to 12 in LES.
“It’s the best feeling now knowing we have two games in a row at home,” Tonga said.
Injury update: Mendenhall said sophomore guard Ray Feinga, who injured his knee two weeks ago against Air Force, will start against Wyoming. Feinga (6-5 322) dressed for the Colorado State game but didn’t play. Also, freshman receiver Mike Hague has a bone bruise in his arm and is questionable for the Wyoming game.
Leaving points on the field: BYU, which is 38 of 45 (84 percent) on red-zone opportunities, missed out on a couple of touchdowns against Colorado State. An interception in the end zone ended one threat and a 37-yard touchdown run by Curtis Brown was called back because of a holding penalty.
“We’ve been focusing on our execution and limiting our mental errors,” Tonga said. “We just need to make sure we’re making the right blocks and reads and continue to run hard. We need to do all the little things to be better prepared.”
Mendenhall said since there’s more game film out on the Cougars this late in the season, execution is even more important.
“Teams are starting to play our plays better,” he said. “When you get the volume of film that we have, self-scouting becomes a lot more necessary and teams now with the amount of the computer information they have are able to predict what you might do.
“That leads to another positive thing and that is if teams know what the plays are and time and again we are still moving the football, which is a great advantage to us. We were scoring faster and larger chunks earlier but now we are still scoring and moving the football and it is taking longer. All those things are positives and it reflects on the consistency of what we are trying to establish in the program.”
Extra Points: Brown is 131 yards from becoming BYU’s all-time leading rusher. Last year, Brown ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns against Wyoming. ... The two teams first met in 1922, BYU’s first official year of football. ... BYU has two players from Wyoming on its active roster: Junior linebacker Kelly Poppinga (Evanston) and freshman offensive lineman Rick Wolfley (Afton) ... Only five players on the Cowboys’ travel roster are actually from Wyoming. ... Eleven local soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. ... BYU is 8-2 as a ranked team against Wyoming.
Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at
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