New Mexico Awards

Expanded edition of our awards with the bowl game. Some excellent plays from each team on both sides of the ball.

Cowboy Joe:
Austyn Carta-Samuels - Is there anymore we can about this freshman phenomenon? Well here it goes... in the Pokes only appearance on national television ACS gave America a face for this young and exciting program. Calm under pressure he led a fourth quarter drive that ate up nearly eight minutes and forced the game into overtime. Finished with over 270 total yards and 3 touchdowns.

David Leonard - The top receiving threat for Wyoming all year long. Leonard made big catches all season long but only pulled in one score. Leonard hauled in two scores last night including the game winner where he had great awareness of the sideline and kept himself inbounds.

Greg Bolling - One of the most talented guys on the roster Bolling has had a rocky past with academic troubles and a suspension earlier this year. In his final game as a Cowboy GB hauled in a touchdown and a crucial two point conversion.

Mitch Unrein - Accomplished an amazing feat in becoming the first person to ever cause a Ryan Mathews fumble. That gave the Cowboys the ball and a shot at tying the game.

Cowboy Low: Brandon Stewart was largely innefective had 18 carries totalling just 28 yards.

Cowboy Foe:

Ryan Mathews - Showed why he lead the nation in rushing and could be an early pick in next years draft.

Chris Lewis - Had an interception and a great return. Caused havoc in the Cowboys backfield all game long.

Cowboys add some beef to the O Line

On Sunday the Wyoming Cowboys landed themselves a large recruit for their 2010 class. OL Skyler Hinton from Rock Bridge HS out of Columbia, MO checks in at hefty 6'4 307lbs. After visiting on December 11th Hinton verbally committed to the Cowboys just two days later.

Currently unrated by Rivals and not covered by any other scouting site Hinton is a late comer to the recruitment process. In third game of of his Junior season Hinton suffered a broken fibula in his left leg and had a metal plate placed in his leg. During the spring he had a second surgery to remove the plate. His freshman year was also cut short with a shoulder injury.

After previously playing left tackle in 2008 he was moved to center for his Senior campaign. No doubt that Coach Christensen's roots at Mizzou helped land this off the radar recruit. The fact that he was coming a major surgery probably scared off several schools but the Cowboys may strike gold if Hinton can stay healthy and does some solid work in the weight room.

Northern Iowa is the only other school to offer Hinton and he has a visited scheduled for December 18th. Will see if he actually makes it up to visit next weekend.

Should Wyoming turn down Bowl bid?

First read this article from Robert Gagliardi. This is where the idea got started.

So yes, times are tough but what state is really rolling in money right now? Want to guarantee a failure of your football program? Well then turn down that bowl bid and see what happens. After getting a solid coach who has young and talented players coming into the system the quickest way to kill that momentum would be to stay home this December.

Why would any recruit come to a school that qualifies for the postseason and then opts out. Why did they spend months practicing and pushing their bodies to the limit if it they could never make it to a bowl game?

The team EARNED a fifth place finish in the Mountain West this year.

The University is spending a ton of money of the new Wildcatter suites at War Memorial. They will sell a lot more suites by going to a bowl game then by saving a few dollars now. Why should a company plunk down $40k a season to support a University that has no postseason aspirations.

Wyoming can gain extra income with increased ticket and merchandise sales related to the bowl appearance. Sponsors are more likely to come on board for a team with a history of going to the post season. Cowboy Joe Club donations are also likely to increase.

I'm sure that the other schools in the Mountain West would be big fans of Wyoming staying home. Sure Wyoming has benefited from Utah making it to a BCS game before just like TCU is doing this year. But if the Pokes just want to take the money that other schools earn and run with it - I'm sure they would have no problem with it.

What if we are 6-6 in two years and the state is doing well financially. Should we go to a bowl then? We may not even get an invite in the future if we turn down a trip this year. Or if we are 7-5 along with another MWC team, guess which team will get picked for the bigger bowl?

The Cowboys have sold nearly 1,500 already to the New Mexico Bowl and an official announcement hasn't even happened yet. The University must 4,000 tickets to cover its allotment which seems pretty easy. Anything above that is extra income for the Cowboys.

Here you go history buffs:

Remember back in 2006 when the Cowboys finished 6-6 with victories over Utah and New Mexico that year? Well despite having an identical record with New Mexico and winning the head to head matchup the Lobos went bowling instead of the Cowboys. I wasn't happy about that and I doubt you were either.

Now is not the time to get picky about our bowl games.

The Cowboys haven't been to a bowl game since 2004 when they upset UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. Before that it was the 1993 Copper Bowl. We need to shorten the time between bowl appearances not lengthen it.

Notre Dame has turned down bowl games before because they felt they were too good to play in a lower bowl. This year they are staying home because of the Charlie Weiss fiasco. Luckily we don't have head stuck in the clouds like the Golden Toppers. Yes, Notre Dame is 6-6 like the Cowboys but they have the national spotlight shining on them non-stop and it has been mostly negative for the last two months. Also with Weiss gone ND has no play callers to actually run the offense or defense. None of their assistants are being considered for the head job so they don't want anyone else acting as head coach for the next month.

If the Cowboys weren't going to accept their bowl bid then what was the point of scoring 24 unanswered points to beat San Diego State? Or even taking back the Bronze Boot? This team has put together four fourth quarter comebacks this season, I want to see what else they can do.

One last note. The average temperature in Albuquerque on December 19th has been 47 degrees. Not tropical by any means but sure sounds nicer than the average of 36 degree in Boise or 33 in Laramie.

Go Pokes!

Mountain West announces Individual Awards and Honors

Austyn Carta-Samuels named Mountain West Freshman of the Year. TCU sweeps the rest of the individual awards. ACS was named Player of the Week and certainly deserves this honor.

2009 Stats - Austyn Carta-Samuels

1,752 passing yards 7 touchdowns

295 rushing yards 3 touchdowns

30 recieving yards 1 touchdown

5-4 record as a starter.

Full release from the Mountain West Conference.

Cowboy Chatter: Border War Edition

Here is a great set of articles from the Casper Tribune talking about CSU and the Border War.

• This is a must win game for the Cowboys.
• Breakdown on the matchup between CSU and Wyoming.
• CSU is playing for nothing but pride this weekend.

Border War: Bronze Boot Time

The Border War is finally upon us! This is always an important game for both teams if not the most important. This year will be especially interesting as Wyoming needs a victory on Friday to grab a bowl berth while the under performing Rams would love never nothing more to spoil the Cowboys season.

If the Cowboys win they can celebrate with the Bronze Boot on the Rams field and cap off a terrible season for the Rams who have lost eight in a row and just gave hapless New Mexico their first victory of the season.

Current odds have the Rams by 3 points.

CSU currently leads the 21-20 and have won the last two meetings.

Here is an article from the Denver Post detailing the Rams season.

I'll be giving you Border news and analysis all week long.

Cowboys compete early but lose 45-10 to TCU

Can anyone or any team stop TCU you this year? Not likely. The Horned Frogs improved to 11-0 for the first time in 71 years and are keeping the National title hopes alive with a 45-10 over the Wyoming Cowboys on the road. To complete their perfect season TCU will just need a victory next week over a New Mexico team that has lost their first 10 games.

The Cowboys kept things close for most of the first half and the game was was tied 10-10 at one point. But just as fast as Wyoming thought they had an upset on their hands TCU took back the lead with a 81 yard kickoff return by Greg McCoy to make the score 17-10. After that TCU never looked back and went on to score 28 unanswered points.

This wasn't as crisp a victory as TCU was looking but it was probably good enough to keep them in the #4 BCS spot. Losing three fumbles is uncharacteristic of the Horned Frogs and one was returned by Safety Chris Prosinski for the Cowboys lone touchdown. Andy Dalton was 10 of 19 for 170 yards and a touchdown but also intercepted once. Dalton also added 90 yards rushing to give him 260 total yards for the game.

The ground game was dominate for the Horned Frogs who put 358 yards rushing. Matther Tucker had 134 yards on only 12 carries. Tucker and Joseph Turner each had two touchdowns a piece.

Wyoming could do nothing with all the ball all game. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels was 4 of ten for only 84 yards. He was then replaced by Robert Benjamin who also struggled and went 2 for 5 and just 11 yards. Karsteen Sween the came in to try his luck to jump start the offense and went 0 for 4. David Leonard had his longer catch of the season for 43 yards and give him 64 receptions on the year.

The TCU defense was stout and made things rough all game long for the Cowboys. Though only getting one sack on the day they kept constant pressure on QB and bottled up the running game. The Cowboys rushed 36 times for 84 yards an average of 2.3 yards per rush. The Horned frogs allowed the Cowboys only 58 total yards in the second half.

Beating Wyoming should help TCU with the computers. Wyoming has one of the toughest schedules in the nation with losses to ranked teams: Texas, BYU and Utah. Texas played in Laramie this season and were actually down 10-6 at one point before prevailing 41-10.

It would have been great to see this game be closer but with the team the Cowboys have right now they've shown they just can't compete with big time programs yet. Playing against this level of competition will be great down the road though as all the freshman are getting valuable experience. Keeping things close in the first half like we did against Texas was nice to see. Definetly better than the BYU loss which had no redeeming qualities.

Next week: TCU host New Mexico and Wyoming travels to Colorado State for the Border War. Wyoming needs a victory over the rival Rams to become bowl eligible.

Awards

Cowboy Joe: Senior Chris Prosinksi scooped up a TCU fumble and returned it 98 yards for the Cowboys only touchdown.

Cowboy Low: Cowboys ground game. 36 carries for onl 84 yards and a long of 8.

Cowboy Foe: Matthew Tucker averaged over 12 yards a carry while gaining 126 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Cowboy Chatter

Wyoming Cowboy sports in the news.

• O-Line has had its ups and downs this season for the Cowboys.
• The Cowgirls are spending time on the road at alot of new places this season.
• Wyoming has converted to a 4-3 defense over the last couple weeks due injuries and their opponents schemes.
• The "Special Forces" have come up big for the Cowboys this year.
• Guard AJ Davis has turned a new leaf this year after being in the doghouse last season.

Coach Christensen Press Conference

Press Conference from earlier this week.

No more snow

Earlier forecasts had the the temprature on Saturday dipping down into the 30's and snow in the forecast for Saturday. Well the weather looks to be improving and Saturday should be much warmer with no chance of snow.

Current predicitions say game time temp should be 44 with with partly cloudy skies.

TCU struggled in the cold and snow at Air Force earlier in the year and similar conditions could helped the Cowboys slow down the Horned Frogs.

At least we still 7220 feet of elevation in our favor.

#4 TCU comes to Laramie

The Horned Frog express rolls into Laramie, WY on Saturday looking for their 11th win this season. TCU (10-0) will put their perfect record on the line as they face a young and dangerous Wyoming Cowboys (5-5) squad. Currently #4 in the BCS the Horned Frogs will need another quality win plus a loss or two by one of the teams ranked ahead of them if they hope to have a shot at playing the National title game.

Coming off a stellar 55-28 victory over Utah last week the Horned Frogs are operating on all cylinders. Boasting one of the top defenses in the nation and led by DE Jerry Hughes the Horned Frogs wreak havoc on opposing teams QB's. Andy Dalton leads an offense that has been getting better and better each week. Their balanced attack put up 549 yards on a Utah defense that had been fairly stingy in the previous weeks.

I have been a head coach for five years, and that is the best team I’ve
faced."—Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, after his team’s loss to TCU.

The Wyoming Cowboys are coming off their most impressive victory of the season last week. Down 27-6 after three quarters the Cowboys put 24 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win 30-27 and keep their bowl chances alive. Jekyll and Hyde is a great way to describe the Cowboys offense this year. After scoring at least 30 points in three consecutive victories earlier in the season the Pokes then managed only 10 total points in three consecutive losses.

TCU has scored in 213 cosecutive games - longest in the nation.

Wyoming
has been shutout three times this year.

Freshman QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has earned Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this year. The Cowboys have switched to a spread offense this year after bringing in new Coach Dave Christensen. WR David Leonard has stepped up as big time possesion reciever this year and has 63 catches for 533 yards.

The Horned Frogs can really do it all: Offense, Defense and Special teams.

Andy Dalton has passed for over 2,000 yards this season with 17 TD's and only 4 interceptions. He also averages nearly 40 yards rushing a game.

TCU has four players with over 380 yards rushing this season. Joseph Turner gets the most carries: 120 for 622 yards and nine touchdowns. Freshman Edward Wesley has 598 yards and put up 120 against the Utes. Matthew Tucker adds 471 yards and six touchdowns to the mix.

Dalton loves to the spread the ball around and three recievers have 25 or more catches this year: Jimmy Young (25 for 405), Jeremy Kerley (33 for 370) and Bart Johnson (25 for 343). Kerley is a speedster and one of the most dangerous returnmen in the NCAA. He averages nearly 15 yards per punt return and has taken two back for scores.

Everything points towards an easy TCU victory but a couple factors could make this game closer then expected: elevation and weather.

The last time the Horned Frogs played in Laramie two years ago they lost 21-24. Coming from Fort Worth to 7220 feet can be a big shock to the system.

In the TCU's closest victory they beat Air Force 20-17 in Colorado Springs. That weekend a huge snowstorm hit the front range and game time tempratures were in the teens. TCU had a hard time scoring on a stout Air Force defense and the weather conditions certainly didn't help.

There is snow in the forecast for this weekend in Laramie but tempratures should be in the mid 30's so things won't be as cold as the Air Force game.

Cowboys pull out a thriller in San Diego

Down 27-6 heading into the fourth quarter it looked like the Wyoming Cowboys dreams of a bowl berth were fading faster then the seconds counting down on the clock.

But suddenly things started to click for a team that had managed only 16 points in the last 15 quarters. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels scored on a 10 yard run on the second play in the fourth quarter to make the score 27-13 in favor of the Aztecs. The Cowboys stopped the Aztecs and got the ball back on their own 27. After working down the field and into Aztec territory Alvester Alexander busted a 33 yard touchdown run to make the score 27-20 with ten and a half minutes remaining in the game.

San Diego State got the ball back and put together a 11 play 5:29 long drive that stalled on the Wyoming nine yard line. A 28 yard field goal attempt by Lane Yoshida was blocked and recovered by Tashaun Gipson of the Cowboys and returned to the Wyoming 38. The Pokes put together a solid drive highlighted by long runs by Alvester Alexander and Brandon Stewart. Austyn Carta-Samulels found freshman TE David Tooley for a 9 yard TD pass and tied the game at 27-27 with 2 minutes and 3 seconds remaining.

The Cowboys kicked a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff that was fumbled by the Aztecs and recovered for Wyoming by Kenny Browder at the San Diego 44 yard line. Slowly the Cowboys crept down the field before Ian Watts kicked a 43 yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining to give the Cowboys an improbable 24 point come back and 30-27 victory.

With the victory the Cowboys improved to 5-5 (3-3 Mountain West) and kept their bowl chances alive. The Cowboys will now need to win one more of their remaining games: 11/21 vs TCU or 11/27 @ CSU to secure a bowl game.

San Diego State (4-6,2-4 MWC) was in control most of the game and looked they were cruising towards a victory with their 27-6 lead after three quarters. The Aztecs will have to beat Utah on the road next week and UNLV in Vegas if they want a shot at a bowl game. Buzz had been building the last couple weeks as the Aztecs had won some big games in the middle of the season over Colorado State and New Mexico that gave them hopes of playing in December.

QB Ryan Lindley didn't have the offense humming for the Aztecs like he usually does and finished 18 for 29 for just 200 yards and no touchdowns. The Aztecs did have one of their best performances on the ground this season as Brandon Sullivan rushed 18 times for 105 yards and two TD's in the first half.

The Cowboys had a rather balanced offense that put up 446 total yards compared to 357 for the Aztecs. Austyn Carta-Samuels went 16 of 22 for 246 yards passing plus 51 yards rushing. He also had one touchdown passing and one rushing.

The rushing attack for the Cowboys was impressive as they put up 200 yards on ground. They were led by Brandon Stewart with 76 yards and Alvester Alexander with 72. Alexander also had a 56 yard reception.

Dave Tooley had his best game of the season as he finished with 4 catches for 70 yards and the game tying touchdown.

The Cowboys won because they played their best in the fourth quarter and made some big plays on special teams. The Aztecs let this one slip away and their bowl chances probably went with it.

Cowboy of the Game: Special Teams/Ian Watts

Made some big plays when we needed it the most. No way this win would have happened without them. Watts had three key field goals including the game winner.

Poor Poke: Adam Berry and Cory Orth who left the program this week and missed out on this big win. Good luck to both players in the future.

Wyoming opens season against Jackrabbits

The Men's basketball team is ready to open up the season against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Game time is 7:30pm MST at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.

The Jackrabbits return all five starters from a team that went 13-20 last year. The top scoring threat is G Garrat Callahan who averaged 15.8 pts a game last season. F Kai Williams is a inside scoring threat for the Jackrabbits. Both Callahan and Williams are in the top 25 scorers all-time at South Dakota State.

The Cowboys have been outstanding in season openers posting a 69-35 record over the last 104 years. The Cowboys have won the two previous matchups with South Dakota State that were played during the 1960's in Laramie.

The size and athleticism of the Cowboys should create a number of mismatches against the Jackrabbits. Djibril Thiam showed that he is ready to take his game to the next level with 24 points in the exhibition against Regis. Afam Muojeke is looking to build off his Mountain West Freshman of the Year campaign.

Cowboys should start the season 1-0.

Projected Lineup for the Cowboys:

C - Boubacar Syalla
PF - Djibril Thiam
SF - Afam Muojeke
SG - Thomas Manzano
PG - Jaydee Luster

San Diego State Preview

This is a make or break game for both teams this weekend. The Cowboys and Aztecs come into the game with identical 4-5 records (2-3 in the MWC). Both teams are looking for two more wins with only three games remaining. Bowl hopes rest on a victory this weekend.

Wyoming's last three games:

@ San Diego State
#4 TCU
@ Colorado State

San Diego State's last three games:

Wyoming
@ #16 Utah
@UNLV

Both teams will be major underdogs in two weeks when they face TCU and Utah respectively. While both teams should be favored in their season finale. That means a victory on Saturday is key to getting that 6th win at the end of the season to ensure bowl eligibility.

After last weeks 52-0 blowout by BYU some Cowboy fans thought the season was over and the Cowboys didn't deserve a bowl game. One game doesn't make a season and the quest for a bowl game is not over for the Cowboys.

San Diego

The Aztecs feature a potent passing attack that is operated by QB Ryan Lindley. Star WR Vincent Brown is out for the year but teammate DeMarco Sampson has stepped for the Aztecs with 50 catches for 676 yards and 8 td's.

The Aztecs running game is fairly weak which allow the Cowboy defense to just focus on stopping the air game. Hopefully they can do a better job against the Aztecs then they did against Max Hall and the BYU Cougars last week.

Wyoming leads the overall series 16-14 and won last year 35-10.

Prediction: Wyoming 28 - SDSU 24

Yes the Cowboys have lost three in a row and last week was ugly but they were outmatched and underdogs in all three games. This game is winnable and if they take care of the ball they should be able to get win #5.

Cowboys add 6'4 WR

Jonathan Eiken a 6'4 205 lb WR out of Ellsworth JC (Iowa) verbally committed to join the Cowboys for the 2010 season. Eiken run s 4.4 40 and his combination of size and speed will add a new dimension to the Cowboys offense next season. He could fit into a similar mold of former Cowboy WR Malcom Floyd who is currently with the San Diego Chargers.

Eiken is the third JC WR to commit to the Cowboys in the last week. He will graduate in May and enroll at UW in the summer. This gives the Cowboys 15 commitments for the 2010 season.

Check out Eiken's highlight video:

BYU stomps Wyoming

Talk about a hot start. BYU scored on their first possession and their second. Actually the Cougars were able to score on their first eight possessions as they embarrassed the Wyoming cowboys on their home turf at War Memorial Stadium 52-0 Saturday.

Cowboys fans were certain their would do better than last years 44-0 defeat last year in Provo but somehow they took a step backwards and have been shutout 96-0 by BYU the past two years.

Max Hall was a boy wonder for the BYU passing attack while throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns. As a reward Coach Bronco Mendenhall gave him most of the second half off. BYU improved to 7-2 (4-2 MWC) on the season and redeemed themselves after losing to TCU last week.

The Cougars racked up 543 total yards compared to 223 for the Cowboys. McKay Jacobson returned for the first time in a month and had three catches for 100 yards including a 79 yard touchdown pass from Hall. J.J Di Luigi pulled in five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Wyoming 4-5 (2-3 MWC) never got on track during the game and only had one drive that threatened to put some points on the board. With time expiring in the first half Austyn Carta-Samuels over threw a open reciever in the endzone and the Cowboys ended the half down 31-0.

The Cowboys who are usually great with ball control turned the ball over three times with backup QB's Robert Benjamin and Karsteen Sween each throwing a pick. Benjamin also added a fumble in the third quarter.

Next week BYU travels to winless New Mexico while Wyoming heads to San Diego in battle between two teams that are hoping to earn bowl eligibility.

Weather Forecast for Laramie

Should be a really amazing day for football in Wyoming during November. Forget your parka at home - it will be warm and Sunny!

Temprature should be around 57 degrees at kickoff and things may heat up to 60 later in the day.

I doubt the temprature will be the same for the last home game on 11/21 against TCU.

Cowboys shutout in the second half

The Wyoming offense ground to a halt in the second half and the Utes scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to win 22-10 on Saturday. Freshman Jordan Wynn started the second half and provided the spark the Utah offense needed to come from behind to win.

Utah RB Eddie Wide was impressive on the ground with 125 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. The Utes had two field goals in the third quarter to bring the score to 10-9. Wynn's 22 yard TD pass to Jereme Brooks was the first of his career and gave the Utes their first lead of the game in fourth quarter. Wide scored his TD with 92 seconds remaining in the game after Wyoming turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory.

The Cowboys offensive line was stellar in the first half and gave Carta-Samuels plenty of time to throw the ball.
During the second half A-CS never looked comfortable as the Utah defense stepped up their pressure and sacked him a number of times. Several times he had to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked in the second hafl.

The Cowboys did have one shot to win the game as they were down by 1 and were driving with four minutes left. Robert Benjamin who was recently converted to WR had a pass go through his fingers which was then intercepted by Utah.

Wyoming drops to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Mountain West. Next weekend the Cowboys return home to face off against the BYU Cougars.

(note: I wanted to post this update after the game last night but I developed a terrible headache and had to go to bed early)

Saturday is a Blackout Game in Utah

This how people get wild and crazy in Salt Lake.

I prefer Brown and Gold. Go Pokes!

Opponent Profile: The University of Utah

Know your Enemy: University of Utah


University of Utah or the U of U
Salt Lake City, Utah
Nickname: Utes
Mascot: Swoop
Enrollment: 21,5600 undergraduate
Elevation: 4,657 ft

Stadium: Rice - Eccles Stadium
Capacity: 45,017


Utah - 2009 Season

Ranked #16 in the Nation
6-1 Overall
3-0 Conference

Last Week: Won 23-16 over Air Force in OT

Last meeting with Wyoming: October 11, 2008 - Won 40-7


Offensive game plan:

The Utes come at their opponents with a fairly balanced attack that tilts slightly towards the run. Terrence Cain is a dual threat QB has done a great job in his first season in Utah after playing at JC earlier. The Utes lead the Mountain West with a 4.8 yards per rush average. Eddie Wide is a quick and agile runner who starts now that Matt Asiata is out for the season. David Reed is their one threat at wide out, so far this season he has 45 catches for 695 yards.

Defensive game plan:

Utah has the third ranked defense in the Mountain West. They have given up the least amount of passing yards in the conference but have shown they are vulnerable to the run. The ability of Austyn Carta-Samuels to run or throw could give the Utes some trouble.