Wyoming cornerback Tyler Hall takes off with the football after stripping the Missouri receiver of it on Saturday. The Cowboys lost at Missouri 40-13. (Photo Credit: Troy Babbitt-UW Media-Athletics)
Craig Bohl is still searching for his signature win over a power five team, but for now he will have to at least another year to clear that hurdle. The Cowboys fell at Missouri 40-13 in Columbia on Saturday.
The Cowboy defense was looking forward to the chance to get their hands on Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, a potential Heisman candidate on Saturday. What the Cowboys front seven did not anticipate, however, was a Missouri offensive line who doesn’t let people near their quarterback very often. The Missouri Tigers were a tough out on Saturday, and unfortunately for Wyoming they were too much in the second half.
The Cowboy offense was stuck in neutral for much of the day as the young quarterback, Tyler Vander Waal, is still learning his way through being a division one quarterback. Often times on Saturday he showed flashes that with some maturity he could be a special player. There were also times on Saturday that he looked like a redshirt freshman. Vander Waal completed his longest pass as a Cowboy, a 55 yarder, to James Price late in the game. Vander Waal also threw for a career high of 161 yards on 13 completions.
The Cowboys were running Jevon Bigelow, making his first career start, out as a running back today due to the injury to Nico Evans. Evans suffered the injury last week versus Washington State. Bigelow scored a touchdown late in the third quarter from seven yards out for the Pokes’ first score of the game. Jevon Bigelow ended the game with 59 yards, also a career high for the true freshman.
The other scoring for the Cowboys came from kicker Cooper Rothe who booted a career long 51 yard field goal in the third quarter. He tacked another score in the fourth quarter from 36 yards out.
Missouri showed that they could be a dominant force in the SEC this season. Drew Lock was 33/45 for 398 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 51 yards and a score to lead the Tigers. Wide receiver Emmanual Hall turned in a fantastic performance to compliment Lock by catching ten passes for 171 yards and a score.
Andrew Wingard led all tacklers today with 12 tackles. Wingard could be seen flying all over the field today trying to keep up with Missouri skill players. The Cowboys recorded no sacks on Drew Lock, but did manage to get to him once late in the game when he nearly caused a fumble on a Lock pass.
Craig Bohl announced after the game that there were a number of injuries. Bohl suspected that Josh Harshman may have suffered an MCL sprain, and injury that occurred late in the game. Harshman’s injury, coupled with the injury to Austin Fort, leave the Cowboys with one viable tight end, Tyree Mayfield.
The Cowboys will return to Laramie next weekend will be taking on the Wofford Terriers. The Terriers are members of the Southern Conference. Wofford defeated Virginia Military Institute on Saturday. The Terriers ran for 450 yards on 52 carries. Wofford should provide a nice warm up for Air Force later in the season. FCS Stats had the Terriers ranked 8th this past week while Any Given Saturday had them at 11. Kickoff is at 2pm. There will be no TV for this game but can be streamed on the Mountain West Network, and will be available on the Cowboy Radio Network.