Sloppy, frustrating game but...

[BeaverPoke]

The Pokes offense did not look good today.
Maybe if Smith doesn't hurt his ankle in the first drive Wyo wins 56-7.
But even though Smith was hurt and really not that impressive or effective, the Pokes still won by 28.
Yes it was ugly, but in the end the Pokes won 35-7.
How far has this team come since DC first showed up?
If ACS/Smith weren't awesome, we lost. Smith was far from awesome today, and was pretty mediocre and the Pokes still won by 28 over an FCS team.
Yes people will say that's what they should be doing, but remember, last season we lost to an FCS team w/out Smith.

The D stepped up and made plays. They are fun to watch.
Bend but not break mixed in with a knack for getting to the ball forcing turnovers.

Our running game is pretty solid for us. We don't need a great running game to succeed, just a decent one.

We need Smith to heal up, and the fact that he came out in the 4th after the delay I think is a good thing. That means that even with half time and another 45 minute break, he was still able to play, and it didn't totally swell up or stiffen up.

DC needs to get the team fired up to play AFA. Remind them of their cheap ass BS last year.
Remind them that OOC games don't mean anything when you are competing for the MWC Title.

Get ready to play, get the offense going again, get Smith healed, and keep focused.

 

[gbpoke]

I have to believe that the Pokes will have no problem getting up for next week, considering what happened on their home field last year. DC will have them fired up and ready to play next week...so will Brett, we are very fortunate to have him as our leader. Guys like him only come around every once in a while.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Yeah, after that first series, Smith was pretty off the rest of the game. Couldn't even scramble.

Defense did a little too much bending for my taste, but I can live with 2 pick 6s and 7 points from UNC.

 

[J-Rod]

Big positive is it appears AFA can't get a pass rush going to save their lives. Smith shouldn't have an issue if his ankle is better by next Saturday. The Falcon secondary is a joke.....Smith can scorch them if he plays like we know he can.

I have no worries about the defense. CDC has never showed any weakness against the triple option.

 

[MrTitleist]

Gotta get Smith rested this week.. we'll need him next week. Beating AFA should be a big priority this season. AFA looks like ass so far this season.. though, Awini looks like he might be a pretty good QB.

 

[J-Rod]

Vegas' spread was 27.5. Wyoming won by 28. Seriously, how do those guys do it?

 

[Fullback41]

Hopefully we won't need it, but if you were coach and we need a break and we are low on timeouts would you "Pull a Calhoun" and have a player fake an injury?

Part of me says "No Way" we can win without resorting to acting, and let the issue die.

But then part of me says "hell ya" lets do it every chance we get, since they still use it as a strategy (see USU game), and because of his smirky grin about it after the game.

I guess it would be best to let it go.

 

[calpoke25]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

 

[fromolwyoming]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

Cheyenne was getting drenched, most of Colorado is getting flooded (a lot of people come up from there), and we've been getting rain (sudden downpours) for the last week or so.

All things considered, I was suprised as many made it as they did.

 

[gbpoke]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

Weren't there extenuating circumstances though? How many people from Colorado actually were able to make it up, not that there would've been a thousand of them to get to 20K, but still. I'm sure that being a FCS school there wasn't much buzz around the state. I think that 19K isn't bad for this game.

 

[calpoke25]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

Weren't there extenuating circumstances though? How many people from Colorado actually were able to make it up, not that there would've been a thousand of them to get to 20K, but still. I'm sure that being a FCS school there wasn't much buzz around the state. I think that 19K isn't bad for this game.

And that's exactly the problem. The fans care more about the opponent than coming to watch WYOMING play. Kansas St. is playing an FCS school today and I bet they have almost triple our attendance.

 

[gbpoke]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

Weren't there extenuating circumstances though? How many people from Colorado actually were able to make it up, not that there would've been a thousand of them to get to 20K, but still. I'm sure that being a FCS school there wasn't much buzz around the state. I think that 19K isn't bad for this game.

And that's exactly the problem. The fans care more about the opponent than coming to watch WYOMING play. Kansas St. is playing an FCS school today and I bet they have almost triple our attendance.

And Kansas State has nearly twice the enrollment of UW and Manhattan in also nearly twice the size of Laramie. Not to mention the distance necessary for travel compared to that of the state of Kansas. The Cowboys are probably never going to average 30,000/game but if they can consistently draw 20-25,000 that's great for what it is.

 

[kdwrightuwyo]

The point is that the state hasn't embraced the Pokes. Folks show up when UW plays someone important, not to watch the Cowboys.

Some say that the fans will come with wins....that's the problem. The state needs to fully embrace the Pokes. We a whole state of BeaverPokes...the brown and gold cool aid drinking fans, not fair weather fans who show up when the weather is nice and a big name team shows up at the War.

 

[NowherePoke]

Pathetic attendance. Can't even get 20K.....

Weren't there extenuating circumstances though? How many people from Colorado actually were able to make it up, not that there would've been a thousand of them to get to 20K, but still. I'm sure that being a FCS school there wasn't much buzz around the state. I think that 19K isn't bad for this game.

And that's exactly the problem. The fans care more about the opponent than coming to watch WYOMING play. Kansas St. is playing an FCS school today and I bet they have almost triple our attendance.

And Kansas State has nearly twice the enrollment of UW and Manhattan in also nearly twice the size of Laramie. Not to mention the distance necessary for travel compared to that of the state of Kansas. The Cowboys are probably never going to average 30,000/game but if they can consistently draw 20-25,000 that's great for what it is.

Kansas also has about 5 times the population of Wyoming. Assume you split it evenly between the two FBS schools (KU/KSU) that is about 2.5 times the population base to draw from.

They are also coming off of back to back 10 win seasons and played in the Fiesta Bowl a year ago.


Not to say our attendance is acceptable. It's really not, but even if had a more engaged fanbase, with our demographic and geographic limitations, I don't believe we would average more than 25k and in the grand scheme of FBS football, it doesn't matter if it is 25k or 19k. Alabama has that many people in the press corps covering the team (ok, not exactly but you get the point).

I am more concerned with the fact that we are an FBS team that has yet to hit a FG all season and doesn't dare try a 40 yarder. There has to be a PK out there somewhere that can hit a 40 yarder consistently at 7220'.

 

[NowherePoke]

The point is that the state hasn't embraced the Pokes. Folks show up when UW plays someone important, not to watch the Cowboys.

I just don't think this is that true. Pokes drew 22k for Idaho, arguably the worst team in FBS and one without a conference home. We drew 18k last year for a Top 25 Boise team that has a nationally recognizable profile.

We drew about 30k for Texas. Assume about 3k Texas fans and that says there were only about 5k worth of Pokes fans that attended that game that wouldn't have attended an Idaho game. I don't think that makes us difference than many programs to be honest.

The key is, why did we only draw 18k for a Top 25 BSU team? Maybe because we were 1-7. Why don't we consistently draw well? Maybe because we kickoff a lot of games where are record is in the 1-7 range.

IOW, like nearly every other fan base, it's not the opponent that fans want to see, it's the home team winning. We haven't provided a high likelihood of that occurring consistently for a very long time.

 

[gbpoke]

The point is that the state hasn't embraced the Pokes. Folks show up when UW plays someone important, not to watch the Cowboys.

Some say that the fans will come with wins....that's the problem. The state needs to fully embrace the Pokes. We a whole state of BeaverPokes...the brown and gold cool aid drinking fans, not fair weather fans who show up when the weather is nice and a big name team shows up at the War.

Not sure that will really ever happen. I could be wrong but I'm not sure that the Pokes really averaged much more than 25,000/game when they were winning back-to-back WAC championships in the 80s. If there ever was a time for the state to embrace the team that would've been the time. Wyoming's population just isn't large enough in the Laramie area to fill the stadium on a consistent basis.

 

[BeaverPoke]

Starts with the students. They need to pack the place.
Too many kids I go to class with are always doing something else on the weekend. Yes I get that other things like hunting, and going home on the weekend, or concerts or whatever happen, but why does it seem like only 1 out of every 5 kids I talk to about going to the game say they are going?
And it's not like I am asking anyone and everyone. If some other kids and I are talking about sports I ask them, then they typically say no.
Maybe if the Pokes go and beat AFA, and Texas State, and are 4-1 coming into the NM game, and we have good weather, people will pack the place.

God how embarrassing would the MWC title game be if half the fans were Fresno or SJSU fans?

 

[PokeTransplant]

I'm thinking that we should keep Brett out of practice this week and give Thornton reps with the 1's. Brett will still be Brett with a week off to rest the leg/ankle and giving Tommy the reps will only help if Brett isn't 100%.

 

[WYCowboy]

My hat is off to Brett Smith for toughing it out through the injury for just about the entire game. The game was not impressive, but we got the win.

 

[Wyovanian]

The point is that the state hasn't embraced the Pokes. Folks show up when UW plays someone important, not to watch the Cowboys.

Some say that the fans will come with wins....that's the problem. The state needs to fully embrace the Pokes. We a whole state of BeaverPokes...the brown and gold cool aid drinking fans, not fair weather fans who show up when the weather is nice and a big name team shows up at the War.

FWIW, BeaverPoke didn't go to the game.