Senior Day Heartbreak: Wyoming falls short at the goal line, loses to Nevada 13-7

On a day where Cowboy fans celebrated Josh Allen’s jersey retirement and reminisced about the good old days, reality crashed the party.

Sitting on the one-yard line with 18 seconds to go after the best drive of the day by the Pokes offense, QB Kaden Anderson committed a cardinal sin and completed a pass to RB Sam Scott for a loss of four yards.

More significant was the fact that Wyoming had zero timeouts to stop the clock.

In the blink of an eye, the Cowboys were scrambling to the line of scrimmage and desperately trying to get the referee to spot the ball before the clock hit triple zeroes.

By some miracle, they withstood the chaos and snapped the ball in time. Alas, the play-call fleshed out into nothing better than a fire drill that fittingly ended with a miscommunication between Anderson and WR Michael Fitzgerald.

Ballgame.

It was an exciting finish to an otherwise plodding affair that featured the all-too-common frustrations that have overwhelmed Wyoming’s season.

The offense was stuck in the mud.

The defense did its damnedest to will the Pokes to a win, forcing a fumble inside Nevada’s own 20-yard line that led to Wyoming’s lone seven points. But, in hindsight, more was needed for them to eke out a victory at War Memorial Stadium.

And special teams were… special.

It was one of those days.

Neither team found its way onto the scoreboard after one quarter of play. However, kicker Erik Sandvik booted a 31-yard field goal that was controversially ruled a miss.

The official under the opposite upright of the ball initially signaled the try as good, but gave way to his peer with a better angle.

Looking at the replay, it was a tight kick that looked more good than not, but the rules do state that if the ball travels over an upright in any way, then it should be deemed no good.

Regardless of that, Wyoming had plenty of drives available to work its way down the field.

Offensive coordinator Jovon Bouknight gave quarterback Kaden Anderson ample attempts to make his mark as he passed 39 times. Yet, he compiled just 157 yards and one touchdown on a short field.

The running game was essentially non-existent with Sam Scott leading the way with only 48 yards on 11 carries.

The rest of the backfield combined for 20 yards on 12 carries.

To add insult to injury, the longest run outside of Scott’s 19-yarder was a seven-yard scramble by Anderson.

On the perimeter, of all people, tight end Evan Svoboda managed to reel in the Cowboys’ lone touchdown of the day.

Wyoming’s defense did as much as you could ask for, considering the Wolf Pack were waltzing into Laramie after a 55-point outing last week against San Jose State.

13 points.

One touchdown.

Two field goals.

58 passing yards allowed.

Yes, the rush defense was a bit loose Saturday afternoon as they gave up 213 rushing yards and allowed two players, Caleb Ramseur and Chubba Purdy, to eclipse 65 yards individually.

Head coach Jay Sawvel has made a point of it time and time again, but in the world of modern college football, he declared that a team needs to score more than seven points to win a game.

Heck, he said the target number should be 28 points.

That didn’t happen, and now, the Pokes will have missed a bowl game in each of Sawvel’s two seasons at the helm. Wyoming isn’t in any position to make a hasty decision, but whoever is hired as the new offensive coordinator this offseason will be tied at the hip with Sawvel.

If he chooses wisely, then, in a new-world Mountain West without Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and Utah State, the Pokes should reach the six-win mark next year.

Especially with a non-conference slate featuring Colorado State, Northern Colorado, Central Michigan, and UConn.

Wyoming controlled its own destiny after beating the Rams and improving to 4-4.

Now, they have scored seven, three, and seven points in the last three contests.

The only other game this season in which they scored in the single digits was against Big 12 contender Utah, when they tallied six points.

There isn’t much more that can be said, and it’s a damn shame that those seniors didn’t have the opportunity to walk out of War Memorial Stadium as winners for one final time.