September 14, 2023 |
Photo – Wyoming Cowboys – Courtesy gowyo.com
The Wyoming Cowboys are back on the national stage Saturday night when they face the hottest team in college football, the Texas Longhorns.
The national spotlight has been on Texas all week after their 34-24 road win in Alabama last Saturday. The national press heaped all kinds of attention onto the Longhorns this week, and their second-year head coach, former BYU quarterback, Steve Sarkisian.
Now in his third year at Texas, Sarkisian has a 15-12 record with the Longhorns. The oddsmakers have Texas a 29-point favorite against Wyoming. On paper, the teams are statistically much more even.
Wyoming actually has a higher third and fourth down conversion percentage than Texas. The Cowboy offense ranks #1 in red zone offense, Texas 48. The Cowboy’s red zone defense also ranks higher than the Longhorns, 73 versus 93.
Texas does stand out, though. The Longhorns climbed to No. 4 in this week’s AP poll, collecting two-first place votes and earning the highest ranking since finishing the 2009 season at No. 2 following the BCS National Championship game.
Saturday night’s showdown between the two teams will be the first since they last met in 2012.
Longhorns Head Coach Sarkasian is not taking Wyoming lightly.
Therein lays the Wyoming defensive game plan. Forcing Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers off his first and second pass receiver options and force him to run the ball. Ewers has thrown six touchdown passes this year and not a single interception.
Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said this week that his team will need every advantage to win on the road in Austin. Turnover advantage will be one of the keys to coming out with the upset win.
It should be one heck of a contest inside the DRK. Wyoming and Texas kickoff Saturday night right here at at 6 p.m. on a radio signal beamed up to outer space from Austin and received back down here at the Bigfoot studios.
