Horned Frogs too fast, too strong for 'Pokes

UW-TCU boxscore

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

It’s like the saying goes: speed kills.

On Saturday, No. 4 TCU’s speed killed the Wyoming Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium, 45-10.

That was also the case earlier in the season when No. 2 Texas basically did the same to the Cowboys in the 41-10 victory.

The Cowboys got a big break in the second quarter when junior safety Chris Prosinski grabbed a fumble and raced 98 yards to the end zone to tie the game at 10-10.

As was the case against Texas in the second game of the season, the Cowboys were in the game against a top-ranked team.

Then there was a big boom that did not come from the National Guard canon in the form of Greg McCoy, who returned the kickoff 81 yards to quickly break the tie. The Horned Frogs then dominated the game in every aspect from that point on.

“When Pro (Prosinski) got the fumble and we took it down to tie the game, you have to have some breaks like that when you play a Top 5 team,” Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said. “Then we turn around and let them get a touchdown and that was extremely disappointing. Then they get another one. We tried to come back in the second half, but they had just too much firepower for us.”

Wyoming senior linebacker Weston Johnson said that type of play is somewhat demonizing, but then again, he said they have their best guys out there whether it is special teams, defense or offense.

“It’s just some fast guys back there and they made some blocks,“ Johnson said. “We had some guys not get in their right fits and that is what happens.”

TCU gets the ball back and strikes again before halftime on a 45-yard pass from quarterback Andy Dalton to speedy Jeremy Kerley to make it a 24-10 game.

Wyoming stops the TCU offense on in three plays to begin the second half, only to see sophomore running back Brandon Stewart fumble on the first play and the talented Horned Frogs defense recover the football on the UW 23-yard line.

Four plays later, Joseph Turner scores from 5 yards out and it is a 31-10 contest.

Twenty-one unanswered points in a little under nine minutes, going back to the second quarter.

Game over.

“That definitely put us in a bad position,” Christensen said. “The defense came out and I thought they did a tremendous job and forced a punt and on the first play we fumble. That’s devastating when you are trying to get back in the football game.”

The Horned Frogs ran up 507 yards of total offense -- 339 on the ground and 168 through the air. The Cowboys could managed just 178 total yards of offense.

There was no trickery involved for TCU. The Cowboy defense knew exactly what was coming and the UW offense knew the same.

Christensen said TCU played like every single film he has watched on them.

“They are a very good football team,” he said. “I don’t see any weaknesses out there. They’re strong on both sides of the ball, they’re kicking game … I don’t see a great weakness on anything.”

Wyoming freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels struggled to get the Wyoming offense going and said the reason for TCU’s dominance is obvious.

“They’re the fastest team that we have played all season, for one,” Carta-Samuels said. “They disciplined, they have leadership. That’s what it takes to be the No. 4 team in the country. They’re a complete football team.

“I expected to come out and compete and that didn’t happen. But it is a lot easier to swallow when you lose to the No. 4 team in the country.”

Christensen said his team was mentally prepared to play the game and they gave everything they had.

All we wanted to do is to play hard on every single snap. We did against a very good football play,” he said.

For the Cowboys, time will tell if Christensen can get his team to TCU's level. That’s certainly his goal.

“I was hired here to build a football program and we came out and competed against two Top 4 teams in the country,” Christensen said. “We got a long ways to go. We fought in both of those games for 30 minutes, but it is a tough deal. They (TCU) are a great football team."