Cowboys keep plugging away on the ground

UW photo
Wyoming running back Devin Moore steps over a North Dakota State player Saturday in the Cowboys' 16-13 win.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

So much for opening up the Wyoming offense.

The Cowboys, including head coach Joe Glenn, talked about making some changes offensively against North Dakota State Saturday after the dismal performance against Air Force in the previous week.

Both Glenn and offensive coordinator Bob Cole called the Air Force game an aberration.

Based on the first half against North Dakota State, the Wyoming offense looked to still be stuck in the mud. The Cowboys had just 71 yards of offense against the Bison and no points.

So what do the Cowboys do in the second half? They go back to the power run game. This time, it worked, as Wyoming rallied behind the running of seniors Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon for the 16-13 victory.

Moore had an outstanding game -- his best of the season -- with 145 yards on the ground and one touchdown.

“Coach Cole came into the locker room at halftime and said that we were going to run the ball,” Moore said. “He doesn’t care about what everyone was talking about, being conservative, and that we need to pass the ball. We were going to run the ball.”

As a team, the Cowboys ran for 176 net yards, 153 in the second half.

“He put in on our shoulders right then and there and the receivers said that we are out here to block and we’re going to do what we can,” Moore added. “If we get some passes, then we do what we can. We came out and in the first run, I don’t even know how it went. But we were ready. In the huddle, Kyle Howard, Tim Bond, they were getting us going, telling me, “D, you’re going to break this.’ The next thing I know I am in the open field. I give it all to the offensive line and Coach Cole.”

Moore snuck in from 2 yards out with 8:15 to go in the third quarter to finally get the Cowboys on the scoreboard.

“We just tried to come back.,“ Moore said. “The guys in the locker room were keeping ,my head up, I kept their heads up. We came back and we were on fire.”

In the second quarter, the Cowboys were threatening but Moore coughed the ball up on fourth and 2 on the North Dakota State 22-yard line

“We wanted to kick it off and let the defense get us going first; it went against us; we won the toss, got it and went three and out,” Moore said. “We were kind of down about that. That’s one thing our coaches have been on us is we have to let things go. It kind of held us back at first and I made a costly fumble, so I put it on myself; we were down in the red zone.”

Later in the second half, Moore ran his way into the Top 10 in career rushing at Wyoming. He now has 1,959 yards as a Cowboy.

That’s fine and dandy, Moore said, but he has other things currently on his mind than career statistics.

“I not even focused on that. I’m trying to do something as far as going to a bowl game,” Moore said. “It will come, I believe. I keep hearing a lot of about it, like I need to get my yards up if we want to win games and D-Mo, you have to put some points on the board. It’s stressful, but at the same time, my Mom, the coaches, they are telling me to not worry about that stuff. It will come. As long as we’re getting the wins, I’m doing something right.”

Seldon also moved to sixth place in career rushing for the Cowboys with his 56 yards on 13 carries. None of those yards were more important than his 10-yard gain in the final seconds that set up Jake Scott’s game-winning 29-yard field goal.

Seldon said the Cowboys could have easily been content with what they had, but wanted to get as close as possible for Scott. And who knows? Maybe Seldon scores a touchdown.

“That’s what is inside of me,” Seldon said. “I’m just hungry all of the time; I’m never satisfied. My appetite has never subsided. I just run with passion, run hard; that’s what I do.”

Seldon now has 2,197 career yards.