LARAMIE — Wyoming’s passing game experienced a breakthrough of sorts over the weekend.
No, the Cowboys didn’t toss the ball all over the yard. Sean Chambers has had games when he’s thrown for more yards, and Wyoming’s receivers have had more productive days when it comes to receptions. But for the first time in a long time, Wyoming was efficient through the air in its 23-10 win over New Mexico.
Chambers attempted 15 passes and completed nine of them for a 60-percent clip. It’s the first time since its 35-27 comeback win over Air Force on Nov. 17 that Wyoming has completed at least half its passes and the first time since a 34-21 win at Colorado State last October that the Cowboys have been 60 percent or better through the air.
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“It was good,” said Chambers, who finished with 86 yards and one touchdown passing. “We showed progress and improvement. We feel good about it going into next week.”
The goal for Chambers and his pass-catchers is to build on that when Nevada comes to War Memorial Stadium on Saturday to conclude the Cowboys’ two-game homestand before they enter their second and final bye week of the season. Just don’t expect a sizable deviation from what the Cowboys usually like to do.
“To say that we’re just going to flip the field and say we’re going to drastically change and send out a message to (Nevada) coach (Jay) Norvell that I’ve been in touch with (Washington State coach) Mike Leach and we’re going to be air-raid within one week, I think that’d be an overstatement,” Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said. “But I think it’s important for us to recognize we need to throw the ball better, and we’re making strides that way.”
Even against a Wolf Pack defense that ranks 116th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams against the pass (279.4 yards allowed per game), Wyoming plans to lean on its running game that trails only Air Force in production in the Mountain West. Down two of its top three running backs and a pair of starters along the offensive line, the Cowboys still pounded away at UNM with 55 rushes for 259 yards, including 162 in the second half.
And that was against the nation’s worst pass defense, though Chambers did throw 12 passes in the first half to try to take advantage of that as well as to try to establish a rhythm that’s been lacking. Wyoming, which has attempted more than 18 passes just once all season, still ranks 127th nationally in passing yards (111 per game) and last in completion percentage (39.5).
But with a running game that’s producing the 15th-most yards in the FBS (236.7 per game), how often Wyoming decides to go to the air is not as important as how efficient Chambers is when he does to take advantage when defenses sell out against the run. Against UNM, the Cowboys stuck primarily with the short passing game as Chambers completed passes to six different receivers, including four to tight ends and running backs.
His final completion — a 15-yard touchdown off play-action to a wide-open Josh Harshman early in the fourth quarter — tied for his second-longest of the day.
“We need to run the ball well, but every defensive coordinator in the country knows if you’re running the football well, it opens up the play-action pass,” Bohl said. “But all of those play-actions don’t work so well if you can’t run. We’re not going to change drastically who we are. It’s important to know who we are, but certainly as you go in and you look at opponents and they’re looking at us, it’s somewhat of a chess match.”
Bohl and some players noted Chambers has been completing his passes at a higher rate in practice. Having that production finally translate over to a game is a confidence boost for the passing game, one it’ll be trying to keep going Saturday.
“I think as a whole our quarterback threw well, our receivers caught well, and that’s how it was all week,” offensive lineman Logan Harris said. “So we knew that’s what it was going to be like (in the game) because usually you play how you practice.”