Tuck’s Take: Another Goal-Line Gaffe Derails Wyoming’s Bowl Hopes

LARAMIE -- You know things are dire when the opposing head coach essentially hands you his defensive game plan.

That's basically what happened before Saturday's disastrous 13-7 setback against two-win Nevada in front of more than 26,000 inside War Memorial Stadium.

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Jeff Choate all but dared Wyoming to throw the ball.

Once again, it couldn't.

Facing a loaded box all afternoon, Kaden Anderson connected on 22-of-39 throws for 157 yards and a touchdown. That's an average of just four yards per completion. That's a dismal QB rating of 15.7.

It was also the sophomore's best statistical performance in his previous three outings.

Despite yet another subpar performance, Wyoming lined up over the ball inside Nevada's 2-yard line with 15 seconds remaining on the game clock. It was a chance to salvage an ugly outing under the watchful eye of one of the most-dynamic players in school history looking on.

Head coach Jay Sawvel said the message amongst Anderson and staff was simple and straightforward: Throw it in the end zone or throw it away.

With no timeouts at their disposal, live to see another play if nothing is open. There was potential to have three shots at the go-ahead touchdown if handled correctly.

It wasn't.

Anderson instead panicked with the blitz bearing down, tossing a quick pass to Sam Scott in the flat. Hayden McDonald wasn't fooled. The senior safety read the play the entire way, dropping Wyoming's running back in the seam for a four-yard loss.

It didn't help that receivers -- Jaylen Sargent, John Michael Gyllenborg, Deion DeBlanc and Michael Fitzgerald -- were blanketed on their respective routes.

That has also been nothing new, of late.

Anderson, who was unceremoniously dumped immediately after he released the ball, momentarily laid on the turf, looking over to the home sideline before slowly getting back to his feet and making his way back to the line of scrimmage.

There wasn't a moment to spare. And to make matters even worse, Scott tossed the ball over the head of the nearby official.

Ball game.

"The whole thing can't happen," a clearly dejected Sawvel said from behind the podium during his postgame press conference.

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While Anderson will shoulder the lion's share of the blame -- and in most cases this season, it's warranted -- this isn't only a quarterback issue.

That second-down play -- Anderson spiked the first snap to kill the clock -- was relayed way too slow. The coach-to-player helmet communication is supposed to prevent some of that. In this case, with an interim offensive coordinator, it didn't. Wyoming hurried to the line and, in the most critical moment of the game, was over before it began.

Since Jovon Bouknight took the reins of this offense in late October, aside from a four-touchdown performance in a 28-0 victory over Border War rival Colorado State in his play calling debut, the numbers have been dismal, to say the least: Two touchdowns, one field goal.

That's the good.

The bad?

In three consecutive losses to San Diego State, Fresno State and Nevada, this is what the offense has produced: 20 punts, five turnovers, four missed field goals and three turnovers on downs.

The final straw for the original OC, Jay Johnson, also came courtesy of a goal-line gaff.

With Wyoming set up at the 3-yard line midway through the fourth quarter and looking to take a seven-point lead, the decision came down from the booth that Evan Svoboda, not Anderson, should slide into the shotgun and eventually throw it to what was supposed to be a wide-open Gyllenborg.

Instead of pounding it in with Terron Kellman, Samuel Harris or Scott, against then one of the worst defenses in the nation, that trickery indeed happened.

Svoboda, who lost his job as the starting quarterback last season because of ineffectiveness, lobbed a throw that barely made it over the heads of his offensive linemen. His fellow senior tight end hadn't even turned his head to locate the ill-advised pass when Air Force safety Roger Jones jumped the route and easily secured the game-altering interception.

The Falcons were in the end zone themselves eight plays later.

Ball game.

What is the root issue of this mess?

That's the million-dollar question, if you ask Scott.

"I'm at a loss of understanding that because I see so many guys, across the board, give so much effort week in and week out at every practice," the senior running back said. "Like, there's so much care and want to, especially from the senior class. It's just, honestly, I don't know how to answer that."

Svoboda deflected all blame from the staff, instead pointing to one missing element: execution.

"The coaches are doing everything they can, like I keep reiterating," he said. "It's us, at the end of the day. It's the players. We all have to come together, as a group. It's not one guy, it's we -- as a group, as a consensus. So, yeah, maybe some could argue that, you know, coaching, coaching, whatever, it's players. Players need to do their job. At the end of the day, there's nothing they can do."

These two examples are simply a microcosm. Everyone shares in this mess.

What will we remember most about this season when the dust settles late Saturday night on the Hawaiian islands?

Terrible offensive output, too many miscues -- turnovers, penalties and poor coaching decisions -- a wasted defensive effort and the two games that got away.

And that's being generous.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players