Wyoming Utilizes Bye-Week to Create Confusion, Add Trickery

LARAMIE -- Is there an echo in here?

A week after Dan Mullen called out his team for their effort in a 31-24 escape job against visiting Northern Illinois, UNLV's second-year head coach again found himself in the exact same seat, behind the exact same microphone, essentially saying the same things last Saturday night deep inside the bowels of Allegiant Stadium.

7220 Sports

"I’m really disappointed with our performance in the first half," he said postgame, following a 41-35 setback against Wyoming. "We’ve got a lot of things we have to fix."

It appeared that happened over the final two quarters, but it took a challenge from the coaching staff to "compete."

"I don’t think we even competed much in the first half and we didn’t play very hard, which is on me," the 54-year-old added. "That’s really disappointing."

Mullen also gave the visitors their flowers, especially when it came to the defensive game plan.

During his own weekly press conference just five days prior, Jay Sawvel said he wasn't going to overblow the importance of this meeting in the desert, despite the fact the winner would still have full control over its own destiny in the conference race.

Was it time to "empty the tank?" Wyoming's head coach said his program does that in every outing.

The offensive play-calling would suggest otherwise.

On the eighth play of the Cowboys' opening drive, running back Markell Holman snatched the shotgun snap and put the ball in the belly of quarterback Tyler Hughes on the run-pass option. The Georgia product, who immediately jetted to his right, then faked a reverse pitch to hard-charging wideout Eric Richardson, before heaving a 13-yard pass off his back foot toward the end zone.

There, bracketed by double coverage, Kyle Frendt high-pointed the throw and came down with the touchdown.

Christian Taylor, who said he spent his free weekend watching and breaking down thousands of successful plays from Utah, Northwestern and even UNLV, dug deep in his bag of tricks midway through the second quarter, too.

Wyoming's offensive coordinator sent two receivers to the right and three more to the left with his team planted at UNLV's 18-yard line. The formation was already bizarre-looking, with only five players at the actual line of scrimmage.

Not to mention back-up quarterback Landon Sims and 315-pound right tackle Braylon Jenkins also lined up out wide.

Tight end Jake Wilson traded places with Jenkins, putting his hand in the turf directly across from edge rusher Andre Porter, who has 23 tackles and three sacks under his belt.

Hughes immediately fired a strike out to the perimeter. Sims, who took three steps back following the snap, hauled in that perfectly-placed lateral and zipped a throw right down the seam to a wide-open Wilson for the score.

Another wrinkle that momentarily froze Porter was Hughes himself stepping back, giving the illusion a throw could be heading back in his direction.

Impressive? You bet.

Now, about that defense.

Sawvel said his staff poured through film, finding strengths and weaknesses in all three phases, whether that was schematically or personnel. Then the goal was to implement the right plan for the upcoming opponent. UNLV has proven to be explosive throughout the fall, scoring on 12 plays of more than 25 yards.

Jackson Arnold, a former 5-star recruit, didn't throw his first interception until Week 6. He threw for 170 or more yards in five of those outings.

"There's always going to be something that you, with a little extra time, throw in a little different," Sawvel said ahead of this meeting with the Rebels and fresh off the lone bye week of the season. "But there's also the possibility that, as a coach, you tinker too much and throw in too much and then you don't execute it well enough. So, we have to walk that line."

An example of that tinkering came early in the second quarter with UNLV camped out at its own 30-yard line and facing a 3rd-and-5.

Wyoming showed blitz, bringing seven into the box. Arnold, who was in the shotgun, sent his tight end out wide to the left, drawing one defender with him. After the snap, it appeared four were rushing. Linebacker Steven Perez, though, dropped out, confusing Rebel center Austin Boyd, who went into scramble mode to find a dance partner.

It was too late.

Ethan Stuhlsatz, who was entangled in a one-on-one with Jai'Den Thomas, was clipped at the line by the conference's leading rusher. In the meantime, tackles Jayden Williams and Tani Maafala-Barbasa created the pocket around Arnold. Wyoming's middle linebacker eventually sprung to his feet, bear-hugged the senior signal caller and dragged him to the ground.

The Cowboys dropped eight into coverage. The Chaos in the secondary, coupled with the perplexity up front, signaled the punt team.

"I want to give Wyoming credit on a great plan against us on both sides of the ball," Mullen said. "They came out and did a lot of things, defensively, that they haven’t done all year."

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS VIA 7220SPORTS:

* Smiley Shamsid-Deen Lands Weekly MW Honors

* No One Benefitted From Bye-Week More Than Stuhlsatz

* Wyoming QB has 'Small Fracture' in Throwing Arm

* Cowboys Hang on For Dramatic 41-35 Victory Over UNLV

* Rants and Raves: UNLV edition

* Final Live File: Wyoming 41, UNLV 34

* Gear Up For Game Day: UNLV Rebels

* Know Wyoming's Foe: UNLV Rebels

* UNLV Notebook: Visitors Need to Limit Offensive Fireworks

* PODCAST: Let's Drop Some Big "If" Bombs This Week

* Retention Negotiations Set to Begin During Cowboys' Bye Week