Red Dawn: 3 keys to Wyoming Cowboys vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

9 hrs ago
LARAMIE – Bluebloods with bigger national brands than Texas Tech have ventured into War Memorial Stadium in the 73-year-old venue’s recent history.
Wyoming messed with Texas briefly before losing 41-10 in 2009. The Pokes couldn’t keep the red out of their home stadium or the end zone during a 38-14 loss to Nebraska in 2011.
Justin Herbert led Oregon to a 49-13 romp over Josh Allen-led UW in 2017. The late, great Mike Leach unleashed (Gardner) Minshew Mania on the Cowboys in their 41-19 loss to Washington State in 2018 home opener.
Now UW hosts the Red Raiders, an ascending program determined to fill the power vacuum in the Big 12 when Texas and Oklahoma move to the SEC.
The marquee 2023 opener on Saturday at the War is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS.
“We’re embarking on a great, great opportunity this year,” said Craig Bohl, who begins his 10th season as UW’s head coach. “We’re deeper than we’ve ever been since I’ve been our football coach. Our lines of scrimmage, the trenches, are stronger, we’re deeper at those spots. We’ve got a returning quarterback, which we feel great about. Our defense can be outstanding, and we have a couple great kickers.”
The Cowboys, who plan to make some noise of their own in the Mountain West race, are 14-point underdogs against Texas Tech.
But Bohl and his older players enter the matchup with vivid memories of the victory over Missouri in the 2019 opener, which is the head coach’s lone win over a Power 5 team in his previous nine seasons at UW.
“I sit out by my fire in the evening having an adult beverage and I get pretty excited because game time is coming up,” Bohl said. “I’ve always said this, you have a feeling what kind of team we’re going to have, but until I get in the middle of the second or third quarter I start to look and go, OK, this is where we’re at. So, I’m anticipating that.
“The arrow is pointing up, and I’m glad we’re at home.”
The Red Raiders were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason media poll behind Texas, reigning champion Kansas State and Oklahoma. That’s one spot ahead of TCU.
Texas Tech is a trendy pick to make a splash like the Horned Frogs did last fall when they were a surprise College Football Playoff participant and the national runner-up.
During Joey McGuire’s first season as head coach, the Red Raiders beat Texas and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time and thrashed Mississippi in a bowl game to finish 8-5.
Texas Tech is ranked No. 24 in the coaches poll and atop the “also receiving votes” list in The Associated Press top-25 poll.
“I think it’s going to be really special,” nose tackle Cole Godbout said. “It’s probably going to be like Mizzou in 2019. That’s really the only game I can compare it to. I’m excited to play them. They’re going to be a tough opponent, but they look beatable. I think all of our guys are ready for that.”
Here are three keys to the game for the Pokes to pull off the upset:
1. Peasley does it
UW is a run-first team. That won’t change as long as Bohl is in charge.
However, projected starting running back Dawaiian McNeely was lost for the season after tearing an ACL during fall camp and dynamic Northern Illinois transfer Harrison Waylee will not play against Texas Tech as he makes his way back from offseason knee surgery.
Instead of doing what the Red Raiders are expecting, trying to establish the run early, offensive coordinator Tim Polasek might want to get quarterback Andrew Peasley into a rhythm with some quick, high-percentage throws.
The super senior has a firm grasp of the pro-style offense and great rapport with wide receivers Wyatt Wieland and Alex Brown and tight ends Treyton Welch and John Michael Gyllenborg.
“Big difference,” Peasley said when asked how comfortable he feels compared to preparing for last year’s Week 0 debacle at Illinois. “I don’t say I get nervous for games but last year I was more nervous not being comfortable in the system. I think we’re a lot better this year all around, I think we’re closer together, especially me being around the team more and being able to go through a full year in the system is going to be a big difference. I think you’re going to see that Saturday.”
The Pokes know the offense needs to stay on the field and score as many points as possible to keep up with Texas Tech.
Peasley is ready for the challenge this time after last year’s baptism by fire in Big Ten country.
“He’s just extremely confident in everything he does,” Welch said. “If he makes a mistake, he’s the first one to point a finger at himself and not anybody else and fix it. He holds people accountable and then just goes forward with it. Having him as a leader and a quarterback has been great because he’s extremely confident in the pocket and that’s what you want. He’s smart with it.”
2. D-line must dominate
UW’s defensive line has been billed as the strength of the team and the best unit in the Mountain West.
Godbout and defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole will have to set the tone early against a Texas Tech offensive line that struggled in 2022.
Defensive ends DeVonne Harris, Braden Siders and Sabastian Harsh will have to play fast to throw Red Raiders quarterback Tyler Shough off balance before the Air Raid can take off.
“That’s going to be a huge factor in our success," defensive ends coach Brian Hendricks said of the experienced group he and defensive tackles coach Oscar Giles have. “Last season there was a lot of youth, there was a lot of inexperience. Now with that maturity and them being a little scarred from battle, interacting with them in practice it’s a mature group.
“They go to work just like a Wyoming Cowboy should. That interior group, they are wired the right way, and they are coached the right way. Coach Giles does a phenomenal job with them. They are what Wyoming football should be.”
Shough, a sixth-year senior who led Oregon to the 2020 Pac-12 championship before transferring, has passed for 3,879 yards with 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions during his injury-plagued career. Texas Tech is 8-1 in games he’s healthy enough to start and 8-0 in games he finishes.
“When he’s hot it’s really difficult to defend,” Bohl said. “We’re in hopes that we can be disruptive, get him to move and cover the receivers. Great player. His numbers and his stats will back it up.”
3. Altitude vs. Air Raid
McGuire decided to have the Red Raiders arrive a day early in an attempt to adjust to the altitude. The visitors went through a “Fast Friday” practice at Laramie High School to make sure the players aren’t surprised when they run out onto the field at War Memorial Stadium and see the “Welcome to 7,220 feet” sign.
Bohl said the elevation will be an advantage for the Cowboys, citing the fourth-quarter collapse he experienced on the High Plains as North Dakota State’s head coach.
On Sept. 13, 2008, the Bison led 13-0 in the third quarter, but Bohl's team was unable to hang on as UW rallied for a 16-13 victory decided by Jake Scott’s 29-yard field goal with 4 seconds left.
“All the years I was the head coach there was one time I felt like we ran out of gas,” Bohl said. “I think we might have been up by 10 in the fourth quarter, and we had guys that were (breathing heavily) on the sideline.
“Everybody has a different philosophy, (Texas Tech arriving early) is kind of like us going to Hawaii, but I do think altitude makes a difference.”
Conversely, the Red Raiders will try to wear out UW’s defense by executing the Air Raid spread offense at breakneck speed.
Texas Tech won't be slowing down this season, even with the rule change that keeps the clock moving after first downs.
“We’re planning on going fast. That’s who we are,” McGuire said. “If they get that marker set, we’re going.”
The Red Raiders will also be going for it a lot on Saturday night. During McGuire’s first season, Texas Tech led the FBS with 52 fourth-down conversion attempts, moving the chains 63.5% of the time.
UW’s defense will try to make the visitors pay for their aggressiveness.
“I doubt that Coach McGuire has the same mentality that Coach Leach had,” said Bohl, who went against Texas Tech's original Air Raid when he was Nebraska’s defensive coordinator. “I can remember calling a defense and it was fourth-and-15 and it was at their own 20 and Mike went for it. Old Cody guy. If Coach McGuire wants to do that, OK. …
“There’s different philosophies and that’s what they have. I can tell you they crunched the numbers. On the flip side, there’s some real benefits. If you can get off the field on fourth down, it’s a turnover. The turnover margin in this game early in the year is going to have a big impact.”
If the Pokes can keep this game close into the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders might run out of oxygen while the crowd holds its collective breath.