Blessedly, the Wyoming Cowboys made a trip to the city of San Marcos, Texas, which made seeing them play in person this season easy for the Wyoming fans in the Austin/Houston/Dallas areas. Although the Pokes left the state of Texas with a W, they looked less than stellar in the first half. I’m always happy to watch my team, but the viewing experience is better when your team shows up against an opponent they should definitely beat. Fortunately, the Wyoming alumni tailgate was nice, and the Texas State Athletic facilities are on point (like seriously, Texas State, keep it up).

The game started with Texas State scoring a touchdown in each of the first two quarters. Wyoming managed to snag a field goal and a touchdown in the second quarter, but were still down 10-14 at halftime. In the second half, the Cowboys stopped the Bobcats from scoring again. Fortunately, the Cowboys scored a field goal and added a pick-six in the third quarter and another field goal in the fourth quarter.

I’m not sure if the Cowboys were just feeling a little too optimistic after taking down Missouri the weekend before or if Texas State is actually good. Considering Texas State didn’t score again in the second half, it’s apparent that Wyoming’s defense just needed to wake up in the first half. However, the larger concern comes from Wyoming’s offense.

Sean Chambers, starting quarterback for the Wyoming Cowboys, throws well, but he repeatedly handed off the ball only for it to be stopped for little or no gain. For some teams, running the ball is their bread and butter, and no matter how stacked a defense is, they run through the line. Wyoming is not that team right now. The Cowboys rushed for 190 yards, while throwing for 103 yards, and, honestly, the 103 looked better than the 190. If you glanced at the stats for this game, you would wonder how Texas State threw for 394 yards and rushed for 50 yards and somehow lost to Wyoming.

While I’m glad the Cowboys walked away with a win, they’re going to need to step it up before conference play. They can’t ride the win over Missouri through the season. They need to continue to show up and put in work, even against teams that should be lesser competition like Texas State, Idaho, and Tulsa. Wyoming fans were excited for the Missouri win, but they’ll be more excited to see the Cowboys play well every week and win the Mountain West Championship, ensuring themselves a decent bowl game in the process.

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