First half summary

The Wyoming offense looked good early, scoring on its first possession, highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run by true freshman Alevester Alexander -- on his first carry as a Cowboy.

Weber State then countered on a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cameron Higgins to Tim Toone, who got behind the Wyoming secondary in the right corner of the end zone.

While junior quarterback Robert Benjamin showed the ability to move the ball (6 of 8 passing for 66 yards, 3 rushes 19 yards), Wyoming coach Dave Christensen went with true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels in the second quarter.

Mistakes have hurt both teams in the first half and the Cowboys are taking advantage of the Weber State miscues.

Early on, the Cowboys lost a chance to maintain a nice drive with a holding penalty, then lost the ball on a fumble after a nice drive.

The Cowboys then missed out on a chance for a touchdown after being forced to a field goal after first and goal on the 3-yard line. A procedure penalty pushed UW back.

Weber State then hurt itself on a running into the punter penalty on third and 4. Later in the drive, the Wildcats had an illegal substitution penalty that gave the 'Pokes a first down.

Seemingly in trouble on 4th and 10, freshman Carta-Samuels avoided the rush and found Travis Burkhalter down field for a 28-yard pass to the 4-yard line. Darius Terry then scored his first career TD on a 2-yard run for a 16-7 Wyoming lead (missed extra point by Austin McCoy).

Weber State had nine penalties in the first half and Higgins threw two interceptions.

Wyoming up 16-7 at halftime. Cowboys 290 total yards of offense, Wildcats 175 (negative 5 rushing).

Comments

Unknown said…
why did Christensen pull Benjamin? were any of the turnovers his fault? Seemed he was playing really well in the 1st quarter before the switch to Carter-Samuels (who, watching via gamecast online hasn't looked as good, statistically).

Any idea if Benjamin is hurt or did do you think Christensen merely wants to go with a platoon system in this game?
September 5, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Richard Anderson said…
Benjamin back in to begin second half. Speculation from the press box was that DC was not happy with Benjamin after a handoff. Just speculation. Will likely find out after the game.
September 5, 2009 at 3:12 PM
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