Cowboys prioritizing improved line play against New Mexico

Oct. 4—LARAMIE — University of Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl was hopeful he could unearth some positives from his team's performance during a 33-16 loss to San Jose State after a careful review of the game film.

"That was not the case," the Cowboys coach said during Monday afternoon's news conference. "San Jose is a really good football team. Certainly, the best team they've had since I've been coach. Their quarterback played well, their defensive front was very impressive, and their receivers made plays.

"Credit to them because we got took behind the wood shed and beat by a good football team. We knew it was going to be a challenge going in, but we didn't play our best football game."

Bohl pointed to a handful of glaring issues UW (3-3 overall, 1-1 Mountain West) had Saturday night. The biggest were offensive line play and passing defense, especially on third-and-long.

The ninth-year coach has been effusive in his praise of the Pokes' offensive line this season, but the Spartans found some holes in that group and exploited them.

"That was the first time I've seen our offensive line out of whack, not balanced up and having some guys penetrate," Bohl said. "We have to improve on that. ... (San Jose State) had a really, really good defensive front.

"I knew that watching their tape, but when I saw them live, I was like, 'Whoa!' There are going to be several of those guys playing in the NFL. When you combine maturity, strength and explosiveness, they are aggressive."

UW figures to have its hands full when it plays at New Mexico at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Lobos (2-3, 0-2) bring a variety of unique pressures from their 3-3-5 defensive scheme, mastered by third-year coach Danny Gonzales and defensive coordinator Rocky Long.

"They're very disruptive and play a very penetrating style of defense that's unconventional," Bohl said. "Those two guys know that defense inside and out, and we have to take advantage of some things we think we have in our advantage."

New Mexico thrives on gap penetration and throws a variety of looks at opposing offenses.

"It's a disruptive kind of defense that has a lot of different guys coming from a lot of different places," Bohl said. "You live by the sword or die by the sword. We've got to make them pay. In the past, we haven't. They've had their way with us.

"We have to have a better game plan and execute within the rush game and in protecting the quarterback."

Injury report

Sophomore wide receiver Will Pellisier remained on the depth chart for last week's game despite leaving the Cowboys' loss at Brigham Young with an apparent left shoulder injury. The Big Horn product was not on the depth chart released Monday. He is UW's fourth-leading receiver with eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Junior quarterback Andrew Peasley suffered a hip pointer in the early going against San Jose State. He completed just 6 of 20 passes for 85 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Peasley also led the Cowboys in rushing with 74 yards on seven carries. Sixty-one of those yards came on one carry.

Bohl said he expects Peasley to play Saturday against New Mexico.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.