The Wyoming Cowboys can play with the best teams in the country, but their offensive woes are keeping them from actually getting the big win they are looking for.

The Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) are coming off a disappointing loss to No. 16 Utah last week, where Wyoming took a 10-9 lead into the fourth quarter but collapsed late to allow the Utes to take the lead. After a costly Wyoming turnover, Utah went on to a 22-10 victory.

“I thought our kids fought the whole way through, there’s no quit in these kids,” said head coach Dave Christensen in a post-game press conference. “We’re in the thing until the last eight minutes of the game and we had a chance to win the football game. That’s all you can ask for at this point in time with where the program’s at.”

Wyoming suffered another disappointing loss when it led No. 2 Texas 10-6 with 24 seconds until halftime. Then the Cowboys disappeared to give up 35 unanswered points and lose 41-10.

First-year head coach Christensen brings a resume of potent offensive attacks from the University of Toledo and Missouri. As the offensive coordinator at Missouri, he helped lead an offense that was constantly ranked in the top 10 in several offensive categories.   

With offensively minded Christensen at the helm it has been a bit of a surprise to see the Cowboys sputter to score points.

The punting game has been a bright spot for Wyoming, though. They are ranked third in the Mountain West Conference and are tied for 24th nationally, averaging 38.7 net yards per punt.

“Despite our struggles offensively, because of our punt team we’ve been able to win the battle of field position and force people to have to go a long way to score,” Christensen said.