LARAMIE — Just two weeks ago Wyoming was rolling along with a 4-1 start and a bowl appearance was very much in the football team’s thinking.
Then came a bad five-minute stretch after a long lightning delay in a home game against New Mexico, followed by five turnovers on the road against Air Force last week. The result was a pair of tough losses, and now the Cowboys are up against it.
“There’s no doubt about it, our backs are against the wall,” Wyoming fifth-year coach Joe Glenn said this week. “You just can’t turn the ball over like we have been.”
The Cowboys have turned the ball over 20 times this season, 13 of which have come in the past three games – seven against Ohio, one versus New Mexico and five last Saturday against Mountain West contender Air Force.
Glenn made a switch at quarterback this week. Redshirt junior Ian Hetrick will get his first career start Saturday against Nevada-Las Vegas, replacing sophomore Karsten Sween.
“Karsten is in a little bit of a slump with his reads, and he’s missed a couple of passes,” Glenn said. “That happens, but if it happens and you don’t turn the ball over, you can still win, like we did with TCU. But if it happens and you turn the ball over, then you need to take a step back and look at what’s going on.”
Sween, who took over the starting job from junior Jacob Doss during the second half of Wyoming’s fifth game last year, against Syracuse, has struggled this season. While he has completed 61.7 percent of his passes (140-of-227) for 1,315 yards and eight touchdowns, Sween has thrown 12 interceptions in the first seven games.
While Hetrick is getting a shot at the starting job against the Rebels, it isn’t being done in the same context it was last season when Sween replaced Doss. At that time, the Cowboys’ coaching staff made the decision to move forward with Sween.
“We’re just trying to find a way to protect the football,” Glenn said. “We’re certainly not writing Karsten off, but we’re going to give Ian a chance and let Karsten try to settle down a bit.”
Hetrick redshirted last season after transferring to Wyoming (4-3, 1-2 MWC) from Santa Rosa (Calif.) College. He has appeared in five games this season, completing 9-of-16 passes for 103 yards with one interception.
“Coming from a junior college, you want to play and now this is my chance,” Hetrick said. “I’ve been working with these guys for two years now, and I trust every one of them.”
