LARAMIE — Dave Christensen basked in the long-awaited spotlight Saturday despite the dull wattage provided in Wyoming. He opened his head coaching career in front of 18,016 fans and no TV cameras against Weber State. It wasn’t a packed Arrowhead Stadium or a national TV audience against Oklahoma.
He didn’t have Chase Daniel, the greatest passer in Missouri history, running his explosive spread offense. He had a junior college transfer and a true freshman from San Jose, Calif. He didn’t have two first-round NFL draft picks catching passes. He had his two best receivers suspended, leaving four guys who couldn’t beat the band’s tuba section in a relay.
Yet in holding off FCS (politically correct version of I-AA) Weber State 29-22, Missouri’s former offensive coordinator gave formerly embarrassed Wyoming fans reasons not to hide in a duck blind.
Same goes for his players.
“I was having a blast,” said junior receiver David Leonard, who caught seven passes for 87 yards. “You’ll have to wipe the smile off my face.”
Because they beat Weber State? Hang on. You’re forgetting you’re talking about Wyoming, the feeblest offense in all college football a year ago. This is a program that finished last in scoring (12.67 points per game), 114th in pass efficiency (91.68) and 108th in total offense (296.0 yards per game).
Wyoming’s 434 yards topped every 2008 effort but the 544 in the 35-10 win over pitiful San Diego State. The 29 points did too. The Cowboys’ lone turnover, by cornerback Marcell Gipson on his only carry, borders on an end-of-the-world headline.
Only Washington State had a worse turnover margin than Wyoming’s minus-1.83. The Joe Glenn era is dead. Christensen is “spreading” the word.
“This has been my goal, to be in this position,” Christensen said. “I didn’t know how we’d perform. I’ve been sick to my stomach for two days.”
For Wyoming, Weber State wasn’t a bad test. Coming off a 10-3 season, it is ranked ninth in FCS and has three preseason All-Americans, including a 4,400-yard passer in Cameron Higgins and a 1,500-yard rusher in senior Trevyn Smith.
Weber State is no Nicholls State. And remember, this is a Wyoming team that needed a field goal with four seconds left last year to beat North Dakota State 16-13.
But oh, Christensen has such a long way to go. In an ideal world, Christensen would redshirt freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels but can’t. The returning quarterbacks were so dreadful, senior Karsten Sween dropped to third string and junior Dax Crum is fourth. Chris Stutzriem, part of Glenn’s disastrous three-quarterback shuffle, transferred to Indiana State.
Carta-Samuels (8-for-17 for 101 yards) alternated with Robert Benjamin (8-for-14, 87 yards), a JC All-American from Phoenix College, for almost identical stats. Neither has the speed to make the spread explode, but they didn’t throw passes to trainers on the sideline, either.
“We have guys you saw today who can run the offense,” Christen-sen said. “We’ve got to continue recruiting the type of personnel to run the scheme.”
His recruiting went on the radar Saturday. Freshman Alvester Alexander, a 4.4 tailback from Houston, took his first college carry 44 yards to open the scoring. Freshman Shamiel Gary, whose only other scholarship offer was from Air Force, started his college career with a school record-tying three interceptions.
They’ll need more than that Saturday when Texas visits in the biggest home game in state history. They’ll need breaks. They’ll need defense. They’ll need prayers. But with Christensen, maybe Wyoming football no longer needs something else.
Ridicule.
John Henderson covers college football. Contact: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
