LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowboys are second to one.
Following their second consecutive game of forcing at least four turnovers, the Cowboys rank second in the nation in turnover margin, behind only unbeaten Oklahoma State.
With an average margin of plus-1.56 turnovers per game, Wyoming sits ahead of top-ranked LSU. Wyoming is a seemingly unlikely program to be sandwiched between the top two teams in the nation.
“It’s just working out that way,” UW defensive coordinator Marty English said. “Everybody’s trying and playing hard right now, so the ball’s bouncing our way.”
Just a couple of weeks ago, the ‘Pokes were lamenting that, while their turnover margin was strong, they were not forcing turnovers at the healthy clip they had hoped. That changed when the ‘Pokes forced nine in the past two games.
They forced four fumbles and intercepted a pass in the Nov. 5 loss to TCU. And Saturday, Wyoming used three critical fourth-quarter turnovers, as well as an earlier fumble, to beat Air Force for the first time since 2005.
“Everyone’s just going all out,” senior linebacker Brian Hendricks said. “We’ve got to make plays to win. I think turnovers are just the result of playing fast and playing aggressive. That’s just what we’ve been able to do. Some of them can be really good plays and some can be just, ‘Wow, how did that happen?’ “
The impact of UW’s ability to force turnovers becomes even more evident when looking at the rest of its defensive numbers.
Outside of the No. 38-rated pass defense in the nation, the ‘Pokes rank outside the top half of the Football Bowl Subdivision in every other major statistical category.
Wyoming enters Saturday’s home game against New Mexico hoping that the turnover trend continues. The one-win Lobos rank last in the Mountain West and 107th out of 120 FBS teams in turnover margin at minus-0.8 per game.
The Lobos fumbled once in a loss to UNLV on Saturday, the first time in more than a month that they played a game without turning the ball over multiple times.
“The thing that they’re doing is they’re playing really hard,” New Mexico interim coach George Barlow said when asked what he’s seen from the Cowboys’ propensity to force turnovers. “They’re doing an excellent job of stripping and believing that they’re going to get those turnovers.
“We’re going to try to move the ball consistently, and we’ve just got to make sure we’re holding onto the ball.”
Against one of the top turnover teams in the country, it could be a chore.
