Turning point, unsung hero and what’s next for UW football

AKRON, Ohio -- Brayden Johnson is a man of few words.

On Thursday night inside InfoCision Stadium, in what felt like a late October outing -- rain, wind and plenty of vacant seats adding to the fall-like ambiance -- the senior from southern Oklahoma let his play do all the talking.

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Perched on Wyoming's 5-yard line with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter, Akron quarterback Ben Finley faked the jet sweep, looked to his right and spotted running back Jordan Gant, heading up the right seam.

The senior signal caller locked in and fired a dart into the end zone. The pass never made it to its destination.

"I was just dropping back, looking for somebody to guard," Johnson said postgame, a soft-spoken southern twang accompanying a wide grin. "I just looked back at the quarterback and the ball was just coming right to me. So, I mean, it's really just an easy play for me."

That interception thwarted the Zips' best opportunity to cross the white stripe in an impressive 10-0 opening-night blanking that saw the visitors limit Finley and Co. to just 228 yards of total offense.

Johnson, an Oklahoma Baptist transfer, capped his FBS debut with a team-high eight tackles, including four of the solo variety. He returned that pick out to the 17-yard line, sparking a 15-play, 72-yard drive.

No, the Cowboys didn't capitalize, turning the ball over on downs inside the Akron 10. Miscues and an overall lack of execution in crucial, short-yardage situations became an unwelcome theme in this one.

But nearly seven precious minutes did tick off the game clock.

On a night when points -- and yards -- were hard to come by for Joe Moorhead's spread attack, 92 yards and 10:18 left in regulation almost seemed insurmountable.

Turns out, it was.

"Offensively, we had some opportunities throughout the course of the game," Akron's head coach said. "We're 2nd-and-goal at the five and the only thing we can't do there is turn the football over. Disappointed in the offense.

"From an accountability standpoint, I'm disappointed in myself because I put the game plan together and called the plays."

Wyoming's revamped defense, featuring nine new starters from a season ago, limited the Zips to just 39 yards over its next 19 offensive snaps. That equated to three straight punts and the clock in the south end zone reading all zeroes.

Did that performance surprise Jay Sawvel? Nope.

"I knew that for 60 minutes we were going to play like our hair was on fire because I watched that daily in practice for the last three weeks," the Cowboys' second-year head coach said. "I didn't worry about, like, OK, at some point, defensively, that we will let off the gas, right? We've got a bunch of guys that play really hard."

Despite rolling up 426 total yards -- 260 through the air and 166 on the ground -- Kaden Anderson and the Wyoming offense mustered just a field goal through the first 55-plus minutes.

That all changed with a simple screen pass to the flat.

Chris Durr Jr., who finished with a team-best 190 receiving yards on eight grabs, took two steps back, hauled in the late fourth-quarter throw, waited for his blockers to engage and darted through the Akron defense on a 35-yard sprint to the end zone.

Ball game.

"Chris Durr, he's a hell of a player," said Anderson, who connected on 19-of-36 passes for 260 yards and a tipped interception. "Ya'll are going to see a lot of the Kaden Anderson to Chris Durr connection this year. We have a special connection."

Wyoming 10, Akron 0

UNSUNG HERO

This shutout bid almost never happened.

Alex Adams, cruising through the Cowboys' secondary, found himself all alone on a corner route early in the second quarter. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound speedster, who began his career at LSU, was about to make a splash after missing the entire 2024 campaign with a lower-leg injury.

In fact, that same ailment cost the former all-conference receiver the latter half of the prior season, too.

Finley's heave landed right in Adams' hands just outside the red zone, but a slight bobble -- coupled with a blindside blast from Wyoming's Andrew Johnson -- cost him a feel-good story and possibly a touchdown.

The senior strong safety from Cheyenne was credited with that pass breakup. He also tallied six tackles, which was second most on the team. Those weren't love taps, either.

Johnson, who stands at 6-foot-1 and tips the scales at 201, started five games in 2024, filling in for a pair of seniors, Isaac White and Wyett Ekeler, who for the first time in their respective careers were sidelined with injuries.

The results: A mixed bag.

Johnson, though, gained the trust of his coaches during the offseason, mastering the defense and bringing experience to an almost-completely overhauled backend. He, along with Jones Thomas, landed atop the depth chart just last week.

Now you see why.

QUOTABLE

"The defense did a really excellent job of keeping points off the scoreboard. It was a little bit of bend-but-don't-break, but definitely a winning performance ... Ultimately when I gauge defensive performance, you know, the first thing we look at it is points allowed. Obviously, we don't want to give up a bunch of rush yards, leaky yardage and things like that, but we can give up, what, 166 (rushing) yards, a touchdown and a field goal, I'll take that trade off."

-- Akron head coach Joe Moorhead on his defense allowing just 10 points in a loss to visiting Wyoming

"I mean, look, we're better physically. I think you can see that a little bit, defensively. There were a lot of things that got knocked back tonight. There was a lot of push, you know, and we need to have that. We need to capitalize on that ...  We've got to build. We're not close. We've got so much more room where we can grow."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel, talking about his new-look defense that limited the Zips to just 228 yards of total offense and three third-down conversions on 15 attempts

"Sam Scott won that game, too. That was a hell of a performance by Sam. He's really good. We have a damn good running back. I'm really happy for him."

-- Wyoming QB Kaden Anderson talking about the senior running back from Omaha, Neb., who amassed 132 rushing yards on 29 carries in Akron

"It feels good. It's regular. You know, we didn't do nothing much yet. So, you know, come talk to me about Week 7, Week 8."

-- Wyoming wideout Chris Durr Jr. when asked how it feels to be 1-0

WHAT'S NEXT?

Wyoming (1-0, 0-0) will open the home portion of its schedule next Saturday against Northern Iowa, an FCS program that will host Butler in Cedar Falls on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers finished 3-9 overall in 2024, sporting a 1-7 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. These two programs have met on the football field just once before -- and it was a memorable one. All-American wideout Ryan Yarborough snagged a go-ahead touchdown with 1:17 left in regulation to knock off future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and the Panthers, 45-42, inside War Memorial Stadium back in 1993. Yarborough that day became the 14th player in NCAA history to eclipse 3,000 receiving yards. He capped his career with a record 4,357. The Cowboys would knock off two other future NFL quarterbacks that season in San Jose State's Jeff Garcia and Fresno State's Trent Dilfer en route to claiming a share of the WAC title and playing Kansas State in the Copper Bowl. Wyoming dropped its lone FCS game a season ago, falling to visiting Idaho, 17-13.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players