The air was chilly during the first half of Utah’s matchup against Wyoming as fans settled in the back of their chairs on Halloween, witnessing two quarters of Utah offensive errors countered by efficient plays from a Wyoming quarterback who wouldn’t quit.
Austyn Carta-Samuels, Wyoming’s freshman quarterback, gave Utah’s defense a good amount of trouble in the first half, running essentially a one-man offense. As the Utes struggled to tally points, Carta-Samuels set the pace of the first half, giving an experienced defense grief that usually only comes from a quarterback with years of experience.
“Carta-Samuels is a slippery guy, and (we saw on film that) we gotta try and keep him in the cage with our pass rush,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “We did not do a good job of that quite a few times in the first half, but we did a better job in the second half.”
In the first two quarters of the game, Carta-Samuels put more pressure on Utah’s defense than the numbers indicate. Although he ended the half with just 29 rushing yards, Carta-Samuels’ quick direction changes and agile feet kept the Utes on their toes. When he didn’t keep the ball himself, Carta-Samuels scrambled to complete plays and put Wyoming in position to end the half up 10-3.
“The first half, they got a trick play and a field goal on us,” said senior linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. “Our performance let the quarterback run all over us, just letting him out of the pocket…doing things we don’t normally do.”
With fewer than 5 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Carta-Samuels sent the ball to fellow quarterback Robert Benjamin, who then returned the ball to Carta-Samuels. He finished the catch-and-run with a 30-yard sprint for the touchdown.
“(We felt like) the quarterback scramble was all they had offensively…so we tried to shut that down in the second half,” Sylvester said. “The scheme was the same, we just tried to execute better.”
Whittingham said the defense presented a more disciplined attack in the second half that allowed them to better contain Carta-Samuels.
Coming out of the locker room with reclaimed high-intensity pressure, Utah’s defense said “no more” to Carta-Samuels and the Cowboy offense, holding them to just 1 net rushing yard and 21 yards of total offense in the third quarter.
In the defensively dominating second half, the Utes also saw defensive back R.J. Stanford collect his first career interception to go along with two pass breakups for the game. The Utes tallied five sacks in the last two quarters, two of which came from defensive end Koa Misi. Misi led the Utes with eight tackles, followed closely by defensive back Justin Taplin-Ross, who ended the night with six.
Utah freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn, who made his collegiate debut in the Utes’ 22-10 victory, credited the defense with the win that moved Utah to 7-1 for the season.
“It was really a defensive win,” Wynn said. “They were really on tonight.”
Mike Mangum/The Daily Utah ChronicleKoa Misi brings down Wyoming quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels. The Utah defense started out slow but was able to shut down the Pokes? attack in the second half. Misi led the team with eight tackles and two sacks.