Wyoming coach Dave Christensen has apologized for his actions and comments after the Cowboys’ 28-27 loss to the Air Force Academy.
“I let my emotions, my passion for our football program and the frustrations of the first half of the season get the best of me, and my actions reflected negatively on our program,” Christensen said in a statement .
After Saturday night’s game, Christensen confronted Air Force coach Troy Calhoun on the field and questioned whether Falcons quarterback Connor Dietz was really injured when he left the game for one play with about eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and Wyoming leading 27-21. Christensen said the several minutes that trainers tended to Dietz gave the Falcons time to plan their next play.
Air Force scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown when backup QB Kale Pearson ran a bootleg in from 5 yards out on third down after Dietz left.
The referee announced that Dietz, by rule, had to leave the game because his helmet came off.
When the game ended, Christensen was visibly upset as he met Calhoun on the field. Calhoun described the meeting with Christensen as “probably not a conversation that I’d have with my mom.”
In interviews after the game, Christensen continued to criticize Air Force, saying he didn’t believe Dietz was hurt.
“In this game, we’re supposed to be ethical and that’s not ethical,” said Christensen, who was a player at Washington from 1980-82.
The incident occurred on homecoming weekend for Wyoming and on a night when it recognized the contributions of the nation’s military.
CALL STILL STINGS
With the 30th anniversary of the famous lateral play surrounding this week’s Stanford-California rivalry, Cardinal coach David Shaw was asked for his opinion about the disputed call, given the benefit of replay all these years later.
Shaw responded: “You’re asking me about replay?”
Indeed, this is not the week.
Shaw thinks running back Stepfan Taylor scored the tying TD on fourth down in No. 22 Stanford’s 20-13 overtime loss at fifth-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday, though he declined to criticize officials who upheld the decision after a review.
EXTRA POINTS
Texas quarterback David Ash says he will play this week against Baylor, despite a wrist injury to his non-throwing arm that knocked him out of the game against Oklahoma. … Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville says linebacker Daniel Cobb has been cleared of a felony burglary charge stemming from his arrest in August and is expected to play against TCU on Saturday.
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