LARAMIE -- Keany Parks was in the dog house.

Chase Roberts helped put him there. So did Dalton Carnes and Blair Conwright.

Those three wide receivers, over a two-week span, combined for 259 yards on 14 grabs. Conwright added a touchdown in a lopsided 44-17 loss at North Texas.

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Wyoming's sophomore cornerback, a first year starter, was on the wrong end of most of that damage. That's why the coaching staff decided to relegate him to the sideline with Air Force in town.

"Look, I've coached secondary players for a long time and there's an experience factor that comes with it," Jay Sawvel said. "First of all, Keany did not play corner in high school. He played some safety and was a really good running back."

The rookie head coach lent some additional perspective, too.

"He had a rough night against BYU," he continued. "Well, now you start fast forwarding it, there's a lot of people having rough nights against BYU.

"It's real easy for a young corner to kind of lose a little bit of confidence on some things."

Roberts caught six balls against the Cowboys. He capped his night with 129 receiving yards. That's an average of 21.5 per grab. The Cougars are 8-0 and feature a Top-60 passing attack.

North Texas is ranked No. 1 in that category.

The Mean Green lit up Wyoming's depleted secondary for 318 yards through the air. That unit averages nearly 372 an outing. Chandler Morris is the nation's leading passer and has 26 passing touchdowns.

"When you put a guy out there before he's fully ready, you know, sometimes that can happen," Sawvel said. "Then, when you play a really good opponent, those things can get magnified. I think from that -- for a couple of weeks -- he lost a little bit of confidence, plus he got injured ... So, there's a little bit of a setback to it."

 

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Things looked much different last Saturday night.

Spencer Petras went after Parks twice in the second quarter. Utah State's veteran quarterback looked in the direction of 6-foot-4, 220-pound Otto Fia on a 4th-and-5 from the Cowboys' 37. The throw was on target. Parks, glued to Fia' hip and running stride for stride, made a last-second adjustment, turned his head and batted the ball away near the goal line.

It was textbook.

On the ensuing drive, it was Grant Page's turn to get foiled by the Wisconsin product. The throw was heaved toward the back of the end zone. Parks, reading the 6-foot-3 wideout's eyes, got his hands up and caused just enough of a distraction to force the incompletion.

The visitors would have to settle for a 30-yard chip-shot field goal.

"He's got his confidence back a little bit," said Wyoming defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl, who said this was by far Parks' best outing. "... Credit Keany. Anytime you lose your job, to fight back and be able to respond the way he did, that says a lot about an 18-year-old, 19-year-old man's character. And I've appreciated that, because that's not easy when stuff's not going right."

Parks wasn't done making plays.

Facing a 3rd-and-8 at their own 27-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Petras fired off a dump pass to Rahsul Faison in the flat. The 200-pound running back turned up field, seeking the sticks. Instead, the 190-pound Parks undercut the senior, leaving him three yards short of the line to gain.

The perfect defense was called on fourth. A slight juke from back-up Bryson Barnes, though, froze blitzing linebacker Shae Suiaunoa long enough for him to slip through the line and pick up the first down. Utah State's Tanner Cragun would split the uprights from 40 yards out just eight snaps later, lifting the Aggies to a 27-25 win.

Though it was the seventh loss of the season and no one was looking for positives postgame, one was found in Parks' performance.

"He's kept working," Sawvel said. "The other day was his best game, so we need him to keep taking steps. I keep trying to tell him, like, hey, look, you're going to be a really good corner. You really will be. Some of these things are natural progressions."

University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

During the summer of 2021, 7220Sports.com counted down the Top 50 football players in University of Wyoming history, presented by Premier Bone & Joint Centers, Worthy of Wyoming.

The rules are simple: What was the player's impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.

This isn't a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220's Cody Tucker are Robert GagliardiJared NewlandRyan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.

We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS -- only we hope this catalog is fairer.

Don't agree with a selection? Feel free to sound off on our Twitter: @7220sports - #Top50UWFB

Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

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