UW backup QB/receiver deals with changes

BOB HAMMOND Comments 0
Published: November 4, 2009

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — The trouble with life is that every now and then it deals you a curve.

Wyoming's versatile Robert Benjamin has had to deal with a couple of nasty curves over the last 10 months that would have brought a lesser man to his knees.

Benjamin was living a dream last fall when the Cowboys recruited him. It was his opportunity to play major-college football.

He was expected to enroll at UW last January and even made the trip to Laramie. Curve No. 1 came when his academic transcript wasn't in order and he had to head back to Arizona to take care of business.

The personable Benjamin had to wait until the last minute of summer before he was able to get things taken care of and enroll at UW just prior to fall practice. The dream was alive and well.

Benjamin then worked his way up the depth chart and became the Cowboys' starting quarterback when the 2009 season opened against Weber State.

His time as a starter lasted just three games before he was replaced at the start of the second half of the Colorado game by true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels.

Curve No. 2 came when Benjamin was informed that the switch was permanent, at least for the present team.

"That whole thing was a shocking experience for me," Benjamin said. "I was disappointed in the situation. I felt like I could have been the guy for this team, but I guess the outcome ... the performance ... it really didn't show too well."

It wasn't that Benjamin had played all that bad.

In his three games as a starter, Benjamin completed 25-of-56 passes for 209 yards. He had also rushed for 91 yards on 25 tries. Even more importantly, Benjamin had protected the ball, something that new head coach Dave Christensen had demanded.

The problem was Carta-Samuels had been just a little better and offered what Christensen and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo were looking for in running the spread offense.

It would have been easy for Benjamin to sulk, or perhaps just give it all up. But that's not his makeup.

"I don't feel like I belong on the sideline," Benjamin said. "That's just been my mentality of how I've always approached football. I feel like I belong on the field. Even if that's not at quarterback here at Wyoming, I figure I should be incorporated somehow or someway.

"It's good to be able to help out in practice, but it's also good to be able to help out on Saturdays."

So, Benjamin decided to take it up with his head coach.

"Robert's a great team player, and he approached us and wanted to know if there were other ways he could help this football team," Christensen said. "He's got great athleticism and we need as many athletes as we can to help us out offensively."

And for now, that is at wide receiver where he had never played previously.

"We're trying to work him in and he's picked it up well because he understands the schemes, the system and what we are trying to get done. He can go in there and know where to line up and knows what the routes are ... those types of things," Christensen added.

Benjamin got a good look in last Saturday's game against Utah in Salt Lake City.

Not only did he catch three passes for 17 yards and had a carry for five yards, but he also teamed with Carta-Samuels on a 30-yard touchdown play.

Benjamin lined up as a receiver, took a lateral pass from Carta-Samuels and then, under heavy pressure, threw back across to Carta-Samuels, who raced down the sideline for the score.

"That was a really good experience," Benjamin said with a laugh. "After the play was over, some of the guys were saying, 'Man, I didn't think you were going to be able to get the ball off.' But it was critical that I got the ball off no matter what happened. I paused to make sure the defense was actually coming toward me to make sure there was a free lane for Austyn."

"It was unbelievable. Robert did an unbelievable job to catch that ball and get it back across the field as quick as he did," Carta-Samuels said. "The blocking was the best part of that play, though."

On the negative side, Benjamin did have a ball go through his hands that ended up as an interception. The pick killed a potential go-ahead drive for the Cowboys, who had moved from their own 20-yard line into Utah territory. Had Benjamin been able to catch the pass, it would have given the Cowboys a first down on the Utah 41.

"It was a drop. I didn't look it in, I took my eyes off of it, trying to peak at the defense and just lost track of where the ball was and it came on through," Benjamin said.

Christensen and Arroyo will be looking for ways to get Benjamin even more involved in the Wyoming offense, which has had its share of problems in recent weeks.

There are a lot of things that can happen when a team can put two quarterbacks on the field at the same time.

"On any given play he can still line up at quarterback," Carta-Samuels said. "They can split me out to receiver and run some of that Wildcat stuff with him in the backfield. That's going to catch defenses off guard with two quarterbacks on the field. There are a bunch of different things we can do with two quarterbacks on the field."

"I think that helps us out," Benjamin added. "I notice that when I'm on the field, there are a lot of safeties and cornerbacks pointing to me and saying, that's a quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.'"

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Information from: Laramie Daily Boomerang - Laramie, http://www.laramieboomerang.com

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