Shutout (or shut out) for the season? Not in Wyoming.

My domination post the other day got me really interested in Wyoming’s best defensive (and worst offensive) teams. Admittedly, it’s easier for me to look this up, rather than the best offensive (and worst defensive) teams, based on how my database is set up, but I hope to post something this summer about the top offensive teams in state history…

Now that that’s out of the way… It still somewhat suprises me that no team in Wyoming, at least from 1946 to the present, has ever gone unbeaten, untied and un-scored-upon. Three teams, though, have come close.

Upton in 1971 and both Saratoga and Torrington in 1974 have special distinctions no other Wyoming teams can claim. These three teams are the only teams that gave up points in only one game of their seasons, and these three teams are the only three to allow fewer than 10 points in a season. Every other team in Wyoming’s history allowed points in at least two games of their seasons (of teams that played at least four games), which makes the defensive work accomplished by these three teams that much more special.

Saratoga and Torrington only gave up six points in their separate 1974 seasons, Saratoga in an 8-0 season run while Torrington in a 9-0 campaign. Upton gave up eight points in 1971 while compiling a 7-0-1 record.

For comparison, here are the team’s respective dominating seasons:

Saratoga 1974
Coach: Mike Koulentes
S6/1974 Burns 0 Saratoga 12
S13/1974 Lingle 0 Saratoga 28
S20/1974 Saratoga 40 Hanna 0
S27/1974 Saratoga 52 Glendo 6
O2/1974 Saratoga 51 Bow-Basin 0
O11/1974 Saratoga 70 Guernsey-Sunrise 0
O18/1974 St. Mary’s 0 Saratoga 60
O25/1974 Pine Bluffs 0 Saratoga 35

Torrington 1974
Coach: Jim Wiseman
A30/1974 Douglas (SD) 0 Torrington 27
S6/1974 Kimball (NE) 0 Torrington 10
S13/1974 Lusk 0 Torrington 26
S20/1974 Torrington 27 Buffalo 0
S27/1974 Douglas 0 Torrington 49
O4/1974 Torrington 19 Glenrock 6
O11/1974 Newcastle 0 Torrington 42
O18/1974 Torrington 41 Wheatland 0
O25/1974 Torrington 22 Gillette 0

Upton 1971
Coach: Kent Morgan
S3/1971 Upton 28 Hill City (SD) 0
S10/1971 Arvada-Clearmont 0 Upton 39
S17/1971 Upton 16 Tongue River 0
S24/1971 Upton 14 Sundance 0
O1/1971 Big Horn 0 Upton 44
O8/1971 Midwest 8 Upton 26
O15/1971 Upton 0 Moorcroft 0 tie
O22/1971 Upton 16 Hulett 0
O29/1971 Glenrock Upton canceled-snow

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

However, there have been many, many more offensive teams that have failed to crawl out of single digits for an entire season’s worth of scoring. In fact, 10 teams couldn’t get into double digits when you added all their scoring for their season together (minimum four games). All of these teams only scored in one game of their seasons. They are:

Greybull 2000 (6 points, 0-7)
Hulett 1955 (6 points, 0-4)
Midwest 2007 (6 points, 0-7)
Mountain View 1978 (7 points, 0-6)
Normative Services 2003 (6 points, 0-6, although three games were lost by forfeit)
Saratoga 1967 (6 points, 0-9)
Sundance 1946 (6 points, 0-7-1)
Sundance 1952 (7 points, 0-8)
Sundance 1954 (6 points, 0-6)
Wyoming Indian 1978 (6 points, 0-7)

Additionally, seven other teams scored in only one game of their seasons — although that one game allowed them to break past the single-digit barrier. Those squads include:

Kemmerer 1954 (12 points, 0-7)
Meeteetse 1986 (12 points, 0-7)
Mountain View 1972 (20 points, 0-9)
Mountain View 1977 (14 points, 0-7)
Superior 1957 (14 points, 0-6)
University Prep 1949 (12 points, 0-5)
Wyoming Indian 1979 (18 points, 0-7)

What comes out of this? Well, going a season with only one touchdown is much more common than going a season only giving up one touchdown. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising to me that there are more teams that have struggled to score than those that have dominated on defense. However, it still surprises me that Wyoming, at least since 1946, hasn’t seen a “shutout season” on either side of the ball. (Of course, this comes with the qualifier that I DO know that the Heart Mountain camp team in 1943 went unbeaten, untied and un-scored-upon, and that some of the older teams from back in the ’10s and ’20s probably accomplished the feat, too.)

–patrick