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LARAMIE -- The University of Wyoming football team has some of the top offensive players in the Mountain West.

Redshirt senior quarterback Cameron Coffman leads in passing yards (944) and total offense (293.3 yards per game).

Junior wide receivers Tanner Gentry (439 yards) and Jake Maulhardt (239) are and first and fifth in receiving yards, respectively.

Sophomore running back Brian Hill is second in rushing yards (461).

Yet, the Cowboys are 0-4.

UW has shown it can move the ball, for the most part, but it hasn't shown it can finish drives with points. It is 10th out of 12 MW teams in scoring at 21 points per game. And, its last in red zone offense (scoring at or inside the opponents' 20-yard line). The Cowboys have scored on 8 of 13 tries.

UW has had 12 offensive possessions where it came up with no points this season when it moved the ball into opponents' territory.

"It's been a little bit of everything," UW offensive coordinator Brent Vigen said on the offense's scoring struggles.

In last Saturday's 38-28 home loss to New Mexico, UW's first two possessions reached the Lobos' 34 and 20-yard lines. Plays for negative yards ended those scoring drives.

"Those times are paramount that we make the plays and make the right calls," Vigen said.

UW scored a touchdown on its third possession to cut New Mexico's lead to 14-7. But on its next two possessions it combined for minus-26 yards. A quarterback sack ended one drive and a pass interference penalty doomed another.

Speaking of penalties, UW is 10th in the MW with 70.2 penalty yards per game and its 30 penalties overall is the fourth-most in the conference. Eighteen of those penalties came in two games -- a season-high of 10 against New Mexico and eight in a 24-13 season-opening loss to North Dakota.

UW also has averaged a minus 37.3 yards per game. Of its 149 negative yards thus far, 92 have come on 11 quarterback sacks.

"Our margin of error is pretty thin," Vigen said. "We can dig ourselves out of some holes, but not all of them. "We're a team that's not going to walk off the bus and beat anybody with talent right now, or with experience.

"To be in the fight come the fourth quarter we have to do a lot of things well. We have to play at high rate and we haven't quite done that at this point."

UW's scored only 20 points in the fourth quarter this season, but it's been pretty consistent -- not in a good way -- in terms of scoring production. It scored 21 points in the first and second quarters, and 22 in the third.

The Cowboys' offensive shortcomings the last two games have been more glaring in the second half.

Against New Mexico and a 31-14 loss at Washington State Sept. 19, the offense had four second-half turnovers. The Cowboys trailed 21-14 at halftime at Washington State and three of its first four offensive series got into Cougars' territory. But they ended in a loss of downs, a punt and a fumble.

Ironically, it was first-half offensive struggles that hurt UW the most in its first two losses.

It had four punts and a loss of downs in the opener against North Dakota.

There were two touchdowns in the Cowboys' 48-29 home loss to Eastern Michigan - on the first and final possessions of the half - but in between were two missed field goals, a punt and a fumble.

"There have been multiple times we've move the ball well, get on their side of the field and then bog down," Coffman said. "It could be penalties, an incomplete pass, or a negative run. When you get down there, defenses stiffen up. We need to finish drives and get touchdowns."

Vigen said solutions aren't as simple as plugging in a player or two into the lineup. He credited the defenses UW has faced in certain situations. For instance, Vigen said New Mexico did a good job of selling out on some run blitzes.

The Lobos held the Cowboys to 42 yards rushing.

Youth has been a common excuse or explanation for some of the offensive shortcomings. Yes, this is the second season Vigen has been calling the plays in UW's pro-style offense. But not all of the guys in the lineup now were involved in the offense last year.

Coffman ran the scout team as he sat out to satisfy NCAA transfer rules after coming from Indiana.

UW has played two true freshmen on the right side of the offensive line for most of the last two games in guard Kaden Jackson and tackle Zach Wallace.

Gentry and Maulhardt have been good, but other than junior tight end Jacob Hollister, none of UW's five true freshmen wide receivers have emerged as consistent offensive threats.

"It's more inexperience than youth," Vigen said. "It's growth. With eight regular season games left, if we keep the right mindset we can become something different than we are right now.

"Regardless of the outcomes, are we getting better each time out there? That's hard to quantify. The easy way to do that is wins and losses."

Gentry added to Biletnikoff Award watch list

University of Wyoming junior wide receiver Tanner Gentry was added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list Tuesday.

The Biletnikoff Award is given annually to the outstanding receiver in college football.

Gentry was one of 15 players added to the list Tuesday.

He leads the Mountain West in receiving yards (439) and receiving yards per game.

Those statistics are 12th and 15th in the nation, respectively.

Gentry has 26 catches for 439 yards and three touchdowns this season for the 0-4 Cowboys. His 6.5 catches per game is second in the Mountain West.