There were times when watching the game versus Air Force a person might think the Cowboys are starting to turn the corner. Then there were times that reminded us that the corner is getting closer, but it’s not yet turned. The Cowboys, who committed four turnovers, aren’t yet the team Wyoming fans would love them to be.
Another frustrating night for Wyoming who couldn’t seem to keep the ball in their possession and couldn’t seem to score in the redzone again. Different game, same problem.
The effort of the team, and will to win, hasn’t left this team, despite being 0-6 and off to their worst start since 1939.
The teams traded a lot of punts to start the game, finishing the first quarter at 0-0. Neither team was able to establish any kind of meaningful drive. Wyoming punter Ethan Wood, punting in his hometown of Colorado Springs, had a terrific night punting the ball putting Air Force deep in their own territory several times.
Air Force got on the board first with running back Shayne Davern taking a run into the endzone to give the Falcons a 7-0 led. Wyoming would strike back with kicker Tristan Bailey hitting his first field goal as a college player on a 44 yard field goal. The field goal was the first conversion for the Cowboys this season, now 1-5 on the season.
The 7-3 score would be the score that took the game to halftime.
As the second half got underway the Cowboys and Falcons continued trading punts. Karson Roberts took the game into his own hands at that point and started running the football very effectively. Roberts capped their second drive of the third quarter with a nine yard core. At that point the game looked out of reach for the Cowboys.
Wyoming had a promising drive interrupted with a Brian Hill fumble at the Air Force five yard line and the Falcons converted that into a touchdown with Jalen Robinette hitting Garrett Brown for a 56 yard touchdown pass. Wyoming has allowed 12 touchdowns of 35 yards or further this season. Another red zone mistake for the Cowboys.
The next Wyoming drive turned into another turnover for the Falcons who picked off a tipped pass from Cameron Coffman. On the next play Shayne Devern turned that into a 46 yard rush for a touchdown.
The Cowboys weren’t yet done fighting, who scored on their next possession. Cameron Coffman hit Jake Maulhardt for a 17 yard score to make the score 28-10. Air Force would return with a field goal to push the score to 31-10.
The Cowboys still had fight left in them with Cameron Coffman hooking up with Jake Maulhardt for one more touchdown with under a minute remaining. The game would finish with Air Force winning 31-17, snapping a two game winning streak the Cowboys had over Air Force.
The Cowboys gave up 299 yards of rushing to the Falcons and 370 overall. The Cowboys finished with 307 yards of total offense.
Despite his two fumbles tonight Brian Hill finished with 128 yards of rushing for the Pokes.
Despite his two interceptions Cameron Coffman finished with 192 yards and two scores.
Several three and outs for the Cowboys didn’t provide much rest for the Cowboy defense who started to wear down later in the game and Air Force started ripping off longer runs.
The bad for the Cowboys tonight were turnovers and lack of scoring from the redzone. These two things have been problems this season for the Pokes.
The good for the Cowboys was they were only penalized once for 10 yards.
Bohl said after the game that Lucas Wacha, Saiosi Hala’api’api, and Robert Priester all suffered concussions in tonight’s game. They will have to undergo concussion testing this week to determine if they will be able to play in the next game.
The Cowboys will be back in Laramie next weekend taking on the Nevada Wolfpack. Nevada is 3-3 on the season. They won against New Mexico this week 35-17 in Reno. The game will be a 2:00pm start and will be shown on ESPN3.