Brandon Sisson
bsisson1@uwyo.edu
As bowl game announcements started on Sunday, the Cowboys found out they will be playing long time rival Brigham Young University in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, California.
The Pokes narrowly lost to San Diego State 27-24 in the Mountain West Championship held at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. The game showed a very powerful run game by SDSU, with Donnel Pumphrey, who ended the season ranked 2nd nationally in rushing yards, and backup Rashaad Penny, combining for 227 yards to count towards the team’s 242 overall. The Aztecs will go on to play in the Las Vegas Bowl against the University of Houston Cougars.
“On behalf of the University of Wyoming, the administration, student athletes and coaches, we’re thrilled to be back in postseason,” Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman said. “Obviously we would have loved to have been Mountain West Conference champions, but that disappointment ended at noon today when we got the official announcement from the San Diego Poinsettia Bowl people that we were going to San Diego and that we were going to be playing BYU, which is a wonderful opportunity for the University.”
The Poinsettia Bowl will show a similar game, with the Pokes squaring up against BYU’s tough defense and run-heavy offense. BYU finished the season ranked 32nd in the nation in total defense, 8th in defense against the run, 15th in points against, but didn’t end up in the top 50 in passing yards allowed.
BYU’s standout performers this year include defensive back Kai Nacau, who finished the year with five interceptions to tie for 9th in Division I. Quarterback Taysom Hill threw for 2323 yards and 12 touchdowns. On the ground, BYU’s leading rusher was Jamaal Williams, who ran for 1165 yards for 11 touchdowns.
The Cowboys have had their first winning season since 2011, finishing this year 8-5 with help from UW’s leading rusher of all-time Brian Hill, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Josh Allen. Hill ran for 1767 yards on the season and 21 touchdowns, while Allen threw for 2996 yards and 26 touchdowns. The offense also ended up 24th overall in the nation in points scored.
“It’s going to be fun. We can’t wait to get to work and get ready to go out there in San Diego and give BYU a shot,” senior linebacker Lucas Wacha said.
The two teams haven’t played since 2010, and before that had a long history of a rivalry. They were in the same conference for different periods of time before BYU left to be independent. This bowl game will mark the 78th matchup between the teams, with Wyoming behind BYU 30-44-3. Wyoming’s last Mountain West Conference championship was against BYU in 1996, but they lost in overtime.
“The Poinsettia Bowl had chosen BYU a week or two ago. I, in the back of my mind, looked and said, ‘Wow, what a matchup,” head coach Craig Bohl said. “The Cowboys against BYU, in San Diego’. There’s a lot of history in between the two schools, a lot of competitive games.”
The game will take place at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN and will be the only bowl game played that day.
“We had the pleasure of playing on ESPN a lot this year, I thought that all the feedback that I’ve gotten, even though we came up short, that it really began to put Wyoming on a national stage,” Bohl said. “This is going to be another opportunity, with all the different bowl games stacked up back to back, to enjoy a national audience.”
