The Wyoming Cowboys would fall to the Utah State Aggies by a score of 24-16 on Saturday. Wyoming would fall behind early and be unable to complete the comeback.
Wyoming would see change in quarterback as freshman Sean Chambers would enter the game briefly in the second quarter and play the majority of the second half replacing Tyler Vander Waal who has been the starting quarterback all year. Vander Waal would return for Wyoming’s final possession with 2:02 reaming in the game, but he would throw four incomplete passes in a row and Utah State would run out the clock.
“We looked at the timing of the game and Coach Vigen and I had been communicating,” said Head Coach Craig Bohl when asked about his decision to have Vander Waal run the two-minute offense rather than sticking with Chambers. “How far we were backed up and the amount of time that was left played a role. Tyler has ran the two minute offense efficiently before against Wofford.”
Also Chambers has been spending time with the scout team and has not had a lot of practice running the two-minute offense.
Defensively Wyoming was able to slow down an explosive Utah State offense. Jordan Love, who has been throwing for over 250 yards on average, was only able to gain 53 yards through the air. Love would also be intercepted by Logan Wilson.
Wilson would lead the team with 11 tackles, 4 of them would be solo tackles. Utah State would be able to gain 141 yards on the ground with 109 yards and 2 touchdowns coming from Darwin Thompson.
Wyoming was able to move the ball a more efficiently than in previous games, especially when Chambers was quarterback. Chambers would throw for 62 yards out of Wyoming 100 yard total through the air. Chambers would also contribute 100 yards on the ground. Nico Evans would once again rush for over 100 yards by gaining 133 yards on the ground, including a 53-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. As a team Wyoming would rush for 231 yards.
It would only take Utah state three plays and 30 seconds to get a 7 point lead as running back Darwin Thompson would break open a 58-yard touchdown rush on third down.
Wyoming would be unable to respond on their next drive and would go three and out. The Wyoming defense would force the aggies to punt the ball away.
Conway would provide a spark to the team, as he returned the punt 28 yards to the Wyoming 43-yard line. The excitement would be short lived as the offense would go three and out after failing to convert on third and one.
Wyoming defense would hold strong and Utah State would punt the ball away. Freshman Quarterback Sean Chambers would enter the game for Wyoming, but would fumble the ball on his second carry. Utah State’s Adewale Adeoye would recover the ball on the Wyoming 36 yard line after David Woodward forced the fumble.
Utah State Kicker Dominik Eberle would miss a 56-yard attempt. Wyoming would punt on the next drive.
Logan Wilson would intercept Love on the first play of the drive and Wyoming would regain possession on the 13-yard line after Wilson returned the ball 13 yards. Wyoming would not be able to find the endzone, but Cooper Rothe would make his 27-yard field goal. This would bring the score to 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The teams would exchange punts. Utah State would drive down to the Wyoming 28-yard line, being aided by a 15-yard penalty on Wyoming for an illegal low block. Eberle would make the 48-yard attempt bringing the Aggie’s back to a seven point lead midway through the second quarter.
Neither team would score during the rest of the quarter and at halftime Utah State would lead 10-3 over Wyoming.
Vander Waal would be picked off by Jontrell Rocquemore on the first play of the half and Utah State’s Thompson would rush three yards for a touchdown on the next play. The score would be 17-3 in favor of Utah State.
Sean Chambers would replace Vander Waal at quarterback. Wyoming would move the ball to the Utah State 41-yard line and would be facing a fourth and two but the Cowboys would decide to punt the ball away instead of going for it. This decision had many fans unhappy.
After forcing a Utah State punt Wyoming would drive the ball down to the 30-yard line. Rothe would make the 47-yard field goal and the score would be 17-6. Wyoming’s victory would be short lived as Utah State would return the kick off 99 yards for a touchdown. Savon Scarver, a wide receiver, would be the one who returned the kick.
Wyoming would be faced with a third and short on the next drive, but Evans would bounce outside and take the ball 53 yards for a touchdown. Wyoming would now face an 11-point deficit heading in to the fourth quarter.
The two teams would exchange punts to start the fourth quarter. Chambers would find Evans off of a jet sweep play action for 47 yards and Evans would be tackled at the USU 25-yard line. The drive would be capped off by a 21-yard field goal by Rothe bringing the score to 24-16 and making it a one score game.
The Wyoming offense would get the ball back with 2:02 reaming. Vander Waal would enter the game to run the two minuet offense but his four incomplete passes would lead to a turnover on downs.
Utah State would win the game and improve to 6-1 in overall and 3-0 in conference. The Aggies are once again bowl eligible. Wyoming fall to 2-6 on the season and 0-4 in conference. If they hope to reach bowl eligibility they will have to win the rest of their games. Wyoming will be back in action on Friday Oct. 26 when they travel to Fort Collins, Colorado to take on the Colorado State Rams in the Boarder War. Wyoming looks to maintain possession of the Bronze Boot and make it three consecutive victories over the Rams.
