Wyoming Cowboys defeated the Air Force Falcons 27-35 in an amazing comeback fashion on senior night in War Memorial Stadium on Nov. 17. Wyoming honored this year senior class, who helped Wyoming reach back-to-back bowl games for the first time in 20 years, wind the conference division title, and reach the conference championship, in their last game at War Memorial Stadium. Wyoming would start off hot offensively as the scored on their first two possessions within the first five minutes of the game. Wyoming would be unable to score during the rest of the game until they put up 21 unanswered points in the final five minutes to overcome a 13 point deficit. In their starting drive, Wyoming saw both their starting quarterback, Sean Chambers, and running back, Nico Evans who leads the conference in rushing, to injuries. Tyler Vander Waal would return at quarterback after replaced as the start by Chambers two games ago.
The offense would see their rushing attack be less effective as they were able to gain111 yards on the ground after rushing for over 200 yards in the previous two games. The passing game would come alive this game however as Wyoming passed for a seasonhigh 262 yards. Vander Waal threw for 225 of those yards along with 2 passing touchdowns. He also helped the run game by rushing for 32 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively Wyoming struggled early one by allowing 17 points before they were able to post a defensive stop. Air Force rushed for 362 yards and had two rushes with over 100 yards. Kadin Remsberg rushed for 128 yards, cole Fagan rushed for 116 yards and Donald Hammond III rushed for 92 yards. Air Force would gain the lead in the second quarter and held it until the final 2 minutes when Wyoming went up by a touchdown. Wyoming improved to 5-6 (3-4) this year and keeps their bowl hopes alive as they enter their final game of the season at New Mexico. Air Force drops to 4-7 (2-5) on the season and misses out on the chance of reaching bowl eligibility this year. Wyoming started the game off with the ball. Nico Evans got Wyoming off to a hot start with a 19-yard run. Wyoming faced a third and 11 but Sean Chambers found Tyree Mayfield for a 37-yard completion. Jevon Bigelow followed that play up with an 11-yard rush. Chambers would be injured on the drive but Tyler Vander Waal came in and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Raghib Ismail Jr. on his first play in at quarterback.
Wyoming took an early 7-0 lead. Airforce opened up their drive with a 15-yard rush by Kaden Remsberger, he then ran for another 12 yard gain on the next play. Air Force was able to move the ball down the field and ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown rush by Donald Hammond III tying the score at 7. Vander Waal remained at quarterback and found Mayfield for a 60-yard reception. When faced with a third down Austin Conway rushed for 8-yards and a first down. On the next play, Vander Waal rushed to the left for three yards and a touchdown. Originally he was called down short of the end zone but after review, it was ruled a touchdown. Wyoming increased their lead back to seven. Air Force was still able to find big running lanes on their next drive and drove the ball into Wyoming territory. The Wyoming defense would force a fourth and four on their 26-yard line but Hammond would be able to pick up the first down. The first quarter ended with Wyoming holding on to their seven-point lead. Air Force scored quickly, just three plays into the second quarter. Fagan Cole rushed for a 4-yard touchdown and the score would be tied at 14. Wyoming would go three and out on their next drive and punt the ball away. Air Force would go on a 19 play, 81-yard drive down to the Wyoming 10-yard line. Wyoming prevented a touchdown but Air Force kicker Jake Koehnke made a 27-yard field goal. The drive took 10:12 off the clock. Wyoming tried to get something going in the final two minutes but a fumble by Ayden Eberhardt following a reception from Vander Waal would give Air Force the ball back on their own 36-yard line with 59 seconds left in the half. The Falcons would run the clock out and Wyoming trailed Air Force 17-14 at halftime. Air Force opened up the second half with a touchdown off of a 36 yard rush by Hammond.
Air Force increased their lead to ten points, 24-14. Wyoming would fail to move the ball and be forced to punt the ball away. The Wyoming defense came up with a stop on the next play, forcing Air Force to punt for the first time on the day. Wyoming started their next drive with Vander Waal’s pass being completed to James price for 16 yards. Two plays later Vander Waal found Mayfield for an 8 yard gain. Mayfield would have 3 receptions for 103 yards at this point in the game. Wyoming would go for it on fourth down but failed to convert and Air Force took over on downs on their own 44-yard line. Air Force Capitalized on the good field position as they added another field goal to their lead making the score 27-14 with 8:44 remaining in the game. Wyoming got the ball back and the comeback began. Vader Waal leads the Cowboys on a 13 play, 76-yard drive to bring Wyoming within six points. The drive was aided by an Air Force pass interference and Vander Waal added two completions of 16 yards to Price and a 12- yard completion to Conway to help Wyoming move the ball. Vander Waal ended the drive when he rushed five yards for a touchdown. With 4:32 remaining in the game Wyoming needed a stop if they wanted to have a chance to win the game.
The defense that had trouble stopping Air Force earlier in the game, forced a three and out by not allowing the Falcons to gain a single yard on the drive. Wyoming got the ball back with 2:55 remaining. Wyoming faced a fourth and nine early in the drive but Vader Wall converted after finding Xazavian Valladay for a 12-yard completion. Wyoming drove down the field and retook the lead after Vander Waal completed a 22-yard pass for a touchdown to Conway. Rothe made the PAT and Wyoming was up by a single point 27-28. Air Force had 1:09 left to win the game but on their first play of the drive Hammond was intercepted by Logan Wilson and the game appeared to be over. Valladay rushed for a 27-yard touchdown on the next drive bringing the score to 27-35. Air Force could still tie the game with a touchdown and 2-point conversion but senior safety Andrew Wingard intercepted Hammond sealing the Wyoming victory. Wyoming sent in senior quarterback Nick Smith to finish the game with a kneel. Wyoming improved with 5-6 on the season and kept their bowl game hopes alive.
