The Wyoming Cowboys opened up Mountain West conference play with a big 17-14 win over the Air Force Academy.
With military appreciation celebrations underway, Joel Allen, father of former Cowboy QB Josh Allen, sang the national anthem and was supported by a flyover from the U.S. military Black Hawks.
Air Force was the betting favorite going into the Friday night matchup, favored to win by 16.5 points via FanDual.
The Cowboys got off to a good start, with an early three point score from the reigning Mountain West special teams player of the week, John Hoyland. Hoyland thus far has also been the highest scoring kicker in NCAA football this season.
Going into the game, it was no secret that Air Force fullback Brad Roberts would be a force to be reckoned with, and needed to be neutralized if Wyoming wanted to win this game.
The Cowboy defense did exactly that, and was able to keep the run game under control, with Roberts only rushing for 54 yards. Defense only allowed 174 rushing yards for the whole team, an impressive performance seeing that Air Force put up 435 total rushing yards against Colorado.
With seven minutes left in the first half, quarterback Peasley connects with tight end Treyton Welch, to put the first touchdown on the board for the Pokes.
Soon after this, Air Force’s passing game picked up, as quarterback Daniels threw for two touchdowns in the second half, one being 41 yards, to take a 14-10 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. It looked promising for the Falcons
With six minutes left, FB Christianson took his screen pass all the way to the five yard line, to set up what would be the game winning touchdown. RB Swen powered through for his fourth touchdown in two games, and put the Pokes up 17-14.
With an impressive defensive stand, followed by a couple of first downs from Cowboy running backs, War Memorial Stadium was ecstatic.. The field was stormed and the Cowboys had taken down the Falcons, one of the highest regarded teams of the Mountain West.
They will get ready for another underdog matchup against BYU next week, Saturday, September 24.
