October 19, 2019-The Wyoming Cowboys beat the New Mexico Lobos 23-10 in a thrilling homecoming special. Both quarterback Shaun Chambers and running back Xavian Valladay would go on to record a 100 rushing yard game to lead the Cowboys for their fifth win of the season.
“A convincing win over a mountain side team…I thought Shaun had a couple of pretty big plays today…showed a lot of guts and determination.”
The first quarter started off slow as the Lobos defense forced Chambers to pass often without his usual veteran offensive line, putting a stop to Wyoming’s running game. The Cowboys averaged 2.9 rushing yards after 15 attempts with a total of 44 yards but in return, Chambers threw for a total of 48 yards. Senior kicker, Ryan Galovich was injured after being taken down during Wyoming’s third possession, but the Cowboys failed to take advantage of their second chance from the penalty given to UNM.
“I was hoping to have Ryan come back, but he said he wasn’t able to.” Coach Bohl spoke in regards to the injury…I don’t think it’s going to be something season ending.”
The first score of the game came at the end of the first quarter from a one yard touchdown from Chambers after a key fumble by Redshirt freshman, Rome Weber with 1:40 left. Chambers threw a key 25 yard pass to Valladay to keep the drive alive for Chambers to reach the endzone.
Both teams went scoreless in the second quarter after the lone touchdown in the first quarter. Offense didn’t improve much for Wyoming as they were kept to a total of 153 yards with 97 rushing yards and 8 passing yards from Chambers.
A holding penalty on Wyoming kept the Cowboys from being credited by an interception from So. Azizi Hearn with twenty seconds left in the half. The interception would have set up the Cowboys for a possible touchdown or field goal in the Lobos territory.
The Cowboys offense opened up the third quarter with a scoring drive. Chambers led the Cowboys down the field with a 40 yard rush on third down, giving the offense good field advantage to score their second touchdown of the game by running back, Xavian Valladay for 3 yards. However, Senior kicker Cooper Rothe had a failed kicking attempt, so the Cowboys would only gain 6 points for the drive.
“The game plan was to execute the run and get the yards we needed to get.” Valladay discussed in the post conference, “I wanted to do what I can to get this win tonight.
The Lobos finally put themselves on the board with a 25 yard field goal from their kicker, So. Andrew Shelley, after 7 plays to start the fourth quarter. Wyoming’s rushing game improved as Valladay, after a 20 yard rush, gained his second 100 rushing yard game of the season, the third of his career and helped set up the Cowboys for their third touchdown of the game. Chambers threw for 15 yards to Sr. Josh Harshman in the endzone to give the Cowboys a 20-3 lead at 9:40 to go in the fourth quarter.
After key rushing plays by the Lobos running backs, Ahmari Davis and Bryson Carroll, New Mexico threw for a touchdown with 6:31 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, making it a ten point difference. Chambers responded with a 40 yard rush to Lobos field position, giving the Cowboys the opportunity for a field goal from Rothe. The 40 yard rush would give Chambers his fourth 100 yard game of the season.
The Cowboys will be back in action next weekend at War Memorial Stadium against Nevada at 12 pm.
