December 31, 2019- The Wyoming Cowboys took down the Georgia State Panthers 38-17 in a thrilling Arizona bowl game, with the help of Levi Williams and the Wyoming defense, the Cowboys dominated the matchup.
The first half showed a lot of growth from the Wyoming offense. True freshman quarterback, Levi Williams got the opportunity to start the game for the Cowboys after the decision was announced on Monday afternoon, leading the offense to a twenty-four point lead in the first half. He passed for 133 yards with two passing touchdowns, a sight Wyoming hasn’t seen all season with Sean Chambers and the first two-plus touchdown game since Josh Allen in the Potato bowl. He finished up the game with 234 yards and three touchdowns.
The Wyoming defense was slow to wake up to Georgia State’s up-tempo offense. The Panthers showed off their rushing game to start the bowl, breaking through the Wyoming tough rushing defense like a hot knife through butter. The Panthers, like Wyoming, have a good running offense. Their leading running back, Tra Barnett, had 1389 yards on the season along with senior quarterback Dan Ellington’s 1223 rushing yards. Within two minutes of the first quarter, Ellington led his offense to an early touchdown in just six plays.
Williams and the Cowboy offense took it steady to start the game, a comparison to the rapid fast Panther offense, racking up 52 rushing yards in their possession. Levi showed some promise in his passing game by connecting a few passes for 23 yards. He was able to keep the drive alive all the way to the Panther territory which gave Wyoming’s Senior kicker Cooper Rothe a chance to kick a 53-yard field goal, putting Wyoming on the board 7-3.
The Wyoming defense tightened up on the uptempo offense, limiting the time of Panthers possession of the ball. The Cowboys took advantage of the defense’s successful fourth-down stop with an 18-yard passing touchdown from Williams. If that wasn’t enough from the Cowboy defense, Senior safety Alijah Halliburton intercepted the ball with minutes of the touchdown in the first quarter. He took the ball for 23 yards, setting up the offense for another touchdown by Valladay.
The Panthers offense broke through the Wyoming defense to start the second quarter. Ellington with the help of Barnett drove down to Wyoming eight after the third-down stop from Defensive end Solomon Byrd. They were only allowed to a field goal, making it 17-10 at 9:34. The Panthers intercepted the ball after pressuring the young quarterback to throw the ball down the field at four minutes to go in the second quarter after Wyoming drove the ball to Panthers’ territory. Their quarterback, Ellington, who came into the game with a torn ACL was injured during the third play of the game but reentered again after one play.
A roughing the punter penalty by the Panthers receiving team gave Wyoming the opportunity to score once again before the half. Williams threw a complete pass to Ayden Eberhardt who ran it in for a 51-yard touchdown with thirty seconds left in the first half.
Williams took the ball again in the second half, opening up with a quick five-play touchdown with the help of a 61-yard throw to Valladay. With the 61 yard pass, the Cowboys surpassed 200 passing yards, an unusual sight for Cowboy fans.
Now 31-10, the Panthers looked to strike back fast from being down twenty-one points in the second half. Much like their opening possession of the game, their offense takes only two plays to drive down the field to score a 44-yard touchdown by Ellington to Mccoy. This much-needed touchdown would ramp up the Panthers defense, putting a temporary stop to Wyoming’s passing offense.
However, the Cowboys took that time to focus more on their rushing game with the help of Valladay. Gaining more rushing yards, Valladay pushed the ball down the field after the Panthers ramped up their defense. Valladay would go onto break two hundred rushing yards again this season. With just 74 yards in the first half, Wyoming ended with 162 yards in the third quarter thanks to two rushing touchdowns in the third.
The Panthers continued to cause a problem for the Wyoming offense, forcing a fumble on the punt return to start their first possession of the fourth quarter. The Panthers held onto the ball to Wyoming’s one-yard line where Wyoming’s defense proved their toughness as they forced a turnover. This final turnover put an end to the Panthers and their attempt to come back from the seventeen point run in the first quarter by Wyoming.
Wyoming finished up the season with a 38-17 bowl win against the Panthers. Valladay and Halliburton were named as the offensive and defensive MVPs of the game. They will return in the 2020 season to play Weber State for their home opener on September 5th, 2020.
