Cowboys Win Seventh Straight On Fan Appreciation Day In Laramie

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Wyo4News Photo by Casey Cassity

Laramie, WY (9/15/19) – A strong rushing attack for Wyoming gave the Cowboys (3-0) a 21-16 win over the Idaho Vandals (1-2) on Saturday evening in War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. It marked the Pokes’ seventh-straight win, the most since 1998 and Wyoming is now 3-0 to open the season for the first time since 2011.

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The contest saw 28,814 fans inside War Memorial Stadium, the largest since 29,139 against Oregon in 2017. Wyoming also set a record with 54,851 through two games, the most in two games to open the season in school history.

“I thought Idaho played really hard. They did a good job of taking care of the football, we didn’t come up with any takeaways,” UW head coach Craig Bohl said. “I thought we did some good things, we did enough good things to win the football game. We had to overcome a lot of self-inflicted wounds. I’m glad we were able to still be in position to win.”

Wyoming receiver Raghib Ismail Jr. scored Wyoming’s first touchdown on a running play. Wyo4News photo by Casey Cassity

The Vandals got on the board first with a 26-yard field goal from Cade Coffey with 5:55 left in the first quarter. After Wyoming kicker Cooper Rothe missed a 46-yard attempt, the Vandals went down the field in 11-plays, going 62-yards over 5:25. The drive was halted by a third-down stop for no gain by linebacker Logan Wilson.

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Idaho would take a 10-0 lead at the 12-minute mark of the second quarter on a 15-yard rush by Roshaun Johnson. It was part of a nine-play, 68-yard drive. A 23-yard pass from Idaho quarterback Mason Petrino to Connor Whitney set up the touchdown.

The Cowboys wasted little time responding to the Vandal score, as Wyoming marched down the field with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 12-yard jet sweet by Raghib Ismail, Jr., his first career rushing touchdown. The Ismail touchdown made it 10-7 with 7:28 left in the half.

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A sack by Cowboy defensive end Garrett Crall on third down inside Vandal territory set up a 43-yard punt return by Austin Conway to the Idaho 14-yard line. Running back Trey Smith, the Cowboys leading rusher on the day, scampered in from 10-yards to give Wyoming a 14-10 advantage with 4:57 left in the half. That lead would hold to the end of the first half.

Wyoming linebacker Logan Wilson (30) getting ready to stop Idaho’s running back. Wyo4News Photo by Casey Cassity

The only score in the third quarter came at the 4:10 mark when Idaho’s Coffey kicked his second of three fields on the day to cut Wyoming’s lead to 14-13.

In the fourth quarter, Wyoming would take a 21-13 lead on Smith’s second touchdown of the game. This one an 80-yard touchdown burst with a little over 10-minutes to play. Smith’s run was the longest run by a Cowboy since Brian Hill had an 89-yard rush at Fresno State on November 1, 2014.

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Idaho would make the game interesting with a 24-yard Coffey field goal with 7:20 to play. Following a Cowboy three and out series, the Vandals got the ball back on their own 32-yard line. Aided by two personal foul penalties by the Wyoming defense, Idaho marched down to Wyoming’s 18-yard line. An offensive pass interference penalty moved the ball back to the Wyoming 33 yard line. On the next play, third down, Wyoming’s Solomon Bryd sacked Idaho quarterback Mason Petrino for a 12-yard loss forcing the Vandals to punt.

Wyoming would run out the clock to secure their third victory and seventh straight win in front of 28,814 fans.

Wyoming’s offense rushed the ball for 237 yards against Idaho. Wyo4News photo by Casey Cassity

The Pokes Trey Smith had a game-high 152 yards on the ground, including a pair of touchdowns, on 17 carries. Freshman Titus Swen had 52 yards on 14 carries, while redshirt freshman quarterback Sean Chambers had 26 yards on the ground. Senior wide receiver Raghib Ismail, Jr., had a pair of carries for 13 yards and a score.

Chambers completed 4-of-12 passes for 50 yards on the day. Redshirt freshman tight end Jackson Marcotte had 23 of those yards, while Swen had 22 receiving yards.

Wyoming quarterback Sean Chambers passed for only 50 yards in Wyoming win over Idaho. Wyo4News photo by Casey Cassity.

Defensively, senior linebacker Logan Wilson had 11 total tackles, nine of which were solo, a tackle for loss and a pair of pass breakups. He has double-digit tackles in three-straight games this season and has 351 in his career.  Junior defensive end Garrett Crall had eight tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, his second-straight game with 1.5 sacks.

“When push came to shove our guys made plays and were able to get a win out of it,” Bohl said. “You know what our identity is? We’re 3-0.”

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The Cowboys will hit the road next Saturday traveling to Tulsa for a showdown with the Golden Hurricane.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The game will be heard on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and streamed at 99KSIT.com.

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