Second Half Surge Helps Wyoming Win Border War [VIDEOS]
Nico Evans ran for 176 yards with a touchdown run and touchdown catch to lead Wyoming to a third straight Border War win, 34-21, over Colorado State Friday night.
Freshman quarterback Sean Chambers got his first career start and accounted for 217 yards of offense and three scores, as the Cowboys kept the Bronze Boot for a third consecutive year.
Head coach Craig Bohl spoke about UW keeping the traveling trophy in a release from the university.
“Well, first of all, what makes it really special is the length of the rivalry. We have a great respect for how they run their program and we knew it was going to be a hard-fought game and those are fun to compete in. It’s really special for our seniors to win the boot three years in a row.”
Wyoming (3-6, 1-4) snapped their four-game skid with the victory. The 34 points are a season-high for the Pokes. UW scored 31 of those in the second half. They finished with 407 yards of total offense, the second-most this season.
Bohl added in the release from UW, “You always feel really good in these kinds of games when you’ve got a good running game going because you’re able to chew up the clock and keep their offense off the field. They really became one dimensional and once we were able to go up a couple of scores we were able to bleed the clock and come away with the win.”
The Cowboys led only 3-0 at halftime. Chambers found Evans on a 14-yard touchdown pass that capped Wyoming’s opening drive of the second half. A sack and forced fumble by Marcus Epps against Colorado State QB Collin Hill was recovered by Ravontae Holt at the Rams 25-yard line. UW made it pay off with Chambers’ eight-yard TD run and a 17-0 lead.
Cassh Maluia intercepted Hill on CSU’s next possession. The Pokes extended their lead on Evans’ 48-yard touchdown run. That made 24-0.
The Rams finally got on the board late in the third quarter with a touchdown run, but UW answered with a Cooper Rothe 45-yard field goal. Another Colorado State touchdown run trimmed it to 27-14.
Wyoming came right back as Chambers found Tyree Mayfield on a 43-yard touchdown pass for a 34-14 lead. The Rams got a score on the next possession, but an interception by Antonio Hull stopped the comeback. UW ran out the clock and got their first Mountain West of the season and first victory since Sept. 15.
Chambers ran for 101 yards with one touchdown and went 7-10 passing for 116 yards with a pair of TD passes. The Pokes finished with 291 yards rushing.
The Cowboys defense was led by Logan Wilson with 12 tackles, which included 2.5 tackles for loss. Hull added 10 tackles and the one pick. The unit finished with nine tackles for loss, a season-high eight pass break-ups, and three takeaways.
Bohl also praised his defense in the university release, “That’s the first time I’ve seen our defense show signs of what it was last year in being able to get that ball out.”
Colorado State (3-6, 2-3) finished with only 20 yards on the ground. They did pass for 333 yards with two interceptions.
Wyoming returns home for its next two games. They will host San Jose State next Saturday, Nov. 3 in Laramie. The game is at War Memorial Stadium and will start at noon.