Valladay and Williams lead Cowboys to Arizona Bowl Victory
Xazavian Valladay and Levi Williams combined for five touchdowns, as the Wyoming Cowboys beat Georgia State 38-17 in the Arizona Bowl Tuesday in Tucson.
Valladay ran for 204 yards and a score. He also added three receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. That adds up to a career-best 295 all-purpose yards. Williams finished 11-26 for career-high 234 yards passing with a career-best three TDs and one interception. He added 53 yards rushing and one touchdown.
Valladay was named the Arizona Bowl Offensive MVP. Alijah Halliburton was named the defensive MVP. He had 11 total tackles, nine of them solo, one tackle for loss and an interception.
Wyoming (8-5) won its second consecutive bowl game and evened its all-time bowl record at 8-8.
Here are some of the highlights, courtesy of CBS Sports.
Georgia State scored on the game’s opening possession. QB Dan Ellington ran for a 4-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. UW answered with a 53-yard field goal by Cooper Rothe, his career-long.
After a failed fourth-down attempt deep in their own territory by the Panthers, UW took advantage of a short field. Three plays later, the Pokes took the lead for good on a Levi Williams to Austin Conway 18-yard touchdown pass.
An interception by Halliburton on the next offensive play for Georgia State set up Wyoming’s next score. Williams connected with Valladay on an eight-yard TD pass for a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter.
The Panthers kicked a 25-yard field goal and cut the deficit to 17-10.
After a roughing the punter penalty kept a Cowboys drive alive late in the first half, Williams scrambled and found Ayden Eberhardt for a 51-yard catch and run touchdown pass. That made it 24-10 at halftime.
On UW’s second possession in the third quarter, Valladay raced 63 yards and set up his TD run. He scored from one-yard out for a 31-10 lead.
The Panthers came right back and scored in two pass plays, which made it 31-17.
A 62-yard run by Valladay late in the third quarter led to Williams’ 6-yard touchdown run. That made it 38-17.
The Wyoming defense made a pair of fourth-down stops in Cowboys’ territory in the fourth quarter. The last one was at the one-yard line with 6:46 left.
Valladay broke a 55-yard run that got the Pokes out from deep in their end. Three more first downs by UW helped them run out the clock.
Wyoming finished with a season-high 524 yards of total offense. They ran for 290 yards and threw for 234. The Cowboys averaged 7.2 yards per play. Logan Wilson added seven tackles and a tackle for loss in his final game at UW. The defense allowed one score in four red-zone chances for the Panthers.
Georgia State (7-6) had 355 yards of total offense, but that was 100 yards below their season average. The Panthers gained 199 yards on the ground. QB Dan Ellington ran for 70 yards and a touchdown. He also threw for 156 yards, a TD and an interception.
The Cowboys have won eight games in three of the last four seasons.