Nick Seeman-Wyoming Sports Information
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 25, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys dropped a last second contest to Utah State 27-25 on Saturday evening inside War memorial Stadium in Laramie. The Aggies knocked in a 40-yard field goal as time expired to halt a comeback win for the Cowboys in Bridger’s Battle. Wyoming recorded a season-high 470 yards of total offense on the night but could only find the endzone twice in the contest.
“That’s a heartbreaker,” UW head coach Jay Sawvel said. “That’s also the direct result of not putting ourselves in a better position with the third quarter we played. With the way we played the third quarter defensively, we should have won that quarter 10-0, 14-0. We didn’t play well defensively early in that game. We played much better in the second half defensively, but then needed to make one more stop at the end of the game. I feel for our players. I feel for our seniors. To be in a rivalry game, a trophy game like that, and to not be able to finish that off, there’ll be a lot of things that I’ll second guess.”
The Cowboy offense finished the night with 470 yards of total offense. Wyoming rushed for 276 yards on the night and threw for 194 yards. Utah State, a high tempo offense finished the contest with 378 yards of total offense with a balanced attack of 230 yards passing and 148 yards on the ground. It was nearly 100 yards below the season average for USU.
Wyoming trailed 17-10 at the half but held Utah State to only nine yards in the third quarter. UW recorded over 300 yards in the second half. Kicker John Hoyland recorded four field goals on the night and is now four points away from passing Cooper Rothe for the school scoring record. He is 9-of-11 this season in field goals with his only misses coming for 5-plus yards.
Wyoming’s offense was paced by running back Sam Scott with 115 yards and a touchdown. It was a career-high in rushing as he ripped off a career-high 43-yard rush. Freshman Chris Durr, Jr. was outstanding with a career-high nine catches for a career-high 83 yards. It was the most catches by a Cowboy this season and the most since Austin Conway had 11 against Wofford in 2018. Wide receiver Tyler King rushed for a career-best 77 yards including a 54-yard score. He also had a career-high four catches for 52 yards.
The Cowboy defense was paced by four players with eight tackles. Connor Shay recorded a career tying eight tackles with defensive end Tyce Westland recording a career-high eight tackles. Linebacker Shae Suiaunoa and safety Wyett Ekeler each recorded eight tackles. Suiaunoa added two tackles for loss. Defensive end DeVonne Harris added five tackles for a season-high including his first sack of the season.
Utah State was paced offensively by running back Rashul Faison with 131 yards rushing. The defense was led by safety Jordan Vincent with 11 tackles and an interception.
The Cowboys hit the road next week against New Mexico in a 2 p.m. start on truTV.