Wyoming Cowboys vs Boise State Broncos Football Recap

Boise State 51, Wyoming 6

As the glare of the national media spotlight abated for a week, Boise State headed to Laramie to play the Wyoming Cowboys in what had been billed as one of the potential trap games for the Broncos coming into the season.

Unfortunately - at least for any of the die-hard Wyoming fans that held out hope for a victory - this game turned out to be anything but a test for the Broncos. 

Boise State amassed 648 yards of offense while holding the Cowboys to a meager 135 en route to a 51-6 win.  The Broncos accomplished a rather rare feat in this game - they held Wyoming (officially, at least) to minus-21 yards rushing. Alvester Alexander led the Wyoming charge with 7 carries for a paltry 9 yards. The Cowboys really mounted no charge at all, and had no leaders who were able to withstand Boise’s brilliance.

29,014 fans witnessed a spectacle that was all Boise and nothing else. Wyoming’s bright spots were punter Austin McCoy and safety Shamiel Gary. McCoy punted seven times for a booming 53.4 average, with a long of 74 yards. This places McCoy and the Cowboys in eighth place nationally for gross punting yards, with every team ranked higher than the Cowboys making 2-7 more attempts. Gary, aside from pulling in a rare errant ball from Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, has reached half of his 2009 solo-tackle mark after his 17-tackle performance on Saturday. 

Gross punting yards, however, are rarely spoken of by coaches in post-game talks, and racking up the punting yardage is never a team’s pre-game focus. When those are the only good things you can point to, you know it’s been a long night on the gridiron. Boise State was the bearer of a very trying time for Wyoming.

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The Broncos ran the ball a nearly unbeatable 55 times. Three backs carried the ball 10 or more times apiece, with five backs making four or more attempts. Doug Martin led all backs with 105 yards rushing on 17 carries, with a touchdown as well. 

Moore completed 20 of his 30 pass attempts for 370 yards and 2 touchdowns, as well committing his first interception of the 2010 campaign. Most impressive of all is Moore’s continued propensity to spread the wealth - eleven players recorded a reception for Boise State. Titus Young led all receivers with 4 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Much of this ‘spreading of the wealth’ was done in the fourth quarter, as much of the team was already congratulating one another and looking forward to next week’s nationally televised showdown with Oregon State, with the Broncos’ 16-game winning streak on the line. 

Next up for Wyoming, a resurgent Air Force program heads to Laramie after a three-point loss to then-No. 7 Oklahoma.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer