Boise State Broncos vs Wyoming Cowboys Football Recap

Boise State 36, Wyoming 14

On a day when the Boise State Broncos’ Bowl Championship Series bowl hopes took a few huge hits, it was as though one of America’s most overachieving football teams lost a lot of willpower and passion. Nevertheless, it still cruised to a relatively comfortable victory and stayed on course to register an 11-1 regular season. It also locked up second place in the Mountain West Conference behind league champion TCU.

Yes, it was a weird day at Broncos Stadium in Boise. A team that has lost just three games over the past four seasons did not play with the verve and brilliance it normally displays on the gridiron. An uninspired start coupled with a gritty effort from Wyoming had Boise State on the ropes, and for a prolonged period of time, it actually seemed possible that BSU could fall victim to the upset bug for the second time in a month. However, that’s when a proud team re-gathered itself and played to the level of its capabilities. The Broncos seemed to break the will of Wyoming with a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half. Boise State then used a strong third quarter to ride out a 22-point win over the Cowboys on Saturday afternoon.

Wyoming’s strong first-half defensive effort ramped up just five minutes in when Luke Anderson intercepted Kellen Moore and returned in 29 yards for a touchdown to give Wyoming a 7-0 lead. The Cowboys would hold onto this lead until late in the half when Moore helped engineer a dominant 17-play, 87-yard drive that took 6:06 off the clock. After Moore passed Boise out of the shadows of its own goalpost, D.J. Harper and Doug Martin pounded the ball in the redzone until Martin scored from two yards out. Tied at 7-7, Boise State exhausted its timeouts and got the ball back with eight seconds left after a poor punt gave them the ball at Wyoming’s 46-yard line. Moore rolled out on the last play of the half and put a hail mary up for grabs. The ball tipped around until it found its way to Matt Miller lying flat on his back, nearly parallel to the goal line. But Miller secured the catch above his head, which placed the ball across the plane of the goal line for a touchdown and gave Boise State a 13-7 halftime lead.

The defensive touchdown wasn’t enough to keep Wyoming in the game, as Boise State scored 23 unanswered points to start the second half and stifled the Wyoming offense throughout the game. Brett Smith passed for just 78 yards as the Cowboys mustered only 191 yards of offense. Wyoming fell to 7-4 in the loss and will face off against Colorado State (3-8) next week in the “Border War.” Moore finished 24-36 for 279 yards and three touchdowns, while Martin and Harper led the Broncos’ rushing attack to 200 total yards. Boise State (10-1) finishes its regular season by hosting New Mexico (1-10).

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer