Wyoming Cowboys @ Bowling Green Falcons Football Recap

Wyoming 28, Bowling Green 27

Extra points are these nasty little creatures that are automatic… except when or until they aren’t. One of the simplest plays in all of football must still be executed each and every time it’s attempted, and on one excruciatingly painful afternoon in the state of Ohio, a home crowd got stomach punched by the inability of its team to put a 20-yard boot through the uprights.

Bowling Green piled up the yardage and staged a fourth quarter comeback to almost push a riotously entertaining game into overtime. But at the end of the day, six Bowling Green turnovers and a blocked PAT with three seconds left in regulation enabled the Wyoming Cowboys to leave Ohio with a 28-27 victory over the Falcons on Saturday afternoon.

Bowling Green opened the fourth quarter by taking a drive inside Wyoming’s 10-yard line and came away with no points. Even after that, down 28-14, the Falcons still mounted a comeback. After holding the Cowboys to a three-and-out, Bowling Green took the ball with 5:49 left. Quarterback Matt Schilz led a 67-yard drive in just 1:33 by going 6-8 for all 67 yards, capping the drive with a 32-yard pass to Kamar Jorden. Wyoming was able to milk 2:58 off the clock before downing a punt at Bowling Green’s 11-yard line with just 1:18 left. The Falcons, with no timeouts, moved the ball into scoring position despite the time crunch. Schilz would go 8-10 on the drive, finding Eugene Cooper for five of the passes for 36 yards. On second down from the Wyoming 10-yard line, Schilz found Ray Hutson in the back of the endzone, Hutson getting a foot down to secure the score with three seconds left. But despite the furious and unlikely comeback, Wyoming blocked the extra point, and escaped with the 28-27 win.

The blocked kick wasn’t the first of the game for Wyoming, as the Pokes blocked a field goal midway through the third quarter as well. Freshman quarterback Brett Smith was solid again, passing 25-38 for 267 yards and one touchdown for Wyoming. The Cowboys took control in the third quarter, when after tying the game at 14-14, took another drive to Bowling Green’s 2-yard line where they were stopped short on fourth down. But Bowling Green would fumble its first play and Marqueston Huff returned the fumble for a Wyoming touchdown. Wyoming moves to 3-0 for the first time since 1996, and will play host to highly-ranked Nebraska (3-0) next week in one of the biggest scenes to hit the town of Laramie in years.

> Find a great selection of Wyoming Cowboys apparel & merchandise online as well as the MWC Football Scoreboard!

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer