The Wyoming Cowboys mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback to defeat San Diego State 34-33. Here are three takeaways from this exciting contest.
1. Wyoming is good enough to win the Mountain West conference
Even though the Cowboys beat Boise earlier in the year, a lot of people didn’t think that they would win the conference. The polls certainly bear that out, as Boise and San Diego State both cracked the top 25, while Wyoming failed to receive a single vote.
That will almost certainly change in next week’s poll. Although the ‘Pokes win wasn’t perfect, it did show us that they’re capable of beating anyone in the Mountain West conference. The Wyoming defense held Donnel Pumphrey – who came into the contest as the nation’s second-best rusher with 177.9 ypg – to a season-low 76 yards. The Cowboy front seven was especially impressive, recording six tackles for a loss and four quarterback sacks.
Of course, the real story of this game was the Wyoming offense. The Cowboys were virtually unstoppable over the final two drives of the game, racking up 160 yards in that span. Quarterback Josh Allen was spectacular on the final drive, picking up three first downs with his feet, and tossing the game-winning TD to C.J. Johnson with 1:07 to play.
It’s tough to argue with these results. While they don’t prove that Wyoming will win the conference, they certainly prove that they could win the conference. All the ‘Pokes have to do is defeat New Mexico next week to earn that opportunity.
2. San Diego State had to do go for two
People are certainly going to question Rocky Long’s decision to go for two.
However, it was the right call. As noted above, Wyoming’s offense was firing on all cylinders in the fourth quarter. The Aztec D was going to have a hard time keeping the Cowboy offense out of the end zone after spending most of the final minutes of the game on the field. That means that if Long had chosen to kick the PAT, this game would have gone to several overtimes, which increases the likelihood of a devastating injury. Since the Aztecs have already wrapped up the division title, there was no need to prolong the game. Besides, even if SDSU didn’t get it, the team would still play for the Mountain West championship.
Why take a risk if you don’t have to?
Regardless of what Long’s thought process was, San Diego State had to like its chances of picking up the two-point conversion. After all, the Aztecs just converted a “do-or-die” situation from 23 yards out, why wouldn’t they think they could gain two yards on the following play?
3. Craig Bohl is the Mountain West Coach of the Year
After Saturday night’s contest, this is a “no brainer.” Bohl took a team that went 2-10 last season and transformed it into a consistent winner that’s beaten two ranked opponents. With the victory over San Diego State, Wyoming is one game away from an appearance in the Mountain West title game. If the ‘Pokes win that contest – which would be a rematch with San Diego State — the school would win its first conference championship since 1993, when it shared the WAC title with Fresno State and BYU.
That’s quite a turnaround from last year, where the ‘Pokes ran for 430 yards against Eastern Michigan… and lost by three touchdowns… at home.
