The first half jitters that have plagued the Cowboys thus far this season were nowhere to be seen on Saturday night. Behind a relentless transition game that simply overpowered Johnson & Wales, the Cowboys ran away with a 105-64 victory.
“I thought we played really well for stretches,” coach Heath Schroyer said after the game. “It was a good win for us and it was nice to get a lot of people a lot of minutes.”
Every Cowboy in uniform saw floor time, including Laramie native Galand Thaxton who notched his first two points in a Cowboy uniform.
    The Cowboys started the game on fire as they hit five of their first seven shots and scored eleven points before the Wildcats even got on the board. It was three minutes into the game before Nate Lark hit a jumper in the paint to give Johnson & Wales their first points.
But they wouldn’t get many more. Other than a couple 3-pointers, Schroyer felt his Pokes did a good job of limiting their opponents on the offensive end.
As opposed to last Wednesday’s game against Prairie View A&M, Schroyer said his team defended a lot better tonight.
“The number I look at is the field goal percentage defense moreso than points allowed,” Schroyer said. And with the Cowboys holding Johnson and Wales to only 29% shooting on the night, including 23.5% from behind the 3-point arc, Schroyer was pleased.
Yet, with the ease at which Wyoming was able to run the floor and score, defense wasn’t much of in issue, other than from an improvement standpoint. The transition game continued to be successful for the Pokes as they went on numerous big runs throughout the first period, and it was a trend they stuck to for most of the game. The big men inside had the ball to the guards streaking down the floor before many Wildcat players knew what was going on.     
    Johnson and Wales could do little to stop Brandon Ewing as the senior went off for 15 points in the first half. Maybe just as importantly, he had four assists and no turnovers; finding Tyson Johnson down low on a couple of those occasions as Johnson scored 10 in the half.
    Much like the previous half, Wyoming continued to overwhelm the Wildcats with their speed and deft shooting. The Pokes consistently held a 30 point cushion as they cruised to victory. Even so, Sean Ogirri said that he thought his team still gained quite a bit from a blow out win.
    “I feel like we gained our identity,” he said. “We were unselfish and kept fighting through the whole game.”
    Six players scored in double figures for the Cowboys, led by Brandon Ewing with 20. The senior also added three more assists in the second half to finish the night with a 7 to 1 turnover ratio. Afam Moujeke and Sean Ogirri both chipped in with 18, while A.J. Davis provided a spark in his starting role early on for the Pokes on his way to 14.
    “I was really pleased with how A.J. played tonight,” his coach said.
    Coach Schroyer also complemented the game of big man Mikhail Linskens. In only 17 minutes of playing time, the sophomore grabbed 12 rebounds, including six offensive, and 12 points.
    As Schroyer said, the Cowboys will continue to dissect the film and see how they can improve for their next game against Texas State.
    “They’re a good team,” Schroyer said of the Cowboys next opponent. “They play 10 or 13 guys and are pretty deep.”
    The Cowboys tip off against the Bobcats this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Dome of Doom.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it the Author

Staring down adversity in a tight rivalry game, Colorado State came up with all of the answers in the clutch - and kept its bowl hopes alive.

Dion Morton caught six passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns, including a spectacular diving 31 yard touchdown reception with 11:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, to give the Rams a 31-20 come-from-behind victory over rival Wyoming (4-8) on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.

Morton sprawled out in the north end zone of Jonah Field and hauled in a perfectly thrown spiral from David Farris, just keeping his outstretched body inbounds, to give the Rams a 24-20 lead which they would never cede.

Gartrell Johnson added a five yard touchdown run with 2:42 left in the game, powering his way into the end zone to ensure a Colorado State (6-6) victory with an insurance score.

Johnson began the game slowly, rushing for only 24 yards in the first half, but rose to the occasion in the final thirty minutes, finishing the game with 136 yards and interjecting himself to help the Rams control the ball and the clock in the final quarter.

The Cowboys had a chance to answer Morton’s touchdown after ceding the lead, driving 34 yards to the Colorado State 46 yard-line, but running back Wynel Seldon fumbled with 9:03 remaining, and the Rams controlled the football for the next six-and-a-half minutes.

It was a play only emblematic of a turnover problem which has plagued Wyoming football since the 2005 season; the Cowboys lost three fumbles on the afternoon, the last of which proved to be the deciding factor in the game.

Wyoming quickly seized the lead in the first quarter, emptying its playbook in the season finale with a nifty trick play.

Seldon, generally regarded as a power halfback, took a pitchout, but instead dropped back and found a wide-open Chris Sundberg for a 19 yard touchdown pass to give Wyoming an early 7-0 lead.

After Colorado State answered with a field goal, the Cowboy defense, which has been the team’s bastion throughout the season, came through with a crucial turnover to extend Wyoming’s lead.

Senior linebacker Ward Dobbs stepped in front of a deflected Farris pass and rumbled 24 yards, returning the interception for a touchdown in a play coincidentally similar to Dobbs’ interception return for a touchdown two weeks ago at Tennessee.

The touchdown gave Wyoming a 14-3 lead and the Cowboys appeared to be well in-control headed into the locker room until a last-minute collapse on defense allowed the Rams to narrow the score.

With 27 seconds remaining in the half, Farris dropped back from midfield and found Morton streaking down the field in man coverage; Farris exploited the poor coverage and hit Morton over the top on a 51 yard touchdown pass to pull the Rams within four at the half.

The key play swung momentum in Colorado State’s favor, and an energized Rams team quickly responded in the second half.

Johnson pounded the football for 60 yards on the half’s opening three plays, but fumbled at the tail end of a long run and gave the ball back to Wyoming.

The Cowboys, however, promptly gave the ball right back to Colorado State, as Devin Moore coughed up the football at the Wyoming 46 yard line.

Three plays later, Farris painted the Laramie sky with a beautiful spiral, hitting Morton in-stride on a fade for a 43 yard touchdown in the southwest corner of the end zone and sending the traveling Colorado State student section into a frenzy.   

The touchdown gave Colorado State its first lead of the game, and Farris, who finished the game with 235 yards passing and three touchdowns, stepped up and made another clutch throw.

The Cowboys responded with a pair of lengthy drives which consumed most of the rest of the third quarter. Both drives cumulated in Nick Landess field goals, the last of which put Wyoming ahead, 20-17, its final lead of the game.

In the game’s final quarter, however, the Cowboys simply could not subdue Colorado State’s balanced offensive attack.

The Rams gained 131 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for 10:42 of the final fifteen minutes.

In defeat, Seldon gained 107 yards on the ground and added a touchdown pass to his career repertoire; Seldon moved into third on the all-time ranks of leading rushers at Wyoming.

His teammate, Moore, notched an even more-prominent milestone, becoming the Cowboys’ all-time leading rusher with a two yard carry early in the second quarter.

Moore gained 78 yards on the ground on Saturday, capping his stellar career at Wyoming with 2,965 total yards rushing.  

The Rams, on the other hand, came away with the true spoils.

The victory helped Colorado State keep the bronze boot and, more importantly, helped the Rams notch a sixth victory and earn bowl eligibility.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it the author