Wyoming came from behind Saturday night to earn a 17-13 victory versus conference rival Air Force to improve to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Mountain West.
Starting at his own 25 with 3:25 to play redshirt Senior Quarterback Colby Kirkeaard led the game-winning drive that culminated with Senior JD Krill hauling in a two-yard touchdown reception with 58 seconds to play in the game.
“On the sidelines we kept talking this is why we play the game,” Kirkegaard said. “You know Saturday lights, underneath the lights, chance to win, in the fourth quarter, two minute drive, with your best friends, your family, and we did it and it was awesome.”
The redshirt Senior was six-for-seven on that game-winning drive. Kirkegaard for the game was 23/37 for 282 yards and two TDs.
“We didn’t have any doubt,” said Kirkegaard. “It was a different mentality on that last drive. Things just opened up and we were opportunistic.”
The game-winning catch by Senior tight-end JD Krill marked his first collegiate touchdown.
“I am incredibly happy right now,” said Krill. “My first college touchdown could not have come at a better time. I had confidence in me, and my team had confidence in me, and there was zero percent chance I was gonna let them down.”
“It was a big time catch,” Head Coach Craig Bohl said. “Its gonna be one that I will always remember.”
The Falcons opened the scoring on the first possession by uncharacteristically utilizing the pass game. Air Force opened with three straight passes which drove them all the way down to the Wyoming 31-yard line. The Falcons would drive even deeper into Wyoming territory before taking consecutive sacks by Seniors Chase Appleby and Patrick Mertens and settling for a 51-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
“We didn’t tackle very well,” said Bohl referring to the early pass plays. “We had to change up some coverages and once we did that it certainly helped.”
Air Force jumped out to a 10-0 lead with 7:41 left in the second quarter on running back Jacobi Owens’, Sophomore, three-yard touchdown run.
Air Force’s Senior quarterback Kale Pearson was 17/32 through the air for 226 yards. He also added 22 yards on the ground with 11 carries.
Wyoming answered this touchdown with one of their own on their ensuing possession that culminated with Kirkegaard’s first career TD pass an 11 yard throw that found Senior wide receiver Jalen Claiborne in the back corner of the end-zone with 4:11 to play in the half.
Wyoming tied the game up at 10 with 11:15 to play in the game on a 33-yard field goal by Senior kicker Stuart Williams.
Air Force responded in the form of a long, time-consuming drive that ended with a 32-yard field goal that gave the Falcons their lead back at 13-10 with just 3:25 to play.
After the go-ahead score by the Cowboys, the Falcons were able to drive it all the way inside the Wyoming 40 before running out of time.
“Guys are buying into the system and playing hard and believing in what we are doing and there is certainly no quit,” said Bohl.
Wyoming sputtered on offense at the start of the game going three and out on their first drive. Contrary to the Montana game, Wyoming struggled to run the ball all night long. Running backs Junior Shaun Wick and redshirt Sophomore DJ May combined for just 59 yards on the ground.
“They were slipping some blocks,” said Bohl. “We knew [Air Force was] going to load the box and I thought their defensive line did a nice job.”
On the flip side Wyoming did a nice job of slowing down the Air Force running game by only allowing 182 yards on 52 carries for an average of 2.9 yards/rush.
Leading the way for the Falcons on the ground was Owens who carried it 18 times for 76 yards and a TD.
Senior linebacker Jordan Stanton led all defensemen with 13 tackles. One of his tackles came on a sack and another that forced a fumble, earning him Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors, Wyoming’s second week in a row. Last week’s award was won by Senior linebacker Mark Nzeocha.
“You are not just gonna stone a wishbone offense,” said Bohl. “You just have to hang in there and gang tackle.”
Senior linebacker Devyn Harris also had 13 tackles and rounding out the double-digit tacklers for Wyoming was Senior safety Darren White with 12.
Senior Dominic Rufran led all receivers with 119 yards receiving on six catches. Rufran extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 39 games. This is the second longest active streak in the nation.
Sophomore receiver Tanner Gentry led the Cowboys in receptions with eight for 91 yards. He made catches of 25 and 20 yards respectively on the game-winning drive.
Wyoming also had a good night in the special teams department, according to Bohl. Williams stayed perfect on the year making his only field goal attempt and he was 4/4 in kickoff touchbacks. Sophomore Ethan Wood averaged over 41 yards/punt, two of which were over 50 yards and many were not returnable.
“Kickoffs were good,” said Bohl. “Stu hit a field goal and Ethan did a nice job with the punting game.”
Wyoming played a very clean game as well only committing 2 penalties for a total of 15 yards.
“We keep trucking along and never giving up,” said Bohl. “We’ve got room for improvement without question. We are gonna enjoy this one. This was a hard fought win.”
Wyoming will next take to the road for the first time this season as they take on Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The kick time for that game is set for 12:00 MT.
