Image courtesy of: @wyoathletics

Image courtesy of @wyoathletics

The Wyoming Cowboys improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in Mountain West Conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 35 to 26 win over Air Force in Laramie. The win is the second consecutive victory against a local rival after the Pokes brought home the Bronze Boot versus Colorado State last weekend. It was a tale of two halves with Wyoming dominating the first half and Air Force the second but Wyoming was able to hold on in the end with a late Brian Hill 1-yard touchdown run. That touchdown was partially thanks to Air Force coach Troy Calhoun’s decision to onside kick with 3:31 left in the game giving Wyoming the ball at the Air Force 37 yard line even though the Falcons had their full complement of timeouts.

At one point it looked like Wyoming could win their Homecoming game in blowout fashion. The Pokes built a 28-6 lead with 3:33 left in the third quarter after a 32-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to tight end Jacob Hollister. Wyoming scored their other three touchdowns via WR Tanner Gentry in the first quarter (17-yard pass), WR Jake Maulhardt in the second quarter (20-yard pass) and LB D.J. May in the third quarter (15-yard fumble return).

After the Hollister touchdown, the script was flipped with Air Force scoring 20 consecutive unanswered points. The final points of those 20 consecutive were on a 49-yard touchdown reception by Tim McVey that was followed by a failed two-point conversion by Jacobi Evans. That closed the Wyoming lead to 28 to 26 putting a scare into the Cowboys and the War Memorial Stadium faithful. Even though they had all the momentum, the Falcons decided to onside kick which Wyoming recovered and turned that into a Brian Hill touchdown run. With a nine-point lead, cornerback Antonio Hull sealed the victory with his second interception of the day on the ensuing Air Force drive with 1:43 left in the game.

Halfway through the 2016 season, Wyoming has two more wins than they had in 2015 after going 2 and 10. That should put the coaching staff, players and fan base in a good mood as Wyoming enters their only bye week of the season. The Cowboys will next take the field on October 22nd in Reno, Nevada when they take on the Nevada Wolfpack in a game with a currently unannounced game time that can be seen on the ESPN network of channels.