Colorado State got on the board first with a field goal to go up 3-0. The Cowboys responded with Alvester Alexander scampering off on a 36 yard run, his longest rush of the season. Up 7-3 the Sheep kicked another field goal and trailed 7-6 in the second quarter. The Cowboys responded on the very next offensive play as Brett Smith tossed an 80 yard bomb to fellow freshman Josh Doctson. The Pokes would go into halftime up 14-6.

The second half of the Border War would prove to be an exciting finish in the 103rd edition of the game. The Sheep owned the 3rd quarter as they punched in a pair of touchdowns from running back Raymond Carter, including one drive that was capped off by a 16 play 87 yard drive that ate 7:27 off of the game clock. The Pokes were shutout in the third quarter and found themselves down 14-19 at the start of the 4th. Freshman Brett Smith wasn’t going to lose his first Border War as he led the Pokes on an 11 play 90 yard drive to give the Cowboys the lead 20-19, as Smith hit Doctson for a 2nd score from 35 yards out. The two point conversion failed. The Pokes sealed the game up with Mike Purcell blew up a screen pass with 2:43 left in the game and sacked Colorado State quarterback Garret Grayson in the endzone. Grayson was making his first Border War start, replacing the ineffective Pete Thomas mid-way through the season. 

The Cowboys won their third straight Border War, their longest win streak since their run from 1987 – 1989 when Paul Roach was the head coach. The Cowboys now trail in the overall series 55-43-5, but lead the series since the Bronze Boot was introduced 23-21.

The Cowboys found out today they will be playing in the New Mexico Bowl for the 2nd time in three years as they will face off against the Temple Owls from the MAC. The Cowboys last played in the New Mexico Bowl in 2009, Dave Christensen’s first year, and defeated Fresno State in double OT. The Temple Owls finished their season at 8-4, 2nd in the MAC East division. The Owls are a run-heavy offense, 7th in the country at 256.7. They are 3rd in the country at points against, allowing 13.8 per game. The only common opponent between the two teams is Bowling Green, who defeated the Owls 13-10, but the Cowboys defeated 28-27. The game will be played December 17th at noon on ESPN. Cowboy fans can get their tickets to the game from the UW ticket office.

In other Poke news, the Cowboy basketball team is still rolling, pulling off a couple of more wins this week vs Utah Valley State and Bradley. The Cowboys are now 8-1 on the season and will face off against Colorado on Friday night in  Boulder. The Cowgirl basketball team suffered another loss this weekend to the Montana Lady Griz. They are now 1-6 on the season. They will play next on Saturday against Maryville.

The Wyoming wrestling team also had a great week of wrestling as the team traveled to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational. The Cowboys finished the tournament in 3rd place, finishing behind Big 10 powers Michigan and Ohio State. Shane Onufer and Joe LeBlanc brought home individual titles for the Pokes, and a handful of other Pokes also brought medals home from Vegas. They will next be in action at Nebraska on Saturday in Lincoln.

Go Pokes!

The Cowboys got on the scoreboard first with junior Luke Anderson intercepting a Kellen Moore pass and taking it back 29 yards for a Cowboy touchdown. The Pokes did something that no other team has done this year, and that was hold Boise State scoreless in the first quarter. Boise State scored 13 points in the 2nd quarter using a Doug Martin run and a Kellen Moore TD to Matt Miller to go to the half with a 13-7 lead. The hail mary from Moore to Miller was a goofy play for both sides as Miller was laying on the ground and after a couple of tips the ball fell into Miller’s hands and he happen to be laying on the goal line stripe as time expired. Wyoming blocked the following extra point.

After half time it was all Kellen Moore, showing why he should be invited to New York next month. Moore went on to throw for two more touchdowns in the 2nd half as the Broncos sealed up the game. The Cowboys put a touchdown in with 5 minutes to ago, a Brett Smith pass to Josh Doctson, but by then it was too late for a Cowboy comeback. Brett Smith finished with 78 yards passing and 39 yards rushing. Redshirt freshman receiver Sam Stratton led rushers with 58 yards, running from the Wildcat. Tashaun Gipson led all Cowboy tacklers with 12 tackles.

The Pokes will next face off with Colorado State in the annual Border War with the Bronze Boot at stake. The Cowboys are looking to make it three wins in a row vs the Sheep from Fort Collins. The game will kickoff at 12:00pm from Hughes Stadium. The annual Border War run by both schools’ ROTC will be on Friday, as the crews from each side will meet at the border on highway 287 and the ball will be run back to Fort Collins.

In basketball action this week the Cowboy basketball team has been piling up some wins in their Jim Thorpe Classic tournament. The Pokes started off with a win vs. Portland State and followed that up with a win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Pokes will play Louisiana Tech later on today and look to go 3-0 in the tournament and try to move to 6-1 on the season. The Cowgirl basketball team has had a tough season to date. This past weekend they suffered losses to Northern Iowa and Loyola Marymount. The Cowgirls will play Creighton at home on Thursday with a 7pm tip off.

Go Pokes!

The Cowboys got on the board first with a 26 yard screen pass from Brett Smith to Brandon Miller. The Cowboys played most of the first half pretty sluggish, scoring only once more on a 3  yard Alvester Alexander rush to the endzone. At the half the Pokes were up 14-10 on a frigid day in Laramie. The Pokes were heavily favored in this contest. In the second half there was no doubt who was going to take over this game.

Brett Smith took over the 2nd half and showed why he should be the Mountain West freshman of the year. Smith is also in the running for the national freshman of the year according to some publications. Smith took over with his feet after the half and ran in two scores, the first a 10 yard scramble to the endzone. His second rushing touchdown of the game was far more impressive as Smith read the quarterback draw to perfection, hit the lane and ran for 69 yards. Smith was pulling away from the defense on his scramble down the field. The Cowboys finished the game with a 31-10 victory over the Lobos. The Lobos fall to 1-10 on the season, while the Cowboys are now 7-3, 4-1 in conference play.

The Pokes will next play Boise State on their “famous’ blue turf. It will be a 12:00opm kickoff and can be found on TheMTN.

The Cowboy basketball team picked up a win and a loss this past weekend, a win over Northern Colorado of the Big Sky conference and a loss at UW-Green Bay. They will next play at home vs. South Dakota on 11-22 at the AA. The Cowgirls picked up their first win of the season as they were able to defeat Chadron State on the home floor. They will next play in the Loyola Marymount tournament in Los Angeles and will play Northern Iowa first on 11-25. The Cowboy wrestling team fared very well in the Kearney Open, having six wrestlers win individual titles. Also competing was Joe LeBlanc and Shane Onufer in the NWCA all-star classic, which the elite wrestlers, one from each weight class, are paired off in one on one matches. Joe LeBlanc won his match by defeating Ben Bennett of Central Michigan while Shane Onufer fell to Josh Asper of Maryland. Great exposure for an up and coming Cowboy wrestling program.

Go Pokes!

The game started with wind blowing in the 30mph range and had gusts of more than 40mph. The goal posts at Falcon Stadium were swaying back and forth, making kicking conditions impossible. The Cowboys started the game red-hot as Brett Smith led the charge down field on a 14 play, 80 yard drive that covered more than 6 minutes when Smith punched the ball into the endzone from a yard out. The PAT missed as the wind managed to take the ball and sling it wide right of the goal post. AFA responded at the end of the first quarter as fullback Mike DeWitt took it in from 9 yards out. The teams played a lot of back and forth football but the Pokes punched in another TD right before halftime, a touchdown pass from Smith to Chris McNeill from 6 yards out. McNeill would later suffer a shoulder injury that would end the season for him. Two point conversion failed.

AFA look the lead late in the 3rd quarter when Mike DeWitt scored his second touchdown of the day, AFA was up 17-12. The Pokes responded in the 4th quarter when Brett Smith took in his second touchdown run of the game. Smith’s two point conversion pass was intercepted. Up 18-17 the Cowboys were clinging to their lead. AFA threatened to score late in the game to take the lead but the Cowboy defense game up HUGE once again late in the game as Ben Durbin stripped AFA of the ball and Mike Purcell recovered. This ended a Falcons scoring threat. The Pokes got another huge turnover when AFA bobbled a hook and ladder attempt and Marqueston Huff returned it 48 yards for a touchdown to seal the Cowboy victory. Huff caused one more turnover to end the game by intercepting a Connor Dietz pass.

The Cowboys pulled off the victory 25-17 in the Springs, the first time the Pokes have beaten the Falcons since 2005. The Cowboys are now sitting at six wins, one short of becoming bowl eligible. They will need one more win in their next three games to get to a bowl game against either New Mexico, Boise State, or the Rams in Fort Collins. Brett Smith led the Pokes in rushing with 86 yards, followed by Alvester Alexander with 84, and newcomer Kody Sutton, who saw his redshirt disappear this weekend, with 56. Smith also had 139 yards passing. The Pokes were led on defense by Gabe Knapton with 12 tackles, then Luke Ruff with 11. Josh Biezuns, our player of the week, had 10 tackles, 5 solo, 1.5 TFL and a forced fumble. The Pokes defense came up huge in the 4th quarter, keeping the Falcons out of the endzone to seal it. The Pokes will play on Saturday at noon in War Memorial Stadium against the 1-9 New Mexico Lobos, who got their first win of the season this past weekend by defeating the UNLV Rebels. New Mexico, who has struggled a ton this season, fired coach Mike Locksley mid-season due to poor performance and a recruit getting picked up for a DUI in his SUV.

In other Poke news, the Cowgirl soccer team fell just short of clinching the MW championship, falling to New Mexico in the title game. Cowboy hoops got back under way under new coach Larry Shyatt and they got back in a big way as they took D2 Western State College to the woodshed 78-39. Cowgirl hoops dropped a heart breaker as they lost to Utah State 62-56. Cowboy wrestling also got underway as they won the Northwest Open in Powell then the Cowboy Open this past weekend. No results have been posted from the Cowboy Open as of writing.

Go Pokes!

The second half wasn’t as friendly to the Cowboys as they were only able to get onto the scoreboard once. The Frogs settled into their offense as the weather began to worsen. The Frogs went on to rush for over 400 yards and scored two more rushing touchdowns. Freshman kicker Daniel Sullivan hit his career long as a Cowboy by kicking a field goal from 48 yards, the only Cowboys score in the 2nd half. The final score of this game ended 31-20. The Frogs had over 600 yards of total offense, while holding the Cowboys to 353 yards.

Freshman quarterback Brett Smith had a rough game as he was hit repeatedly, some not so honest, by linebacker Tank Carder, who will presumably be playing in the NFL next year. Brett Smith took a blow to the helmet from Carder that eventually knocked him out of the game. Smith fought to come back into the game but was held out by trainers for his safety. Transfer quarterback Colby Kirkegaard finished the game for the Cowboys. Carder wasn’t flagged for any hits.

The Cowboys will move past this game and prepare for a road trip down I-25 to face the Air Force Falcons. The Falcons have had an up and down year, but have recently secured their second straight Commander-In-Chief trophy with a victory over Army this past weekend. The Falcons are 5-4 on the season and are led by senior quarterback Tim Jefferson. The Pokes have not beaten the Falcons since 2005, but most of the games in recent memory have been decided by less than 10 points. The games always seem to be hard fought battles. The game will kickoff at 12:00pm from Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs.

Go Pokes!

San Diego State made some adjustments at halftime and the Cowboys had no answer for the Aztecs for most of the half. Ronnie Hillman showed why he’s a legitimate NFL prospect in the second half after being mostly contained on his rushes in the first half. San Diego State responded after a Cowboy punt when Hillman took off on a 99 yard rush leaving behind several missed tackles and Cowboy defenders in his wake. The Aztecs punched in another touchdown on another Ronnie Hillman rush, this from 3 yards out. Up 30-27 the Cowboy defense played bend but don’t break the rest of the way. Also aiding the Cowboys was the Aztec kicker Abelardo Perez missing two critical FGs that would have tied the game. The Pokes held strong at mid-field and crushed the Aztecs dreams, giving the Cowboys the win.

Freshman quarterback Brett Smith was named Mountain West co-player of the week, along with Ronnie Hillman, for his terrific performance against the Aztecs. Smith finished with 397 all purpose yards and four touchdowns, two rushing and two throwing. Hillman finished with 309 all purpose yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys will next face the TCU Horned Frogs in Laramie this Saturday. TCU is 6-2 on the season, 3-0 in conference play. The game will kick off at noon in Laramie.

Go Pokes!

The Cowboys took the ball first and marched down the field with relative ease on a seven play 77 yard drive, capped off by a 2 yard touchdown run by quarterback Brett Smith. The two point conversion failed. The following play is one that Utah State would like to have back as USU returner Kenwynn Williams failed to cover a kickoff he thought was going to go through the endzone, but instead was recovered in the endzone by gunner James Caraway. The Pokes missed the PAT but were up early 12-0 before USU had had an offensive possession.

Utah State would respond with a three of scores of their own, a run by running back Robert Turbin, a pair of touchdown pass from Chuckie Keeton. The Pokes would respond as the Pokes went on a five play, 60 yard drive capped off by a 2 yard touchdown run from Brandon Miller. The Pokes would give up 42 unanswered points as the Aggies demolished the Cowboys defense and the offense had to get one dimensional to try to keep the game close. Utah State running back Robert Turbin finished the day with 113 yards rushing. Chuckie Keeton, who was named this week’s WAC player of the week, was 16 of 21 for 228 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Aggies looked unbeatable on the field, as they were coming off three losses that devastated the team, giving up late fourth quarter leads to Auburn, Colorado State, and BYU.

Leading the Pokes was Brett Smith who finished 28 of 46 for 265 yards and one rushing touchdown. Cowboy rushers didn’t have too much success on the ground, running for a combined 142 yards on 28 attempts. Brian Hendricks let tacklers for the Cowboys with 12 tackles, 4 solo. Tashaun Gipson, who was moved to Safety, finished with 11 tackles.

The Pokes will turn their attention to the UNLV Rebels this weekend for Homecoming. The Rebels are suffering from a really horrible season, 1-4 on the season, including a loss to FCS Southern Utah. The Rebels are led by 2nd year head coach Bobby Hauck. The Rebels announced today that JR transfer quarterback Sean Reilly will start for the Rebels in place of Caleb Herring. Rebels are led by running back Tim Cornett who has 281 yards on the season with a pair of touchdowns. The game will start at 12:00pm at War Memorial Stadium.

Go Pokes!

A sea of red invaded War Memorial Stadium on Saturday night and the Huskers got on the board early as running back Rex Burkhead scampered off on a 45 yard touchdown run to put the Huskers up early 7-0. The Huskers again scored midway through the second quarter as the Huskers drove 80 yards down field and quarterback Taylor Martinez ran into the endzone from 8 yards out to put Nebraska up 14-0. The Cowboys would respond on their next possession when quarterback Brett Smith fired over the middle and hit wide receiver Mazi Ogbonna on a slant and scored from 48 yards out to close the gap 14-7, and that was the score going into halftime.

The third quarter did not start as well for the Cowboys as the Huskers drove down field in a hurry on a short kickoff by the Cowboys and a personal foul on safety Luke Anderson allowed the Huskers to  score from 16 yards out on another Burkhead touchdown. Nebraska added a field goal to go up 24-7, and that’s how the third quarter finished. The Cowboys had one scoring opportunity erased with WR Chris McNeill hit a Nebraska defender from behind, away from the play, to draw a 15  yard personal foul and end a threat the Cowboys put together.

The fourth quarter got under way and the Huskers were able to put the game away early in the quarter when Taylor Martinez threw a 8 yard touchdown pass to Kenny Bell to go up 31-7, ending the Cowboys chances for victory. The Cowboys would score once more as Brett Smith hit Robert Herron over the middle for 10 yards and another Cowboy touchdown. The Huskers added one more of their own to go up 38-14, and that’s how the game ended for the Cowboys.

True freshman quarterback Brett Smith showed flashes of great for the Cowboys as he remained poised in the pocket and escaped trouble many times to make plays for the Cowboys. He was playing beyond his age in this game and led the Pokes when he needed to. The Cowboy offense showed that they can move the ball on anyone, even the vaunted Blackshirts. The Cornhuskers flexed their muscles, but dominating both lines of scrimmage, but the Pokes were still able to rush for 137 yards, but the Huskers rushed for 333. Leading the rushing for the Cowboys was Alvester Alexander who ran for 55 yards.

Up next for the Pokes is a much needed week off. They will go into the bye week at 3-1, and will head on the road to face a surprisingly good Utah State team who took Auburn to the final tick, and lost most recently to Colorado State in overtime. The Pokes will need to win this game if they want a shot at the post season. Not a must win game, but would certainly go a long ways into helping their quest for the post season.

Go Pokes!

Texas State marched down field on the Cowboys and scored on a 8 yard run from Terrance Franks. Just before halftime the Cowboys had a clock management snafu and instead of spiking the ball and taking a shot at the end zone the Pokes settled for a field goal to go up 17-10 to go up 17-10 at the half.

Halftime adjustments were friendly to the Cowboys offense and defense this week as both teams looked unstoppable in the 2nd half. The Cowboy defense looked inspired and forced several Texas State punts. JUCO transfer Korey Jones recorded three consecutive sacks on Bobcats quarterback Tyler Arndt, forcing a Bobcat punt. Freshman Brett Smith took control of the game at this point and ran in a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, runs of 29 yards and 2 yards.

The Cowboy defense kept the Bobcats locked up by shutting down the Bobcats option attack, a new twist for the Bobcats under first year  head coach Dennis Franchione, who will be transitioning the Bobcats to FBS next season and will be members of the WAC. To cap off the scoring for the Cowboys WR Chris McNeill hauled in an nice 18 yard pass from Brett Smith, then a 50 yard run from converted LB Ghaali Muhammad. Muhammad finished the day with 124 yards rushing, leading all Cowboy rushers.

Brett Smith continued to show that he’s going to be a star in this Cowboys offense as he piled up 236 yards passing and 73 yards rushing with three total touchdowns. The Cowboys also got nice days out of running backs Alvester Alexander and Brandon Miller. Freshman linebacker Mark Nzeocha recorded first interception as a Cowboy. The Cowboy defense looked like a whole new unit this week, after a poor showing versus Weber State by holding the Bobcats to 189 of total offense, while the Cowboy offense piled up 618 yards, the most yardage they have gained in a game since 1995 in a game versus Hawaii. The 45 points are the most the Cowboys have scored since 2004 when they defeated until by scoring 53 points.

The Cowboys will be going on the road next weekend as they take on Bowling Green, an opponent whom they’ve had one meeting with in the past, a Cowboy loss in Laramie. The game will start at 10am Mountain time, so be sure to get up early and cheer on the Cowboys.

Go Pokes!

Weber State started the scoring on their first drive when Tanner Hinds ran in a 2 yard score. From there the scoring was wide open for both teams. The Cowboys responded on their next drive when Brett Smith took a touchdown in from 1 yard  out to even the score at 7. The Cowboys took the lead when Alvester Alexander took a touchdown in from four yards. The Cowboys punched in another touchdown when SR WR Mazi Ogbonna caught a pass from Brett Smith for the Cowboys to take a 21-10 lead. Weber State added a pair of scores before halftime, a field goal and touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Hoke to Xavian Johnson on a 35 yard score. The Cowboys took their first drive of the 2nd half for a score as Robert Herron took in his first touchdown grab of the day on a 45 yard pass from Brett Smith. Weber clawed back again when RB Josh Booker ran in a touchdown from 12 yards.

Weber took the lead when Mike Hoke tossed a touchdown to Xavian Johnson for their second TD hook-up of the game. Weber failed on their 2 point conversion try. The Cowboys got the ball back and marched down field looking to take the lead. The drive stalled at the Weber State 10 yard line when Brett Smith’s rush failed on 4th down and Weber got the ball back. Weber took possession and the Cowboys managed to hold Weber back and forced a punt. With 2:00 to go the Pokes drove down the field where Smith hit Herron in the back corner of the endzone for the touchdown.

The Cowboys will next play FCS transitioning team Texas State, who will be making their debut in the WAC next season. This season they are an FCS independent and not eligible for the playoffs. The Bobcats from San Marcos, Texas will be making their first trip to Laramie and will be looking to upset the home team. The Bobcats were brutally beaten by Texas Tech this past weekend, 50-10, allowing 40 second half points to the Red Raiders. It will be a 4:00pm kickoff in Laramie.

Go Pokes!