January 2, 2024 |
Photo – After the game, Coach Bohl is interviewed – Courtesy gowyo.com
The Cowboys rode for the brand in the Arizona Bowl game on Saturday, delivering one gutsy, personal performance after another for a 15-14 walk off Wyoming win in Tucson. Courageous individual performances added up to a great win for a Cowboy team that looked overmatched most of the way. Kicker John Hoyland snapped a 1-for-9 stretch that had dogged him down the stretch, going 3-for-3 and delivering the walk-off win with a field goal as time ran out. Outgoing quarterback Andrew Peasley showed his leadership, putting the Pokes in a position to win with his guts, heart, and arm.
A battered and injured Peasley could only watch from the sidelines as backup quarterback, Evan Svoboda, drove Wyoming into position for the winning field goal. A personal foul on Toledo sealed the deal.
The catch and penalty tee’d up Wyoming for the winning field goal attempt. With four clicks left on the clock and down 15-13, Hoyland overcame the snakebite and delivered the game winner through the uprights.
Keith Kelly and Kevin McKinney had the emotional game-winning call as the Wyoming head Coach Craig Bohl and his Cowboys go out a winner.
With that, Wyoming’s longest-ever tenured head coach rides off into the sunset. Saturday’s win sends Coach Bohl off to retirement with 61-60 record during his time in Laramie. The victory gives the Cowboys their first nine-win season since 1996.
Along the way, Wyoming’s incoming quarterback proved his worth. Peasley was forced to come out of the game around the 9-minute mark of the fourth quarter after driving Wyoming into scoring range.
True to character, Peasley left it on the field. Later, he recalled asking for help to get on his feet so he could wave to the crowd. Svoboda, who has locked up the quarterback job for next year, finished the drive, powering into the endzone with two straight run plays.
The come-from-behind victory marks the first-nine-win season for Wyoming since 1996. It puts an exclamation mark on Coach Bohl’s four-decade long coaching career that includes three FCS titles at North Dakota State and two national championships at Nebraska as an assistant.
For John Hoyland, the win meant redemption. Wyoming’s field goal kicker had missed eight of his last nine attempts going into the game. He connected on all three attempts Saturday, including the 24-yard game winner.
Hoyland was named MVP for the game.
Perhaps the unsung hero of the game is incoming head coach, Defensive Coordinator Jay Sawvel. After the Wyoming touchdown put Wyoming within a field goal to win, Sawvel drew up the plays to stop Toledo on their final possession and give the Cowboys a chance for the final score to win.
The Cowboys scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter after Hoyland opened up scoring with a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter that bounced in off the crossbar. With three field goals in the Arizona Bowl win, the Cowboy place-kicker now has 58 field goals for his career.
Outgoing quarterback Peasley may have summed it up the best when he said after the game, “We didn’t reach all our goals this year, but we won a bowl game to finish on top. I’m very thankful to be a part of this team and be around the guys I’ve met here.”
The new era of Wyoming football continues to unfold this week with the naming of a new offensive coordinator.
