LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowboys opened Mountain West play with a 27-10 victory over Hawaii on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, reclaiming the Paniolo Trophy in front of a Homecoming crowd of 20,999.
Wyoming improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Hawaii fell to 1-3 and 0-2. The victory also returned the traveling trophy to Laramie after the Rainbow Warriors won the previous meeting between the teams.
The Cowboys put together one of their more balanced performances of the season, finishing with 387 total yards, including 204 through the air and 183 on the ground. Wyoming also avoided the turnovers that had hurt the team in earlier games, finishing the afternoon without giving the ball away.
Tyler Hughes completed 17 of 23 passes for 204 yards, spreading the ball among nine different receivers. Deion DeBlanc led the Cowboys with 41 receiving yards on three catches, while Samuel “Tote” Harris added 36 receiving yards to go with his production on the ground.
Harris rushed 11 times for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Markell Holman carried 15 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Neither Harris nor Holman recorded a negative rushing play, and when sack yardage is removed, Wyoming’s rushing production surpassed 200 yards. Hughes also contributed 40 rushing yards before four sacks accounted for lost yardage.
The Cowboys scored in the first quarter for the first time since the season opener against Colorado State, although the points again came from the kicking game. Erik Sandvik connected on a 28-yard field goal with 10:13 remaining in the opening quarter to cap an 11-play, 64-yard drive and give Wyoming a 3-0 lead.
Hawaii answered with a 28-yard field goal from Sean Olvera-Harle with 5:27 left in the quarter, but the Rainbow Warriors would not score again until the fourth period. Sandvik put Wyoming back in front with a 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter before Holman gave the Cowboys their first touchdown of the afternoon on a 1-yard run with 3:05 remaining in the half.
The touchdown capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive and helped Wyoming take a 13-3 lead into halftime. The Cowboys held a 205-90 advantage in total yards at the break, continuing a first-half performance that allowed them to establish control of the game.
Hawaii came out of halftime with its best sustained drive of the afternoon, moving 74 yards on 16 plays while taking 9 minutes, 14 seconds off the clock. The Rainbow Warriors eventually reached the Wyoming 1-yard line, but Desman Hearns made a touchdown-saving tackle on Mikaele Sitani before Jack Dunkley forced an incompletion from quarterback Micah Alejado on fourth-and-goal.
The goal-line stand kept Hawaii off the scoreboard and preserved Wyoming’s 13-3 advantage. The Rainbow Warriors did force a Wyoming punt, but a penalty for having two players wearing No. 8 on the punt return team gave the Cowboys another opportunity to maintain possession.
Wyoming took advantage of the extra opportunities on its next drive. Hughes completed a 26-yard pass to DeBlanc on third-and-15 to keep the possession alive, then connected with Eric Richardson for 19 yards over the middle. Hughes later found Jacob Wilson for seven yards on third-and-5 as the Cowboys continued moving down the field.
The drive eventually reached the end zone when Holman broke through for an 18-yard touchdown run with 14:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. The score capped an 11-play, 99-yard drive that consumed nearly six minutes and extended Wyoming’s lead to 20-3.
“We were going to empty the tank for 60 minutes. Players, coaches, everything to it,” Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said. “You should see the same energy every single week the rest of the way through.”
Hawaii answered with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Alejado to Devon Tauaefa to cut the deficit to 20-10. The Rainbow Warriors then had another opportunity to make the game tighter, but missed a field-goal attempt on their next possession.
Wyoming responded with the decisive drive. The Cowboys moved 63 yards on seven plays, converting a third-and-6 before Harris finished the possession with an 18-yard touchdown run with 1:46 remaining to put the game out of reach.
The Cowboys’ defense held Hawaii scoreless throughout the second and third quarters and limited the Rainbow Warriors to 10 points overall. Jones Thomas led Wyoming with seven tackles and also recorded three pass breakups, an assisted tackle for loss and a quarterback hit on a blitz. Esaia Bogar added 1.5 tackles for loss, while Jayden Williams recorded the first sack of his career.
The performance gave Wyoming its first Mountain West victory of the season and marked the Cowboys’ second win overall. For a team that had struggled to sustain consistency through the opening three games, the result came with an emphasis from Sawvel on carrying the same preparation and energy into the remainder of the season.
“There was a completely different feel,” Sawvel said of his team’s preparation. “It’s one game. Tomorrow, we go back to work, and we’ve got to get this right and go do it again.”
Wyoming will return to the road next Saturday for a matchup with undefeated North Dakota State at the FargoDome. The game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and will be televised by The CW.
