LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowboys needed a reset Saturday, and a 40-minute lightning delay late in the fourth quarter provided it. After trailing Northern Colorado for much of the afternoon, Wyoming scored 14 unanswered points after the delay to rally for a 21-13 victory in its home opener at War Memorial Stadium. The Cowboys improved to 1-1, while Northern Colorado fell to 0-3.
“We had to fix this,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said, pointing to his temple.
The Cowboys’ final 12:07 was a stark contrast to what came before it. Wyoming outgained the Bears 135-3 in the fourth quarter and turned a seven-point deficit into an eight-point victory.
“We learn a lot through that scenario about the urgency we have to play with all the time,” Sawvel said. “There’s a lot of growth that still has to happen with this football team, but we’ll go back to work.”
Wyoming trailed 13-7 when the lightning delay stopped play with 12:07 remaining. On the final snap before the delay, the Cowboys lost a fumble at their own 32-yard line, giving Northern Colorado an opportunity to put the game away. Instead, Wyoming’s defense forced a three-and-out when play resumed.
The Cowboys then put together their longest and most important drive of the game. Tyler Hughes completed the 14-play, 82-yard possession with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Coenen, finishing a drive that took 7:06 off the clock. Erik Sandvik’s extra point gave Wyoming its first lead, 14-13, with 3:44 remaining.
“Our players came out with a different level of urgency,” Sawvel said. “It was good to see.”
The defense delivered again on Northern Colorado’s next possession. Jones Thomas intercepted Kenny Lueth for the second time, giving Wyoming another short field. Hughes took advantage, finding Kyle Frendt for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Frendt made a diving catch in the end zone to extend the lead to 21-13 with 1:44 remaining.
Northern Colorado had one final opportunity, but Jack Dunkley recorded a sack and Tyson Shamsid-Deen broke up a fourth-down pass with 48 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Thomas finished with two interceptions, while Ethan Stuhlsatz led Wyoming with 11 tackles.
“The biggest thing about today is we won our first home game and defended the War,” Thomas said. “I feel like our energy was just different coming out of the (delay). We’ve just got to continue that and come out of the gates with the same energy.”
Hughes finished 18 of 26 passing for 149 yards and two touchdowns while adding 35 rushing yards. Markell Holman led the Cowboys on the ground with 80 rushing yards and also caught five passes for 27 yards.
Northern Colorado took a 13-7 lead into the fourth quarter after Landon Richardson connected on a 35-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 58-yard drive. Richardson had another field-goal attempt blocked earlier in the game by Jayden Williams, and Esaia Bogar returned the loose ball for what appeared to be a touchdown, but the play was nullified by a delay-of-game penalty because the snap came after the play clock expired.
The Bears took a 10-7 lead into halftime when Lueth connected with Marcus Mozer for a 45-yard touchdown with 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Wyoming’s defense had several key moments earlier in the half, including Parker Moore sniffing out a fake punt, Bogar recording a 10-yard sack and Thomas making a diving interception.
Wyoming finished with 304 total yards compared with 346 for Northern Colorado, but the Cowboys dominated the final quarter after struggling to generate offense for much of the afternoon. Hughes completed the game-winning touchdown drive with his pass to Coenen before connecting with Frendt for the insurance score following Thomas’ second interception.
The Cowboys return to action next Saturday at Central Michigan. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
