LARAMIE — Wyoming’s defense frustrated No. 20 Utah through much of the first half, but the Utes’ balanced attack proved too much in a 31-6 loss for the Cowboys on Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium.
The game marked the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 2010 and the 84th overall in the series.
“Give credit to Utah,” Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said. “They have a good football team, and they outplayed us tonight. The markings and the windows we had to win that game; we didn’t achieve a lot of those. I thought our effort was tremendous. I thought we played very hard. But there’s a lot of things from an execution standpoint that we need to improve on. I think we have a chance to be pretty good, but we have a lot of things we need to get better at.”
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The Cowboys (2-1) leaned on their defense in the opening half, forcing three missed field goals, including a block, and recovering a fumble to keep the Utes (3-0) to just three points before halftime. Linebacker Evan Eller paced the defense with a career-high 12 tackles, while safety Andrew Johnson added a career-best 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Nickelback Desman Hearns and safety Jones Thomas chipped in eight stops apiece.
Utah finally broke through after the break. Quarterback Devon Dampier guided a pair of long scoring drives, including a 19-play march that consumed more than seven minutes of the third quarter. Dampier finished with 230 passing yards and 86 rushing yards. Receiver Ryan Davis added 10 catches for 91 yards as the Utes piled up 541 yards of total offense.
Wyoming managed 229 yards on offense. Freshman running back Samuel “Tote” Harris provided a spark with a career-high 68 rushing yards and 37 receiving yards. Terron Kellman added 45 yards on the ground and scored Wyoming’s lone touchdown on a 15-yard run midway through the second half. Chris Durr Jr., who entered the game coming off a 190-yard receiving performance in the opener, was held to five catches for 40 yards.
Harris was named the Old Trapper Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Monday following his performance against No. 20 Utah. Through three games, Harris is averaging 43.3 rushing yards per game and 7.2 yards per carry.
Utah’s defense limited Wyoming to just one drive longer than 50 yards until Kellman’s score, and the Utes sealed the win with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
The Cowboys will look to bounce back next week when they travel to face Colorado. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
