Wyoming 31, BYU 17LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Everything appeared to be set for BYU to win the inaugural Mountain West Conference title at War Memorial Stadium Saturday.
The trophy was in the house, and so was MWC commissioner Craig Thompson, ready to present it to the Cougars. Even a Liberty Bowl representative flew in from Memphis for the occasion.
But Wyoming had other ideas. The Cowboys looked more like the team trying to clinch a championship. In the end, it was the emotional Cowboys that partied after pounding BYU 31-17. Students tore down both goal posts and paraded them around on the field. And sent the Cougars packing and wondering exactly what had hit them.
"There's not much to say," said coach LaVell Edwards. "Wyoming came out and took the fight to us and sustained it throughout the whole ball game. They made the plays when they had to and I just
have to congratulate them."
Just like that, the Cowboys, and a few other teams, have jumped into the championship race.
Suddenly, next week's BYU-Utah game will be more than just another grudge match -- it will go a long way in settling the title.
The Cougars still control their own fate, simply needing a victory over the Utes. Not that it will be simple, especially if BYU plays like it did against Wyoming, who dominated both lines of scrimmage and made almost all the big plays.
"We got the feeling they were overlooking us," said Wyoming quarterback Jay Stoner.
The Cowboys came out fired up from the opening kickoff and never let up. The Cougars, meanwhile, looked listless and confused at times.
"We saw a defense we'd never seen (on film) before," said quarterback Kevin Feterik. "It was hard to get adjusted. We finally adjusted in the second quarter, but it was too late."
Wyoming threw in a new little wrinkle into their offense, utilizing three safeties, and it paid off.
"When they get to you with a three and four man rush at times they did a few times in key situations it makes it difficult because you have nowhere to throw when they drop eight," Edwards said.
Feterik still threw for 362 yards and a touchdown, but Wyoming stuffed BYU's running attack, limiting the Cougars to 29 yards. Not having freshman Luke Staley, who is injured, was crucial.
"We had no running game," Feterik said. "You can't win if you can't run the ball."
"Our defensive line is playing so tenacious that we completely took their run game out of their package and that was our game plan," Dimel said.
Most importantly for the Cowboys, they kept BYU out of the end zone.
The Cougars blew prime scoring opportunities when running back Fahu Tahi fumbled inside the Cowboy 5, and receiver Ben Horton dropped a sure touchdown pass.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, though, was how easily Wyoming moved the ball against BYU's defense, ranked No. 7 in the nation coming into the game. The Cowboys rolled up 475 total yards.
"We're a good defensive football team," Edwards said. "We just didn't show it tonight like I thought we would."
Stoner threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns while running back Tim Beasley rushed for 82 yards.
"We made too many mental mistakes," said linebacker Rob Morris. "I take pride in not screwing up. I screwed up today."
Wyoming scored on its second play from scrimmage, when Beasley took a pass from Stoner and raced 42 yards to the BYU 14. Then Stoner hooked up with Wendell Montgomery for six more.
The Cougars didn't respond with its first score until 1:53 before halftime when Margin Hooks hauled in a 20-yard pass from Feterik.
But the Cowboys came right back with another Stoner-to-Montgomery scoring pass with ten seconds left in the second half and went into the locker room with a 14-7 lead.
"That TD hurt us," Morris said. "We had a little momentum, and we lost it."
And in the second half, things got downright ugly for the Cougars. Wyoming's Aaron Elling drilled a 45-yard field goal on the Cowboys' first drive of the third quarter. On BYU's ensuing possession, Horton uncharacteristically dropped a 30-yard TD pass in the end zone and the Cougars had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Owen Pochman.
Wyoming added to its lead on a touchdown on its next series with a TD toss and then essentially put the game away on a 14-yard scoring run by Beasley with 9:12 left in the game as the Cowboys built a 31-10 advantage.
The Cougars got on the board with just five minutes remaining, but at that point, it was just cosmetic. Besides, the drive ate up 5:25 on the clock.
Now the Cougars must face another week of buildup. Edwards said he sensed his team was a little tight Saturday, after all the talk about wrapping up the conference title.
"We couldn't get ourselves up for the game," said BYU cornerback Brian Gray. "Emotionally we couldn't get ourselves to the next level."
The Cougars shouldn't have that same trouble next Saturday.