Cowboys Fall Short at Tulsa, 24-21
A fumble inside the Tulsa 5-yard line with under a minute left cost the Wyoming Cowboys in a 24-21 loss at Tulsa Saturday.
Wyoming (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season and had their seven-game win streak snapped.
The Cowboys trailed 24-21 with 3:26 left. After a 36-yard kick-off return by Tyler Hall, Sean Chambers led the UW offense down the field. He completed a 34-yard pass to Dontae Crow on fourth down. That put the Pokes at the Tulsa 10-yard line.
After a rush for zero yards and an incomplete pass, on third down Chambers scrambled right and looked like he might go in for the go-ahead touchdown. After he avoided one defender, Chambers had the ball knocked out by Golden Hurricane linebacker Cooper Edmiston. Tulsa recovered and knelt twice for the victory.
The Cowboys finished with 357 yards of total offense. Chambers ran for 83 yards and two TDs. He was 9-25 passing for 193 yards and one touchdown. Alijah Halliburton had 17 tackles, which included a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Tulsa (2-2) had 437 yards on offense. Their QB Zach Smith went 25-50 for 354 yards and two touchdowns. Shamari Brooks added 67 rush yards and one TD. Edmiston had nine tackles on defense.
Wyoming took a 7-0 lead, as they scored on their opening drive. Chambers ran it in from 33-yards out. The offense was quiet until the fourth quarter with one exception. That drive was 59 yards but resulted in a blocked field goal midway through the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Tulsa scored on touchdown passes on their last two possessions of the first half and led 14-7 at halftime. The Golden Hurricane made it 17-7 with a field goal on the first series in the third quarter.
With UW’s offense stagnant, Chambers was replaced by Tyler Vander Waal for a couple of series. When Chambers re-entered in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys looked energized. He led two TD drives. One was a 53-yard pass to Ayden Eberhardt with 11:03 left in the game. After a defensive stop on fourth down at midfield thanks to a sack, the Pokes scored again when Chambers ran it in from 15-yards out. It gave Wyoming a 21-17 lead.
Tulsa came right back with a 75-yard touchdown drive. Brooks scored on a 19-yard TD run for a 24-21 lead. The Cowboys responded with the drive that ended with the fumble.
The Wyoming defense finished with seven sacks, 14 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, 9 pass breakups, and seven QB hurries.
The Pokes return home next Saturday to play UNLV in the Mountain West Conference opener for both schools. Kick-off is at 6 p.m. from War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.