Turning point, unsung hero and what’s next for UW football

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., -- History tells us Wyoming was dead in the water.

John Hoyland, just a matter of minutes after becoming the school's all-time leading scorer, pushed a 40-yard field goal to the right. The visitors already trailed by 10. There was just 13:02 remaining in regulation.

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The mild-mannered placekicker clapped his hands in disgust. There was a good reason, too. This one was slipping away.

We've seen this movie before. It's a horror flick.

Three of the Cowboys' seven losses during this forgettable season have come via the one-score heartbreaker. Utah State's Tanner Cragun booted through a 40-yard walk-off field goal last Saturday night in Laramie. Idaho played keep away throughout the final two quarters of a four-point win. San Diego State escaped the high plains with a three-point victory. Two long balls to Jordan Napier proved to be the difference.

What was going to be the dagger in the Land of Enchantment?

There were options.

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier capped his night with 207 rushing yards. Three times he broke the plane and cruised to the red paint. That included a school-record 85-yard sprint late in the third quarter that gave the Lobos a two-score lead.

Eli Sanders added another 205 on the ground to go along with two scores. The junior running back also broke a long one, outracing the Cowboys' secondary for a 75-yard touchdown with 1:36 to go in the first half.

That duo did all of that damage on just 29 attempts. That's an average of 14.2 yards per carry.

So, naturally, the play following Hoyland's missed field goal was a throw. Dampier hit Wrook Brown in stride at the 29-yard line. That strike hit the junior directly in the number.

The only issue? He plays for Wyoming.

The Texas product cruised into the end zone, breathing new life into the east sideline inside University Stadium.

"I feel like that flipped a switch for all of us and turned the momentum of the game," said defensive end Tyce Westland, who would add to the takeaways with a strip sack with less than three minutes to go. "That's what led us to win, I feel like."

That was Brown's third interception of the season and sixth in his career. He made his first-career start in this very venue back in 2022. That night he tallied 10 tackles and a pass breakup.

This was a very different outing.

Dampier and Co. targeted Brown throughout this one. Ryan Davis was one of the bullies. The Lobo wideout snagged six balls for 74 yards. His 10-yard touchdown opened the scoring in this shootout. Tight end Trace Bruckler added four catches. So did Caleb Medford.

Brown wasn't entirely responsible, but in the words of head coach Jay Sawvel, he "played poor for a lot of it."

Brown wasn't alone.

This Wyoming defense allowed 576 total yards, six touchdowns and 22 first downs.

"(We were) a step slow and just didn't attack things," Sawvel said. "Then, come time to attack one, Wrook attacked one, and it was a big play for us. We did enough to get off the field in times that we needed to get off the field. Look, you just have to win."

That battered defensive unit, playing without starting edge rusher Sabastian Harsh, forced a punt on the ensuing possession. That was just the fourth time that happened all afternoon.

"Too many mistakes on our part, for sure," New Mexico head coach Bronco Mendenhall told the Albuquerque Journal postgame. "And not making enough critical plays at the right time -- even though there (were) lots of plays made and lots of points scored, ultimately it comes down to executing when you need to in the critical moments."

Making his first start under center, Kaden Anderson led the Cowboys on an 11-play, 88-yard drive. The redshirt freshman lasered a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Durr Jr. that was called back on an offensive pass-interference call.

Justin Stevenson was the culprit.

He was also on the receiving end of the next impressive throw. This one was from 27 yards out. This one counted.

"I literally told him, I was like, 'this is coming to you -- stay level-headed. We need you right here,'" Anderson said, referring to the redshirt freshman receiver from Katy, Texas. "I just knew I was going to him immediately. So, that was awesome."

Wyoming 49, New Mexico 45

UNSUNG HERO

The kicker.

Yes, Hoyland missed a 40-yard attempt that would've certainly helped in this one, but he did Saturday become Wyoming's all-time leading scorer with 346, surpassing Cooper Rothe.

Think about that number.

That's 67 field goals and 138 extra points. He added seven of those today.

While Rothe would likely joke that Hoyland got an additional season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I'm sure from one Coloradoan to another, he was happy to see this record fall.

Sawvel certainly was.

"Well, he missed that field goal, though, so I thought maybe we have to subtract three from him," he said with a laugh. "John Hoyland has meant the world to this program. You know, he's a guy that coach (Craig) Bohl always joked that he didn't know who he was when he put him in for that kick at Nevada. Coach Bowl knew who he was, the rest of us didn't. I'm proud of the kid. It's good to see him get that record."

QUOTABLE

"Our players have continued to work. I know everybody wants to shovel dirt on myself, Evan Svoboda and everybody else in the program, and the whole deal. Every Monday they come back with a good attitude, to work. Every Tuesday, they bust their ass. Every Wednesday, they're preparing. We finally executed what we needed to in that type of game. We got a lot to build on, but we got a lot of stuff still, like, programmatically, to do. Now it's, you know, get better next week. We got to keep working, recruiting. We'll sign 35 guys this year. So, I mean, we got a lot to do, we got a lot of players back, but we're going to load up as many people as we can."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel on the mindset of this team, coaching staff.

"If I'm being honest, probably like a D-plus, C-minus, because, you know, I could've definitely done better. There's a lot out there that I know I left on the field. Like, I slipped a bunch of times that I didn't need to slip. If I would have stood on my feet, I probably would have had a lot more (yards)."

-- Wyoming running back Harrison Waylee on what grade he would give himself after his 2024 debut. The senior rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

"It was really frustrating because this whole week of practice we've been working hard getting things right. Then, to come out here, doing that performance, It wasn't what Wyoming defense should be. I'm glad we got the win."

-- Wyoming edge rusher Tyce Westland on the defensive unit allowing a season-high 576 yards of total offense.

"Mindset, effort, execution was really poor (in) the first half. And as a result, the points, they were matching score-for-score with our offense."

-- New Mexico head coach Bronco Mendenhall told the Albuquerque Journal, referring to allowing the visitors to score 21 points in the second quarter, compared to 22 for the Lobos in this shootout.

"I actually didn't know until I saw it on my iPad, because I got hit on that play. That's kind of why the ball was all wobbly a little bit. But I got hit on that play, and I stood up and everybody was like, Yeah, Chris. And I was like, I don't know what happened.  And then I saw on the iPad, I was like, holy, dang. Like, that was a great catch. I was not expecting that. It was great."

-- Wyoming QB Kaden Anderson on Chris Durr Jr's one-handed catch near the sideline in the first quarter.

"I think that he did a really good job of keeping us in plays. Obviously, he was accurate on some key throws to (Jaylen) Sargent, which I thought was great. I think he was accurate on a couple third-down balls to Chris Durr in critical situations. You know, his command of things was really, really good. I think if he had one play back, it would have been the interception on the second flea flicker. He threw it into double coverage. But, I mean, there's so much to build on with that guy. So, we're excited."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel, referring to Kaden Anderson, who completed 20-of-29 throws for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

EXTRA POINT

Why did Sawvel not go for the throat with 1:36 remaining in the second quarter with three timeouts in hand?

"Well, with the way we were playing defense, I didn't want them to get the ball," he said. "Ok, so that was part of it. I thought that OK, we're coming out in the second half with the ball. The one thing I didn't want to do is go in (to halftime) with a deficit. So, everybody will say, 'Well, why don't we do this? Why don't we do that?' Well, then all of a sudden, you go three-and-out and punt the ball ... they had timeouts.

"... We just need to come in and regroup."

You remember last Saturday, right?

Svoboda threw an interception into the awaiting arms of Jordan Vincent. Utah State's Rahsul Faison scored two plays later to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room.

WHAT'S NEXT?

A much-needed bye week. Wyoming lost a number of starters to injury in this one, including tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, defensive end Sabastian Harsh, wide receiver Jaylen Sargent and offensive guard Wes King. Running back Sam Scott didn't even make the trip to New Mexico. He's dealing with a bone bruise in his knee, according to Sawvel. "It's what it is and we'll figure out a way," he said. After the "off week," the Cowboys will tangle with rival Colorado State in the 116th edition of the Border War. That game is slated for 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 inside Canvas Stadium.

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