Laramie – At the University of Wyoming, the bowl talk already has begun.
On a bright, breezy Saturday when the Cowboys’ athletic department had staged a timely reunion for its past 11 bowl teams, the 2005 team scored its first victory of the season with a 38-0 rout of Louisiana-Monroe before 20,165 fans at War Memorial Stadium.
The Cowboys – most of whom played on the 2004 team that won the Las Vegas Bowl with a dramatic, come-from-behind 24-21 victory over heavily favored UCLA – need five more victories to become eligible for another bowl game. After a 32-14 loss at Florida in their opener, they now can start counting.
“You got it,” Wyoming coach Joe Glenn said. “If you look at the games we’ve got left … we’re on the road at Air Force, we’re on the road at Ole Miss, we’re on the road at Utah … and if we’re going to get at least six wins, you knew we had to get this one.
“So our backs were against the wall. But I had a good feeling our defense could stone them because of their inexperience up front, and hats off to our defense. They were so happy when the field goals didn’t go through. They were fighting for that shutout.”
In what was more of a methodical beating than a blowout, the Cowboys dominated the Indians with defense. Backup cornerback Julius Stinson had two interceptions – including one at the goal line – while defensive end John Flora knocked down three third-down passes at the line of scrimmage.
Redshirt freshman Wynel Seldon became the Cowboys’ first 100-yard rusher since Game 8 of the 2004 season.
“I just wanted to produce today,” Seldon said. “We wanted to establish the run to open up the pass, and we were able to do that. I felt good on the new (synthetic) field. It felt good on the feet and good to cut on.”
Seldon, limited to 56 yards on 18 carries at Florida, broke out for 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. That helped open up things for ailing Cowboys quarterback Corey Bramlet (still sore from the roughing he took at Florida), who completed 13-of-23 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown.
Bramlet opened the scoring with a 14-yard pass to star wide receiver Jovon Bouknight, a senior from Manual High School. Bouknight extended the number of games in which he has caught a pass to 38, tops in the nation.
Wyoming led 17-0 at halftime, riding Bramlet’s arm and big catches by Jason Wallace to Deric Yaussi’s 34-yard field goal, then letting Seldon carry the load on a 66-yard drive he finished off with a 1-yard run just before halftime.
Touchdown runs by Seldon and true freshman J.R. Moore in the third quarter put the game out of reach, and Glenn let the reserves mop up in the fourth.
“We couldn’t run the ball, we couldn’t throw the ball and we couldn’t catch the ball,” said Indians coach Charlie Weatherbie, a former Air Force and Wyoming assistant.
With that first win under their belt, the Cowboys’ focus is on this week’s showdown at Air Force.
“Our kids know; we’ve been pointing at this game for quite awhile,” Glenn said. “It’s our first conference game. It’s on the road. We know we’ve got to win on the road, and it will be a dogfight. You watch. (Defensive coordinator Mike) Breske does a great job against option offenses, so I’m looking for our defense to be tough and I’m looking for our offense to do some things. We’re running the football now, the special teams were special, so we’re going to go down there and have a big old fistfight with those guys.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
