Air Force Academy – Long before Wyoming senior Deric Yaussi kicked the winning extra point Saturday with 1:25 left in the Cowboys’ 29-28 victory, Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry must have known something.
Most of the fourth quarter was still to be played when the Falcons, down 16-14, scored a touchdown to go ahead 20-16, then went for two to make it 22-16, setting the stage for a one-point game.
Five minutes later, the Cowboys tied it 22-22 on Wynel Seldon’s 2-yard run, but failed to regain the lead when Nelson Mitchell blocked Yaussi’s extra-point try. More than six minutes passed before Air Force regained the lead on Shaun Carney’s TD pass to Jason Brown, only to fail on the extra- point conversion because of a bad snap.
By the time the Cowboys scored the tying touchdown, Yaussi’s head was spinning.
Not only had he had that PAT blocked, Yaussi missed a “routine” field-goal attempt of 38 yards early in the first quarter.
What was he going to be, the hero or the goat?
“It was kind of crazy after they missed their PAT,” Yaussi said. “But fortunately, our offense went right down there on that last drive and got it in and gave me a chance to kick the extra point. I was a little nervous, but you know, I’ve been doing this for three years now, so it’s pretty routine. You just got out there and knock it through.
“I was confident in myself, and I was confident in everybody else. I mean, the guys did a good job. They protected well, and we got it through. But then our defense still had to stop them.”
With 1:25 remaining, Carney went to work, passing the Falcons to their 41-yard line before going to wide receiver Greg Kirkwood.
But Cowboys junior safety John Wendling was waiting.
“We were scheming for that play,” Wendling said. “I hadn’t seen it all game, but I knew if they threw it, I’d have a chance to make a play on it.”
For Wyoming coach Joe Glenn, it was another major step in the Cowboys’ return to something more than respectability.
“This is another step forward for our program,” Glenn said. “We set a goal of winning on the road if we want to contend for the conference. So to come down here, in this venue, against a good football team, and battle to the bitter end and get a victory … hey, this team was unbeaten, and we came in and beat them at their place.”
That it came down to a last drive and a last stand, was “classic,” Glenn said, especially the last drive was generated by quarterback Corey Bramlet.
“That was a classy, classy drive,” Glenn said. “Corey and (offensive coordinator) Bill Cockhill looked in total sync on that drill. The receivers knew exactly where to go. We had a couple of nice runs, our offensive line blocked it clean.”
Getting the ball with 3:19 left, Bramlet was 3-for-4 for 52 yards on the decisive drive, going to inside receiver Michael Ford when the Falcons’ defense rolled toward Jovon Bouknight, who burned them for a 63-yard TD in the first quarter.
“That just really showed the maturity of our offense,” Bramlet said. “We were really just working our game plan, working the middle of the field so we just kept going to the inside receiver and it worked out for us.”
And Yaussi?
“He was my hero,” Glenn said.
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
