Laramie – It was in the left corner of the north end zone in the first quarter that Wyoming wide receiver Jovon Bouknight made his most spectacular touchdown reception Saturday in the Cowboys’ 42-17 Mountain West Conference victory over UNLV.
Or maybe it was in the left corner of the south end zone in the third quarter.
No, it was the north end zone, first quarter.
Bouknight turned a routine hitch pattern into a 29-yard touchdown reception by spinning three Rebels defenders toward the middle of the field with a shoulder fake to reopen a tiny crease down the sideline, skipping over one defender who fell, outrunning a fourth pursuer, then diving over him and the pontoon to get into the end zone.
In the third quarter Bouknight used a spin move at the end of a 34-yard fly pattern to find the ball, lose a defender, catch the ball and get a foot down while falling over backward. But it can’t compete with the first touchdown.
If Bouknight’s first touchdown, which gave the Cowboys a 14-0 lead, didn’t take the starch out of the Rebels, the second one – which made it 35-3 on the first drive of the second half – did.
“Oh, man, I liked the first one,” Bouknight said. “I could have run through that little guy, but I thought it’d be more fun to take it over the top.”
With Bouknight scoring touchdowns – and scaring the Rebels defensive coordinator into double coverage – Cowboys quarterback Corey Bramlet could hardly miss, completing 21-of-27 passes for 315 yards (both career bests) and three touchdowns.
“That was a convincing win over a team that had beaten us three in a row here in Laramie,” Wyoming coach Joe Glenn. “Today was really the first time we’ve taken off on a team from our league from the beginning and really buried them.
“A lot of neat things happened today for the ‘Pokes. Corey settled in early and Jovon was way special, and those are just the start.”
There couldn’t have been a more perfect way to start a three-game MWC homestand for the ‘Pokes (4-1), who improve their conference record to 2-0 with Texas Christian and New Mexico coming up.
Bramlet to Michael Ford wasn’t bad, either. And neither was Bramlet to tight end Wade Betschart.
Ford, a sophomore from Denver’s Mullen High School who has been subbing for the injured Tyler Holden, had another big game for the ‘Pokes, making six catches for 101 yards to keep company with Bouknight (seven for 116).
“He’s becoming a real big asset to this offense,” Bouknight said. “That one play, we ran that four or five times because him and Corey are really on rhythm with it. They really like it. When I hear that play, I’m like, ‘This is fun.”‘
With his performance, Bouknight became Wyoming’s third-leading receiver in yardage with 2,903 yards. He also extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 41 games.
About the only thing Bouknight failed to accomplish Saturday was becoming Wyoming’s all-time, all-purpose yardage producer, falling 25 yards short.
“There’s other opportunities,” Bouknight said. “The thing I’m disappointed in, I can’t get a kick return. I’m still waiting on that.”
UNLV backup quarterback Jarrod Jackson, playing for the injured Shane Steichen, was sacked four times and intercepted twice.
“We dug ourselves in a hole in the first half, and it was too much to overcome,” UNLV coach Mike Sanford said.
Staff writer Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
