Laramie – It wasn’t like the Wyoming Cowboys didn’t know what was coming Saturday.
Their coach, Joe Glenn, had warned them New Mexico running back DonTrell Moore, the Mountain West Conference’s all-time leading rusher, would be “licking his chops” about getting to play one last game against the Cowboys.
After 36 carries for 181 yards and three touchdowns for a 27-24 upset win over the favored ‘Pokes – not to mention the cold, dry wind that blew in during the fourth quarter – Moore is probably nursing chapped lips this morning. Meanwhile, Glenn is nursing a team that seems to have lost its confidence in back-to-back, home-field losses that likely have taken the Cowboys (4-3, 2-2 MWC) out of the conference race.
“That guy, is he a senior finally?” asked Glenn. “Good riddance. The guy’s really a great football player. How many yards did he rush for, 180-something? That’s enough. He must have got tired out, that’s why he didn’t go for more. We ran him out of gas.
“We couldn’t get him stopped. We had no answer for the guy.”
Wyoming had no answer for Moore last year or the two years before that. With Saturday’s performance, Moore has rushed for 660 yards and seven touchdowns against the ‘Pokes, saving his best effort for Wyoming’s best defense.
New Mexico (4-3, 2-2) ended a three-game losing streak.
Like the TCU loss last week when quarterback Corey Bramlet twice fumbled at the goal line in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys lost this one when Bramlet, facing a stiff wind and game-long pressure from the Lobos’ pass rush, scrambled out of trouble and threw an ill-advised pass. New Mexico’s Mike Powdrell picked it off at the Cowboys’ 23 and returned to the 18, setting up Kenny Byrd’s game-winning, 30-yard field goal.
So disheartening was this loss, the Cowboys players couldn’t even muster much passion about a controversial call on Deric Yaussi’s missed 42-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter that might have sent the game to overtime.
The Cowboys had two late chances to pull out a win, but another Bramlet interception killed the first chance and a final 52-yard drive engineered by Bramlet ended in controversy when officials ruled Yaussi’s 42-yard attempt slipped outside the left upright.
After taking a number of cellphone calls from fans behind the goalposts, Glenn petitioned the referees for a review but was told field-goal attempts are not reviewable.
“I don’t know why,” Glenn said. “People were telling me the ball went through, our kicker and our holder said it went through. We’re trying to review other things to make the game right. We’ve got a camera right in the middle of the end zone. That’s all I’m saying, let’s take a look at it. I’m not saying anybody’s wrong or made a mistake.”
Mistakes, said Glenn, were once again a major problem on offense, particularly in a running game that generated just 95 yards, 30 of them coming on a fake punt by wide receiver Jovon Bouknight.
The biggest mistake may have been not getting the ball to Bouknight more often. He also had a 77-yard kickoff return and a 68-yard reception. With three kickoff returns for 110 yards, five catches for 106 yards and the fake punt, Bouknight had the second-most productive game of his career with 246 all-purpose yards. But he was not happy.
With “The Border War” against Colorado State up Saturday, said Bouknight, “we’ve got to get our offense going. Our offense is just sluggish right now.”
New Mexico 7 3 7 10 – 27
Wyoming 7 10 0 7 – 24
First quarter: NM – Do. Moore 1 run (Byrd kick), 5:19. Wyo – Hall 18 fumble recovery (Yaussi kick), 3:37. Second quarter: Wyo – FG Yaussi 23, 12:01. Wyo – Wadkowski 16 pass from Bramlet (Yaussi kick), 6:50. NM – FG Byrd 24, :02. Third quarter: NM – Do. Moore 6 run (Byrd kick), 7:40. Fourth quarter: NM – Do. Moore 6 run (Byrd kick), 13:29. Wyo – Seldon 2 run (Yaussi kick), 10:58. NM – FG Byrd 30, 7:00. A – 21,453.
NM | Wyo
First downs 24 17
Rushes-yards 66-237 19-93
Passing 118 214
Passes 13-22-0 19-35-2
Return yards 35 19
Punts-avg. 4-44 2-36
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 11-81 5-48
Time of possession 38:29 21:31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – New Mexico, Do. Moore 36-181, Byrd 6-27, Brown 3-17, Nelson 7-10, Smith 2-8, Caprioli 1-3, McKamey 9-(minus 3), team 2-(minus 6). Wyoming, Seldon 13-56, Bouknight 1-30, De. Moore 2-6. Bramlet 2-1, Doss 1-0.
PASSING – New Mexico, Nelson 8-14-0-91, McKamey 5-8-0-27. Wyoming, Bramlet 19-35-2-214.
RECEIVING – New Mexico, Wilson 3-41, Mulchrone 3-16, Do. Moore 2-37, Baskett 2-12, Hall 1-8, Brown 1-2, Carter 1-2. Wyoming, Wallace 7-57, Bouknight 5-106, Wadkowski 3-35, Seldon 3-15, Barge 1-1.
Staff writer Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
