ALBURQUERQUE — He weaved, bobbed, shuffled back, darted forward, then lofted a pinpoint strike to David Leonard inside the left boundary of the end zone, completing a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Somebody asked if that’s the way quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels drew up the game-winner in Wyoming’s 35-28 double-overtime New Mexico Bowl victory on Saturday over Fresno State.
Before Carta-Samuels could answer, coach Dave Christensen scoffed and snickered.
“Was it drawn up?” asked Christensen. “Sure. We draw ’em up where it breaks down all the time.”
That’s actually not a bad offense with a special player with an innate ability to create something out of nothing.
Carta-Samuels threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, two to Leonard, but he also added 71 rushing yards to bail the Cowboys out of third-down trouble time and again.
“That quarterback,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, “made some magic out there.”
The freshman from San Jose, Calif., certainly had some help. It included 137 yards rushing by Alvester Alexander, 68 coming on a first-quarter score that was the longest play from scrimmage of the 2009 season for the Cowboys (7-6).
It included a serviceable effort for four quarters and two series against Fresno State All-American running back Ryan Mathews. He rushed for touchdowns of 4 and 5 yards, the latter giving Fresno State a 28-17 lead with 13:59 left in the fourth quarter. Yet his 144 yards total were seven below his national-best average of 151.
“I figured if we could hold him to 150 yards or less, it’d be a pretty good day for us defensively,” Christensen said.
But Mathews also fumbled the ball away to lineman Mitch Unrein with 8:08 to play on a drive that could have salted the game away. And when Mathews needed a yard — really, about 18 inches — to give his team the lead in overtime, the Cowboys stopped him. Linebackers Josh Biezuns and Gabe Knapton crashed the inside gaps, Biezuns hit him low, and Knapton hit him high. No gain.
Hill eschewed a chip shot field goal on the play. “It was a simple decision,” he said. And the Cowboys gave the momentum back when Ian Watts missed a potential game-winner to cap Wyoming’s possession.
But the Cowboys scored on their quarterback’s scrambling TD toss to Leonard, putting the pressure on Fresno State (8-5) in the second overtime session.
“Especially on that play, it was pretty much the normal thing for us. I had to try to keep it alive a little bit,” said Carta-Samuels, generously listed at 6-feet-2. “David’s used to me scrambling around and trying to make a play. He broke off his out route, and I tried to give him a ball to play with.”
Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn, victimized by a bad snap on a third-down play, couldn’t answer like his counterpart on fourth down. He was dragged down by linebackers Ghaali Muhammad and Brian Hendricks. Within moments, the field at University Stadium was a brown-and-gold block party.
“I don’t want to say I’m ashamed to lose to Wyoming, because they played very hard and very disciplined,” said Colburn, who threw for 117 yards and a score. “But it’s very disappointing to lose that game.”
The preseason pick to finish last in the Mountain West Conference, the Cowboys went 7-6 in Christensen’s first year.
“This makes a huge statement toward the direction we’re taking this program and the great leadership of the senior class to what will be the future of Wyoming football,” he said.
Giddy up!
Wyoming moved to 6-6 all-time in bowl games:
2009 New Mexico: Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28, 2OT
2004 Las Vegas: Wyoming 24, UCLA 21
1993 Copper: Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17
1990 Copper: California 17, Wyoming 15
1988 Holiday: Oklahoma St. 62, Wyoming 14
1987 Holiday: Iowa 20, Wyoming 19
1976 Fiesta: Oklahoma 41, Wyoming 7
1968 Sugar: Louisiana 20, Wyoming 13
1966 Sun: Wyoming 28, Florida St. 20
1958 Sun: Wyoming 14, Hardin-Simmons 6
1956 Sun: Wyoming 21, Texas Tech 14
1951 Gator: Wyoming 20, Washington & Lee 7
