LARAMIE — For the second time in three games, Colby Kirkegaard rallied Wyoming to a last-minute victory after his team fell behind late.
Trailing 19-17 and taking possession with two minutes left after the Cowboys’ defense forced a turnover deep in their own territory, Kirkegaard connected with Dominic Rufran on a crossing route that turned into an 88-yard play.
Stuart Williams then kicked an 18-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining to lift Wyoming to a 20-19 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday.
“This was a huge win for us,” Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said. “You couldn’t come up with a better script than this, especially the way we moved the ball down the field. Certainly it was exciting. It was a scrap. And it was a win that I’ll always remember.”
Moments before the stunning turn of events, the Owls (1-3) were at the Wyoming 11 with 2:09 to play after the Cowboys failed to convert a 4th-and-22. But on first down, quarterback Jaquez Johnson fumbled after a hit by Mark Nzeocha and the Cowboys’ Jordan Stanton recovered at the Wyoming 8.
On the next play, Kirkegaard found Rufran wide open near the Cowboys’ 30 and the receiver raced all the way to the Owls’ 4 to set up the game-winning kick.
“I saw Dom coming across wide open, and it’s a good thing he’s really fast,” Kirkegaard said.
