The Cowboys dropped their regular season finale to San Jose State 20-17 on Saturday afternoon in CEFCU Stadium in San Jose Calif. The Pokes pulled within three points with a little over a minute remaining, but failed to convert on the onside kick, as the Pokes fall to 7-5 on the season and the Spartans finish the year 2-11. The Cowboys will await to see what Bowl Game they will participate in to close the season.
“I think San Jose State played a hard fought game,” UW head coach Craig Bohl said. “We left some opportunities on the field and we are disappointed. Our slow start put us behind the eight ball. We were hoping to create more takeaways, but tip the hat to San Jose State they exposed some things today.”
“We have opportunity to make some progress with a couple weeks of practice before the bowl game,” Bohl said. “We will find out where we are going and put one foot in front of the other and move forward.”
Redshirt sophomore running back Kellen Overstreet rushed for a career-high 139 yards, the most by a Cowboy this season. He rushed for 116 yards in the second half. Sophomore wide receiver C.J. Johnson grabbed four catches for 104 yards with a touchdown.
Wyoming recorded two turnovers defensively for 30 on the season. Junior safety Andrew Wingard recorded a team-high 10 tackles for UW. Junior defensive end Carl Granderson added seven tackles and one sack. He has 8.5 sacks on the season for the most by a Poke since 2007.
The Cowboys outgained the Spartans 357-320 in the game. A balanced effort, UW rushed for a season-high 187 yards and threw for 170 yards. San Jose State was balanced as well, as SJSU threw for 174 yards and rushed for 146.
The Spartans got on the board first on a five-yard touchdown run from quarterback Montel Aaron at the 7:45 mark of the first half. It was his first rushing touchdown of the season. The run was setup after Smith threw an interception for the Pokes that was returned 33 yards to the Pokes’ 22-yard line.
An Interception from junior safety Marcus Epps, his third of the season and eighth of his career was returned 57-yards to the SJSU 47-yard line. But the drive stalled leading to a Wyoming punt. It was the Pokes’ second takeaway of the game after defensive end Nela Lolohea had a forced fumble and fumble recovery on SJSU’s second drive.
San Jose State added to their lead on a 44-yard field goal from Bryce Crawford with 10:39 remaining in the second quarter.
A 37-yard pass from Aaron to Tre Hartley led to the field goal to make it a 10-0 contest. The 37-yard completion was the longest offensive play of the contest to that point for either team.
The Pokes got on the board in the second quarter thanks to a season-best 55-yard punt return by Austin Conway to give UW the ball on the Spartans’ 23 yard line. Junior quarterback Nick Smith capped the five-play, 23 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown. Back-to-back rushes of eight yards from Overstreet set up the score making it a 10-7 game with 4:28 remaining in the opening half.
Another big completion this time of 31-yards from Aaron to Harley set up a 52-yard field goal by Crawford to make it a 13-7 game with under a minute remaining in the opening stanza.
A pass interference call on the Cowboys on third down hindered the Cowboys on the drive.
The Pokes threatened to add to their point total late in the half, after a kick return by Tyler Hall gave UW the ball of their own 43 yard line. Smith found Johnson on a 35-yard completion, but the following play resulted in Smith’s second interception of the game, as Wyoming trailed 13-7 at the break.
Wyoming came out aggressive to open the second half with a 10-play, 64 yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal from sophomore Cooper Rothe to make it a 13-10 game in favor of San Jose State. The Pokes rushed for 49 yards on the drive including a 33-yard run from Overstreet. The Pokes had three first downs on the drive, as UW matched their mark from the first half of play.
Neither team added another tally in the third quarter, but the Cowboy offense found success with 136 yards of total offense, as UW only had 102 yards in the opening half. The Pokes rushed for 101 yards in the quarter, as UW had rushed for less than 100 yards in six games heading into Saturday.
The Pokes nearly tied the contest with 8:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Rothe’s 49-yard attempt went off the upright falling just short. The Spartans followed with a missed 55-yard attempt by Crawford, as the Pokes took the ball at their own 38 yard line with 7:18 remaining. But the Pokes were forced to punt.
The Pokes once again got the ball with 4:25 remaining, but a failed fourth down gave SJSU the ball on the 50 yard line.
The Spartans made it a 20-10 game on 44-yard rush by DeJon Packer with 2:09 remaining.
The Cowboys then added a touchdown on a 53-yard strike from Smith to Johnson to make it 20-17 with 1:02 remaining. But the Pokes failed to convert on the onside kick falling to the Spartans 20-17.
Aaron threw for 174 yards on 15-of-29 passing to lead the Spartans. Packer rushed for 75 yards and Hartley finished the game with seven receptions for 109 yards. He was targeted 12 times in the game.
The Cowboys will now wait to see where they will play their final game of the 2017 season when bowl invitations are made Dec. 3.
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