Conference Highlights

Highlights from the Mountain West games this past weekend. Pretty thrilling week with the rivalry games.

Border War Highlights from the Mtn

Week 12: Players of the Week

Congrats to Chris Prosinksi on earning Defensive Player of the Week.

Excerpt from the full release.

CHRIS PROSINSKI, WYOMING
Junior, Defensive Back, Buffalo, Wyo./Buffalo HS
Junior defensive back Chris Prosinski registered 10 tackles (including nine solo), a tackle for loss and forced a fumble in Wyoming's 17-16 win at Colorado State to secure a bowl berth for the Cowboys. The biggest play of the day for the Buffalo, Wyo., native came in the fourth quarter when Colorado State had a third and goal on the Wyoming four-yard line. He tackled CSU's Dion Morton for a two-yard loss that forced the Rams to kick a field goal that kept the Cowboys within two points at 14-16. Wyoming kicked a 33-yard field goal on its next possession (1:27 remaining in the game) to capture the win.

Cowboys earn OT win over Pepperdine

The Cowboys finally got a victory in their own tournament as they knocked Pepperdine in OT 86-82. Pepperdine was the winner of the World Vision tournament by defeating Hampton and Monmouth (NJ) on Friday and Saturday.

AJ Davis led the Cowboys with 20 points and added 3 steals. Adam Waddell had 15 points and pulled down 8 boards. Jaydee Luster was finally ready to handle some minutes and had 9 points, 6 assists and 5 steals but also had 6 turnovers. As a team the Pokes struggled from long range making only 4 of 18 attempts.

The Cowboys led most of the game and were even up by 11 less than five minutes remaining. The Waves led by tournament MVP Keion Bell's 34 points came storming back and forced the extra period.

The Pokes have a few days off now and will be in action on Saturday when they host 2-5 Loyola Marymount at 7PM MST.

Cowboy Joe: Adam Waddell was aggressive and made it to the free throw line 12 times while making 9 shots. His eight rebounds and three blocks led the team.

Cowboy Low: Desmar Jackson put 2 points and coughed up 2 turnovers in just 11 minutes.

Cowboy Foe: Keion Bell was one fire all weekend long and helped the Waves take win the team title.

Final 2009 Mountain West Standings

Mountain West Standings

	Conf	All
TCU (4)	8-0	12-0
Brigham Young (18)	7-1	10-2
Utah (22)	6-2	9-3
Air Force	5-3	7-5
Wyoming	4-4	6-6
UNLV	3-5	5-7
San Diego State	2-6	4-8
New Mexico	1-7	1-11
Colorado State	0-8	3-9

Wyoming locks up the #5 spot in the Mountain West. BYU edges out Utah for the #2 spot.

Hoops drop game two in tourney

The Cowboys dropped their second game in the World Vision Challenge to the Hampton Pirates 78-67. The Cowboys gave a clinic on the term 'poor shooting'. As a team the Cowboys were 20/59 from the field, 1/21 from 3pt range and 26/35 from the charity stripe.

The previously winless Pirates improved to 1-5. Vincent Simpson went off for 34 points to lead all scorers.

Djibril Thiam was the only Cowboy to have a solid shooting game going 6 of 8 from the field and making all 8 of his free throw attempts for 20 points. Boubacar Syalla had his best game as Cowboy putting up 4 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. The Pokes only got 2 points from the bench.

Next up the Cowboys face Pepperdine in the tournament finale.
AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: Thiam was solid putting up 20/7.

Cowboy Low: The Cowboy bench was 0 for 18 from the field. Hard to win many games that way.

Cowboy Foe: Simpson torched the Cowboys for 34 points.

Cowboys grab the Bronze Boot

This was your typical Border War which meant throw out the records because anything can happen. The Wyoming Cowboys needed a victory to give them a 6th win and become bowl eligible. The Colorado State Rams were looking to play spoiler and end the season on a high note after losing eight straight games.

Wyoming has a knack for fourth quarter comebacks this season and pulled off their fourth of the season in a 17-16 victory. Ian Watts made a 33 yard field goal with 1:29 left to give the Cowboys (6-6) a one point lead. The Rams were driving down the field but Ghaali Muhammad intercepted a Jon Eastman pass to secure the victory and give the Cowboys the Bronze Boot trophy for the first time in three years.

With the victory the Cowboys locked up fifth place in the Mountain West and will be heading to their first bowl game since a 2004 Las Vegas Bowl win over UCLA. The New Mexico Bowl is the likely destination for the Cowboys but the Armed Forces and Humanitarian Bowl are still possibilities.

The Rams (3-9) went winless in the Mountain West this year and finished with a 9 game losing streak but they controlled the momentum most of the game. CSU out gained the Cowboys 352 to 233 and had the ground game working all game. Leonard Mason put 119 yards on the ground, John Mosure had 36 yards on four attempts before leaving the game with an injury. QB Jon Eastman got his first start for the Rams and completed his first eight passes, Eastman finished the day 22 of 30 for 185 yards.

The Rams scored first on a 8 yard touchdown by Lou Greenwood. John Fletcher blocked the extra point for the Pokes and that would end up being the difference in the game. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels got the Cowboys on the board with a 6 yard TD run. Eastman found Zac Pauga in the third on a 6 yard pass to give the Rams a 13-7 lead. Later in the third Carta-Samuels broke out again for a 49 run to give the Cowboys the 14-13 edge. The Rams used nearly 7 points to drive down and a Ben Deline 23 yard field goal gave them the 16-14 lead.

On the winning drive Carta-Samuels kept the drive alive with a 14 yard run on 3rd and 11 and then found Greg Bolling for a 7 yard pass on 4th and 6. Brandon Stewart broke out a 20 yard run to move the ball inside field goal range. The Cowboys drive stalled at CSU 16 and on 4th and 2 Ian Watts nailed the game winning field goal.

The Cowboys evened the Border War at 21 wins a piece and now have the Bronze Boot back for the first time in three years. This has been an impressive season for the Cowboys as they were picked to finished last in the Mountain West and have surpassed all expectations despite playing 12 freshman and one of the toughest schedules in the nation. First year Coach Dave Christensen has changed the minds of those in Laramie who thought this program was going nowhere after struggling for years during the Joe Glenn era.

Christensen had a great quote after his earning first Border War victory:

"The boot's back where it belongs," Wyoming's first-year coach shouted. "Gimme a beer."

AWARDS:

Cowboy Joe: ACS - Two rushing touchdowns and some key conversion on third and fourth down.

Cowboy Low: David Tooley - only because he injured his knee late in the game and will mess the post season. The freshman TE had been stepping up big for the Cowboys in the last three games.

Cowboy Foe: Leonard Mason was eating up yards on every run as he piled up 119 yards.

WE'RE GOING BOWLING!!!

Cowboys are heading to a bowl game after knocking off the CSU Rams 17-16 on Saturday. This was a typical Border War as the score was close the entire game and it came down to the last couple minutes.

Ian Watts kicked a 33 yard field goal with 1:29 remaining to give the Cowboys a 1 point lead. Ghaali Muhammad intercepted on Jon Eastman on 4th down to secure the victory for the Cowboys.

Next up: Waiting to see where the Cowboys end up in Bowl Land. All signs seems to point towards New Mexico.

Full Border War Analysis later tonight.

Go Pokes!!!

World Vision Challenge starts tonight

The Cowboys host the World Vision Challenge tournament this weekend so get ready for three days of Men's Hoops.

Wyoming should have a pretty good chance of winning the tournament if you take a look at records of the other teams. Here is a breakdown of each matchup:

Friday - 7:30PM versus Monmouth Hawks

Monmouth is 1-3 on the season and losers of three straight. Managed only 34 points in a loss to St. Peters. F Travis Taylor leads the Hawks in points and rebounds with a 17/7 average. I love this matchup since I went to Monmouth College in IL and people would always confuse it with Monmouth University in NJ.

Saturday - 7:30PM versus Hampton Pirates

The Pirates are sitting at 0-4 this season but could easily be 2-2. Close losses to LaSalle and William and Mary by a combined four points have put the team behind the eight ball. G Darrion Pellum is the top scoring threat for the Pirates.

Sunday - 3:00PM versus Pepperdine Waves

The Waves are currently 1-3 and feature a very young team. In their last game they were down by 5 at halftime to UCLA before the Bruins pulled away. Seems like this team is pretty a one man show: Sophomore G Keion Bell lead the team with 20 points 6 rebounds and nearly 4 assists a game. No other player has even averages double digit points.

Interesting note on the naming of the tournament. Here is clipping from the Wyoming team page:

The naming rights to the tournament were donated to World Vision by
Basketball Travelers, Inc. As a Christian humanitarian organization, World
Vision aims to contribute to a 75 percent reduction in malaria cases, with the
end goal of nearly zero preventable malaria deaths by 2015. World Vision works
in 62 malaria-endemic countries, 23 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Malaria is one of the leading causes of death for children under five
in the developing world, resulting in approximately 750,000 child deaths per
year--or one every 40 seconds," said Craig Jaggers, World Vision's policy
advisor for malaria. "Basketball nets and bed nets are a great way of bringing
together college students with vulnerable children around the world." More
information is available at www.endmalaria.org.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Cowboy Altitude. Enjoy yourself and load up on lots of goodies. Then on Friday you can eat lots of leftovers and watch the Border War.

Go Pokes!

Border War Preview

The Wyoming Cowboys (5-6) will travel 64 miles to Fort Collins, CO with their post season hopes resting on a victory over rival Colorado State. The Rams (3-8) haven't won in two months and just gave previously winless New Mexico their first win of the season but don't count the Rams out.

After a 3-0 start pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for the Rams
this season has:

Injuries? Check!

Fourth Quarter Collapses?
Check!

Disillusionment with the coaching staff? Check!

But nothing could save the season like a victory over Wyoming in the Border War to help put a band aid on things. Coach Fairchild doesn't want the losing streak to extend to 2010. History has shown that you can throw the records out when these teams face off. CSU has won the last two Bronze Boots and now leads the series 21-20.

Wyoming has surprised others in the conference and the media by being fairly competitive in the first year under new Head Coach Dave Christensen. The new staff is not afraid of playing young players and the team is led by true freshman QB Austyn Carta-Samuels. ACS has thrown for 1,615 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 261 yards on the ground. David Leonard has been his favorite target but TE David Tooley stepped up big in the win over San Diego State.

The Cowboys have one of toughest schedules this year and have struggled against ranked opponents but had quite a bit of success against middle of the pack teams. LB Brian Hendricks who has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain will be back in action. The return of the teams leading tackler will give the defense a much needed boost.

A Wyoming victory will put the Cowboys at 6-6 and make them bowl eligible. A trip to the Albuquerque would be their destination to play in the New Mexico Bowl. Last year the Rams beat the Cowboys to earn their sixth victory and head to the New Mexico Bowl.

The Rams feature a potent rushing attack that is led Jon Mosure who had 177 yards and two touchdowns last week but had a key fumble that contributed to the loss. Leonard Mason was the feature back for the Rams but has found himself on bench after Coach Fairchild was unhappy with his work ethic. QB Grant Stucker is banged up and will be a game time decision. If Stucker is unable to go then John Eastman will get the start for the Rams. Rashaun Greer leads the Rams with 688 receiving yards this year.

Utah has the Holy War but the Front Range has the Border War and this will be an entertaining game despite the records.

Series History: Colorado State leads Wyoming 53-40-5,

Border War History: Colorado State leads Wyoming 21-20

Cowboys can't contain Denver in 80-77 loss

Coming out of the gates the Cowboys were aggressive and getting to the free throw line tonight against the University of Denver. The Pioneers struggled with their shooting early and the Cowboys held a 44-34 halftime lead.

The Pioneers (3-1) must have had a heck of a halftime speech as they came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half. Nate Rohnert took over and led the Pioneers to 80-77 victory. Rohnert was a one man wrecking crew putting up a season high 32 points. Three other Pioneers scored in double digits.

Afam Muojeke led the Cowboys with 20 points but left the game with 6:47 remaining after his injuring his leg on a layup. AJ Davis kept the Cowboys by scoring 9 points in a row and keeping the Cowboys within one point with 76 seconds remaining.

The Cowboys are now 2-2 on the season and will be in action this weekend when they host the World Vision Classic. They will face Monmouth, Hampton and Pepperdine starting on Friday and running through Sunday.

Hopefully Muojeke isn't injured seriously and will return this weekend. Getting Jaydee Luster fully back would be key as he is still recovering from a shoulder injury.

Losing this one hurts after playing so well in the first half. Denver is one of the best shooting teams in the nation and it was just a matter of time before their shots started dropping. The Cowboys let Denver control the pace of the game the second half and it cost them the game. If Wyoming had continued to attack the basket they probably would have gotten the W.

Awards

Cowboy Joe: AJ Davis kept the Cowboys in the game during the second half. Finished with 19 points.

Cowboy Low: Desmar Jackson went 1 for 7 from the field for 5 points and no assists.

Cowboy Foe: Nate Rohnert - Had a decent first half but caught fire in the second half and led the team in points, rebounds and assists:
32/8/6. Made 18 of his 23 free throws.

Warm and Sunny on Friday

Expect clear skies and fairly warm tempratures on Friday. The mercury should be at 55 for the noon kickoff and then hit 59 later in the day. Roads should be clear and dry if you are heading down from Laramie for the game.

Cowboy Chatter: Border War Edition

More Border War News.


WR Coach Hammerschmidt is a CSU Alum who has 17 years of experience of trying to win the Bronze Boot. His experience will be valuable to all the underclassmen.

CSU QB Grant Stucker is questionable for the Border War. Stucker has started game for the Rams this season.

Photos from the Bronze Boot ceremony.

News and notes from around the league.

Hoopsters hit the road

The Cowboys will play their first game on the road this evening after posting a 2-1 record to start the season. Heading down 1-25 the Pokes will stop in Denver to take on the University of Denver Pioneers.

Currently sitting at 2-1 the Pios are one of the hottest shooting teams in the NCAA right now. Currently tied at seventh in the nation in 3P% at 49.1% led by Brian Stafford is hitting 71% of his shots from long range.

Nate Rohnert the Senior guard is the big threat for the Pioneers as currently leads the team in points (17) rebounds (6.7) and assists (6.1). Containing Rohnert will be the key to success if the Cowboys want to grab the victory on the road.

Desmar Jackson may start at PG for the Cowboys and be given the task of defending Rohnert if Jaydee Luster is unable to go. Luster suffered a sprained right shoulder early in Saturdays game against Boise State. Expect him to be a game day decision.

Wyoming leads the series with Denver 98-46 and have a 36-32 advantage on games played in Denver.

Game time is 7pm MST.

I also nominate the Pioneers for having one of the worst logos in the NCAA. The team is called the Pioneers but their logo looks like some type of bird. Is it a turkey or a hawk? I can't tell.

Cowboy Chatter: Border War Edition

Here is a great set of articles from the Casper Tribune talking about CSU and the Border War.

• This is a must win game for the Cowboys.
• Breakdown on the matchup between CSU and Wyoming.
• CSU is playing for nothing but pride this weekend.

Border War: Bronze Boot Time

The Border War is finally upon us! This is always an important game for both teams if not the most important. This year will be especially interesting as Wyoming needs a victory on Friday to grab a bowl berth while the under performing Rams would love never nothing more to spoil the Cowboys season.

If the Cowboys win they can celebrate with the Bronze Boot on the Rams field and cap off a terrible season for the Rams who have lost eight in a row and just gave hapless New Mexico their first victory of the season.

Current odds have the Rams by 3 points.

CSU currently leads the 21-20 and have won the last two meetings.

Here is an article from the Denver Post detailing the Rams season.

I'll be giving you Border news and analysis all week long.

Great new Wyoming Football website

The Wyoming Cowboys Football team has a slick new website that appears to be geared towards attracting recuits. Great interface and really helps to show the tradition of Cowboy Football.

Hopefully it will help attract some of those recruits that were on the fence.

Mountain West Standings - 11/23/09

Here is how things look with just one regular season game remaining. BYU and Utah will face off in the Holy War to determine second place in the Mountain West. Air Force has already played 12 games and will probably end up in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Mountain West Standings

	Conf	All
TCU (4)	7-0	11-0
Brigham Young (18)	6-1	9-2
Utah (22)	6-1	9-2
Air Force	5-3	7-5
Wyoming	3-4	5-6
San Diego State	2-5	4-7
UNLV	2-5	4-7
New Mexico	1-6	1-10
Colorado State	0-7	3-8

Cowboys turn the pressure up on Broncos

The full court-press defense worked wonders for the Wyoming Cowboys in the second consecutive game. The Cowboys (2-1) forced 23 turnovers in 86-61 romp over the Boise State Broncos at home.

Last year Boise won on a last second layup to win the game. This game was never that close as Wyoming led 40-31 at the half and then went on a 22-5 run to put the game out of reach.

Djibril Thiam had the hot hand shooting 9 of 11 for 19 points and a team high 7 rebounds. Afam Muojeke followed with 18 points on 4 of 6 shooting from long range. Adam Waddel returned to the starting lineup and put up 16 points. Desmar Jackson filled in for Jayder Luster and dished out 7 assists to go with 11 points. The Cowboys shot 54% from the field as a team.

The Broncos (2-2) were abysmal from 3pt range hitting only 2 of their 20 attempts. La'shard Anderson led the team with 19 points. Former Cowboy Ike Okoye had 8/7 on the night.

Really expected this game to be much closer but it seems like the Cowboys have found their groove early in the season. The full court-press is giving other teams fits and the Cowboys are making the most of their opponents mistakes.

Next game: First road game of season as the Cowboys head down I-25 to take on the University of Denver on Wednesday 11/25.

AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: Adam Waddel proved he is heathy and ready to be a presence inside for the Cowboys.

Cowboy Low: Ryan Dermody went 1 for 5 from the field. He did have 5 rebounds at least.

Cowboy Foe: La'shard Anderson put up 19 points and got to the free throw line 9 times.

Cowboys compete early but lose 45-10 to TCU

Can anyone or any team stop TCU you this year? Not likely. The Horned Frogs improved to 11-0 for the first time in 71 years and are keeping the National title hopes alive with a 45-10 over the Wyoming Cowboys on the road. To complete their perfect season TCU will just need a victory next week over a New Mexico team that has lost their first 10 games.

The Cowboys kept things close for most of the first half and the game was was tied 10-10 at one point. But just as fast as Wyoming thought they had an upset on their hands TCU took back the lead with a 81 yard kickoff return by Greg McCoy to make the score 17-10. After that TCU never looked back and went on to score 28 unanswered points.

This wasn't as crisp a victory as TCU was looking but it was probably good enough to keep them in the #4 BCS spot. Losing three fumbles is uncharacteristic of the Horned Frogs and one was returned by Safety Chris Prosinski for the Cowboys lone touchdown. Andy Dalton was 10 of 19 for 170 yards and a touchdown but also intercepted once. Dalton also added 90 yards rushing to give him 260 total yards for the game.

The ground game was dominate for the Horned Frogs who put 358 yards rushing. Matther Tucker had 134 yards on only 12 carries. Tucker and Joseph Turner each had two touchdowns a piece.

Wyoming could do nothing with all the ball all game. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels was 4 of ten for only 84 yards. He was then replaced by Robert Benjamin who also struggled and went 2 for 5 and just 11 yards. Karsteen Sween the came in to try his luck to jump start the offense and went 0 for 4. David Leonard had his longer catch of the season for 43 yards and give him 64 receptions on the year.

The TCU defense was stout and made things rough all game long for the Cowboys. Though only getting one sack on the day they kept constant pressure on QB and bottled up the running game. The Cowboys rushed 36 times for 84 yards an average of 2.3 yards per rush. The Horned frogs allowed the Cowboys only 58 total yards in the second half.

Beating Wyoming should help TCU with the computers. Wyoming has one of the toughest schedules in the nation with losses to ranked teams: Texas, BYU and Utah. Texas played in Laramie this season and were actually down 10-6 at one point before prevailing 41-10.

It would have been great to see this game be closer but with the team the Cowboys have right now they've shown they just can't compete with big time programs yet. Playing against this level of competition will be great down the road though as all the freshman are getting valuable experience. Keeping things close in the first half like we did against Texas was nice to see. Definetly better than the BYU loss which had no redeeming qualities.

Next week: TCU host New Mexico and Wyoming travels to Colorado State for the Border War. Wyoming needs a victory over the rival Rams to become bowl eligible.

Awards

Cowboy Joe: Senior Chris Prosinksi scooped up a TCU fumble and returned it 98 yards for the Cowboys only touchdown.

Cowboy Low: Cowboys ground game. 36 carries for onl 84 yards and a long of 8.

Cowboy Foe: Matthew Tucker averaged over 12 yards a carry while gaining 126 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Cowboy Chatter

Wyoming Cowboy sports in the news.

• O-Line has had its ups and downs this season for the Cowboys.
• The Cowgirls are spending time on the road at alot of new places this season.
• Wyoming has converted to a 4-3 defense over the last couple weeks due injuries and their opponents schemes.
• The "Special Forces" have come up big for the Cowboys this year.
• Guard AJ Davis has turned a new leaf this year after being in the doghouse last season.

Mountain West Matchups

Here are the other matchups in the Mountain West this weekend.

Air Force at #19 BYU
1:30PM MST
TV: CBS College

This is my matchup of the week in the Mountain West. Air Force boasts a stellar defense and BYU has a potent offense. The Falcons nearly knocked off TCU and forced Utah in overtime earlier this season. I say that BYU shows it weakness on defense and Air Force comes out of Provo with a win.

San Diego State at #23 Utah
2:00PM MST
TV: Versus

San Diego State was one quarter away from winning their fifth game of the season before the Cowboys went on a tear. Now they must defeat Utah and UNLV on the road if they want to earn a bowl bid. Utah is looking to redeem themselves after getting by TCU last week. I'd love for the Aztecs to get the win but it probably won't happen.

Colorado State at New Mexico
4:00PM MST
TV: The Mtn

Not much reason to watch this one unless you like watching bad teams. New Mexico is winless but have been showing signs of life in recent games. CSU is coming off a bye week and hasn't won in two months. Hopefully the Rams won't win and get hot just in time for the Border War.

Coach Christensen Press Conference

Press Conference from earlier this week.

Hoops: Rematch with Boise State on Saturday

Last year Mark Sanchez (no, not the QB for the Jets) used a last second layup to give the Broncos a 86-85 victory over Wyoming last year. Sanchez and former Cowboy Ike Okoye helped lead Boise State to a come from behind victory on their home court.

This year the rosters are fairly different for both teams but there are still some familiar faces on the Broncos. Okoye returns for his final season and is currently the leading rebounder for the Broncos pulling down 8.3 boards per contest. La'shard Anderson (16.7) and Paul Noonan (15.7) lead the scoring so far this year.

Currently sitting at 2-1 on the season the Broncos started their season with a 90-86 victory over (1-3) Loyola Marymount. They followed that up with 85-92 loss to the (3-1) Montana Grizzlies. A 75-60 victory on Sunday over winless (0-3) North Dakota was the Broncos most recent action on the court.

This should be a tough matchup for the Cowboys as Boise isn't an overly talented team but it is a team with plenty of experience and depth. Game time is 7PM MST.

No more snow

Earlier forecasts had the the temprature on Saturday dipping down into the 30's and snow in the forecast for Saturday. Well the weather looks to be improving and Saturday should be much warmer with no chance of snow.

Current predicitions say game time temp should be 44 with with partly cloudy skies.

TCU struggled in the cold and snow at Air Force earlier in the year and similar conditions could helped the Cowboys slow down the Horned Frogs.

At least we still 7220 feet of elevation in our favor.

New Award System

For each game we cover we will hand out of the following awards:

Cowboy Joe - MVP for that game. Or player that came up with the biggest play for the Cowboys.

Cowboy Low: Poke player that just didn't have it.

Cowboy Foe: Opposing player that has the best night.

Awards will be handed out for both football and basketball games for the rest of the season.

Cowboy hoops earn first win

After another slow start the Cowboys finally put things together and got their first win of the young season in a 120-73 victory over NAIA Peru State. The Cowboys evened their record at 1-1 for the year.

Afam Muojeke led the way with 26 points for the Pokes who outscored the Bobcats 67-33 in the second half. Thomas Manzano added 19. The Cowboys had five players score in double figures. Djibril Thiam put up 18/7 to lead the Cowboys in rebounding. Jaydee Luster had fine game dishing out 11 assists anf grabbing five steals with no turnovers.

Wyoming went with a full court press defense that forced a staggering 34 turnovers. As a team the Cowboys got easy looks at the basket and shot 61% from the field.

The outcome of the game really isn't a big surpise considering the competition: a NAIA D2 team. The second consecutive slow start is discouraging. If this becomes a trend the Pokes could be in trouble this season. Thanks to the high scoring Coach Schroyer gave 10 players game time. Getting the youngsters some floor time should help down the road. Adam Waddell appears to be recovered from his minor surgery as he put up 9 points in 9 minutes.

Marshall Kelly put up 16 points to lead Peru State.

The Cowboys will be action again on Saturday when they host the Boise State Broncos at 7PM. Cowboy fans who attend the. Wyoming-TCU football game Saturday should stick around for the basketball game as well.

Cowboy Joe: Thiam had an effecient game: shot 9 of10 from the fieldfor 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and blocks in just 19 minutes.

Cowboy Low: Boubaar Syalla - 1 point, 1 rebound, 1 block in 7 minutes. Playing against a subpar opponent the bigman did nothing.

Cowboy Foe: Marhsall Kelly put up 16/5 in just 19 minutes to lead the Bobcats in both categories.

Cowboys host Peru State tonight

Looking to bounce back from their season opening loss to South Dakota State last Friday the Wyoming (0-1) will host the Peru State Bobcats tonight at 7pm MST. Peru State is a NAIA D2 program out of Peru, NE.

Currently sitting at 2-5 on the season the Bobcats are led by Senior Forward Sean Burks who leads the team in points (13.86) , rebounds (4.48) and steals (1.86).

Hopefully the Cowboys can shake off the jitters they showed in the first game against the Jackrabbits and earn their first W of the season.

The Cowboys next game will be on Saturday November, 21st when the Boise State Bronco's come to town. Game time is at 7pm.

#4 TCU comes to Laramie

The Horned Frog express rolls into Laramie, WY on Saturday looking for their 11th win this season. TCU (10-0) will put their perfect record on the line as they face a young and dangerous Wyoming Cowboys (5-5) squad. Currently #4 in the BCS the Horned Frogs will need another quality win plus a loss or two by one of the teams ranked ahead of them if they hope to have a shot at playing the National title game.

Coming off a stellar 55-28 victory over Utah last week the Horned Frogs are operating on all cylinders. Boasting one of the top defenses in the nation and led by DE Jerry Hughes the Horned Frogs wreak havoc on opposing teams QB's. Andy Dalton leads an offense that has been getting better and better each week. Their balanced attack put up 549 yards on a Utah defense that had been fairly stingy in the previous weeks.

I have been a head coach for five years, and that is the best team I’ve
faced."—Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, after his team’s loss to TCU.

The Wyoming Cowboys are coming off their most impressive victory of the season last week. Down 27-6 after three quarters the Cowboys put 24 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win 30-27 and keep their bowl chances alive. Jekyll and Hyde is a great way to describe the Cowboys offense this year. After scoring at least 30 points in three consecutive victories earlier in the season the Pokes then managed only 10 total points in three consecutive losses.

TCU has scored in 213 cosecutive games - longest in the nation.

Wyoming
has been shutout three times this year.

Freshman QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has earned Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this year. The Cowboys have switched to a spread offense this year after bringing in new Coach Dave Christensen. WR David Leonard has stepped up as big time possesion reciever this year and has 63 catches for 533 yards.

The Horned Frogs can really do it all: Offense, Defense and Special teams.

Andy Dalton has passed for over 2,000 yards this season with 17 TD's and only 4 interceptions. He also averages nearly 40 yards rushing a game.

TCU has four players with over 380 yards rushing this season. Joseph Turner gets the most carries: 120 for 622 yards and nine touchdowns. Freshman Edward Wesley has 598 yards and put up 120 against the Utes. Matthew Tucker adds 471 yards and six touchdowns to the mix.

Dalton loves to the spread the ball around and three recievers have 25 or more catches this year: Jimmy Young (25 for 405), Jeremy Kerley (33 for 370) and Bart Johnson (25 for 343). Kerley is a speedster and one of the most dangerous returnmen in the NCAA. He averages nearly 15 yards per punt return and has taken two back for scores.

Everything points towards an easy TCU victory but a couple factors could make this game closer then expected: elevation and weather.

The last time the Horned Frogs played in Laramie two years ago they lost 21-24. Coming from Fort Worth to 7220 feet can be a big shock to the system.

In the TCU's closest victory they beat Air Force 20-17 in Colorado Springs. That weekend a huge snowstorm hit the front range and game time tempratures were in the teens. TCU had a hard time scoring on a stout Air Force defense and the weather conditions certainly didn't help.

There is snow in the forecast for this weekend in Laramie but tempratures should be in the mid 30's so things won't be as cold as the Air Force game.

UNLV fires Mike Sanford

The UNLV Rebels finally fired Coach Mike Sanford today after five losing seasons. He will be allowed to coach the final regular season game against San Diego State.

Sanford has compiled a 15-43 record during his time with UNLV.

MWC Standings - 11/16/09

TCU stays at #4 in the rankings. #19 BYU slides ahead of #23 Utah.

Mountain West Standings

	Conf	All
TCU (4)	6-0	10-0
Brigham Young (19)	5-1	8-2
Utah (23)	5-1	8-2
Air Force	5-2	7-4
Wyoming	3-3	5-5
San Diego State	2-4	4-6
UNLV	2-5	4-7
Colorado State	0-6	3-7
New Mexico	0-6	0-10

Carta-Samuels and Watts named POW

Freshmen Austyn Carta-Samuels and Ian Watts of the Wyoming Cowboys earned Player of the Week honors for their performances against San Diego State.

This is the third such honor for Carta-Samuels and second for Watts this year.

Full release from the MWC.

San Diego State highlights from the Mtn

Relive the amazing fourth quarter comeback in all it's glory. I'm so glad that winning FG by Ian Watts decided to hook towards the inside of the uprights.

Hopefully the Pokes can keep the momentum going for the next two weeks.

Cowboys pull out a thriller in San Diego

Down 27-6 heading into the fourth quarter it looked like the Wyoming Cowboys dreams of a bowl berth were fading faster then the seconds counting down on the clock.

But suddenly things started to click for a team that had managed only 16 points in the last 15 quarters. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels scored on a 10 yard run on the second play in the fourth quarter to make the score 27-13 in favor of the Aztecs. The Cowboys stopped the Aztecs and got the ball back on their own 27. After working down the field and into Aztec territory Alvester Alexander busted a 33 yard touchdown run to make the score 27-20 with ten and a half minutes remaining in the game.

San Diego State got the ball back and put together a 11 play 5:29 long drive that stalled on the Wyoming nine yard line. A 28 yard field goal attempt by Lane Yoshida was blocked and recovered by Tashaun Gipson of the Cowboys and returned to the Wyoming 38. The Pokes put together a solid drive highlighted by long runs by Alvester Alexander and Brandon Stewart. Austyn Carta-Samulels found freshman TE David Tooley for a 9 yard TD pass and tied the game at 27-27 with 2 minutes and 3 seconds remaining.

The Cowboys kicked a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff that was fumbled by the Aztecs and recovered for Wyoming by Kenny Browder at the San Diego 44 yard line. Slowly the Cowboys crept down the field before Ian Watts kicked a 43 yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining to give the Cowboys an improbable 24 point come back and 30-27 victory.

With the victory the Cowboys improved to 5-5 (3-3 Mountain West) and kept their bowl chances alive. The Cowboys will now need to win one more of their remaining games: 11/21 vs TCU or 11/27 @ CSU to secure a bowl game.

San Diego State (4-6,2-4 MWC) was in control most of the game and looked they were cruising towards a victory with their 27-6 lead after three quarters. The Aztecs will have to beat Utah on the road next week and UNLV in Vegas if they want a shot at a bowl game. Buzz had been building the last couple weeks as the Aztecs had won some big games in the middle of the season over Colorado State and New Mexico that gave them hopes of playing in December.

QB Ryan Lindley didn't have the offense humming for the Aztecs like he usually does and finished 18 for 29 for just 200 yards and no touchdowns. The Aztecs did have one of their best performances on the ground this season as Brandon Sullivan rushed 18 times for 105 yards and two TD's in the first half.

The Cowboys had a rather balanced offense that put up 446 total yards compared to 357 for the Aztecs. Austyn Carta-Samuels went 16 of 22 for 246 yards passing plus 51 yards rushing. He also had one touchdown passing and one rushing.

The rushing attack for the Cowboys was impressive as they put up 200 yards on ground. They were led by Brandon Stewart with 76 yards and Alvester Alexander with 72. Alexander also had a 56 yard reception.

Dave Tooley had his best game of the season as he finished with 4 catches for 70 yards and the game tying touchdown.

The Cowboys won because they played their best in the fourth quarter and made some big plays on special teams. The Aztecs let this one slip away and their bowl chances probably went with it.

Cowboy of the Game: Special Teams/Ian Watts

Made some big plays when we needed it the most. No way this win would have happened without them. Watts had three key field goals including the game winner.

Poor Poke: Adam Berry and Cory Orth who left the program this week and missed out on this big win. Good luck to both players in the future.

ESPN Game Day heads to TCU

#4 TCU hosts #16 Utah this Saturday and ESPN College Game Day will be there for the ride. Well they will be there before the game (game is actually shown on CBS College). This is the third time this season (and second time in a row) that ESPN has followed a been to a Mountain West game. This ties them with the Big 12 for most appearances this season.

TCU needs to win by a decent margin if they hope to keep their BCS buster hopes alive. An impressive win followed by some key losses by other teams may be enough to get the Horned Frogs in the title game. That is a very slim chance but you never know what will happen in college football.

Game time is at 5:30pm MST.

Other Mountain West matchups this weekend:

#22 BYU heads to winless New Mexico.

Hopefully BYU will blow out the Lobos in a similar fashion to the win over the Cowboys last weekend. The Lobos have been playing better as of late but this one shouldn't be close. Max Hall should have a field day throwing against the New Mexico Secondary.

Noon MST

TV: The Mtn

UNLV heads to Air Force

The Rebels still have a bowl berth possibility but by only the thinnest of margins. The Rebels (4-6) need to upset the Falcons (6-4) at home this week and then beat San Diego State in their final regular season game on November 28th. The Falcons have a stingy defense and will give UNLV problems. The triple option of AF should enjoy working against the Rebels 111th ranked run defense.

4:00 PM MST

TV: The Mtn

Cowboys come out flat in opener

The inexperienced Wyoming Cowboys (0-1) came out slow out of the gate and never led in a 77-61 loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits Friday night.

South Dakota State (1-0) returned all their starters from last season and they took advantage of a young Cowboy team. The Jackrabbits were 11 of 21 from 3 point range and shot 53% from the field.

The Jacks held a 45-25 lead at halftime and were led by Clint Sargent with 18 points and Kai Williams with 17 in the game.

Wyoming tried to come back in the second half but couldn't dig themselves out of the deep hole they found themselves in. Afam Muojeke led the Cowboys with 19 points followed by AJ Davis with 14. No other Cowboy scored in the double digits. The Cowboys shot poorly from 3pt range (3 of 13) and despite getting to the charity line 27 times they only made 18 shots.

Cowboy of the Game:

AJ Davis - 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting. 2 for 2 from the FT line. Plus 4 steals in 24 minutes

Poor Poke:

Jaydee Luster - 3 points on 1 for 7 shooting. 4 rebounds 2 assists 4 fouls in 33 minutes.

The Cowboys will continue their quest for the first win of the season on 11/18 when they host Peru State.

Box Score

Wyoming opens season against Jackrabbits

The Men's basketball team is ready to open up the season against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Game time is 7:30pm MST at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.

The Jackrabbits return all five starters from a team that went 13-20 last year. The top scoring threat is G Garrat Callahan who averaged 15.8 pts a game last season. F Kai Williams is a inside scoring threat for the Jackrabbits. Both Callahan and Williams are in the top 25 scorers all-time at South Dakota State.

The Cowboys have been outstanding in season openers posting a 69-35 record over the last 104 years. The Cowboys have won the two previous matchups with South Dakota State that were played during the 1960's in Laramie.

The size and athleticism of the Cowboys should create a number of mismatches against the Jackrabbits. Djibril Thiam showed that he is ready to take his game to the next level with 24 points in the exhibition against Regis. Afam Muojeke is looking to build off his Mountain West Freshman of the Year campaign.

Cowboys should start the season 1-0.

Projected Lineup for the Cowboys:

C - Boubacar Syalla
PF - Djibril Thiam
SF - Afam Muojeke
SG - Thomas Manzano
PG - Jaydee Luster

San Diego State Preview

This is a make or break game for both teams this weekend. The Cowboys and Aztecs come into the game with identical 4-5 records (2-3 in the MWC). Both teams are looking for two more wins with only three games remaining. Bowl hopes rest on a victory this weekend.

Wyoming's last three games:

@ San Diego State
#4 TCU
@ Colorado State

San Diego State's last three games:

Wyoming
@ #16 Utah
@UNLV

Both teams will be major underdogs in two weeks when they face TCU and Utah respectively. While both teams should be favored in their season finale. That means a victory on Saturday is key to getting that 6th win at the end of the season to ensure bowl eligibility.

After last weeks 52-0 blowout by BYU some Cowboy fans thought the season was over and the Cowboys didn't deserve a bowl game. One game doesn't make a season and the quest for a bowl game is not over for the Cowboys.

San Diego

The Aztecs feature a potent passing attack that is operated by QB Ryan Lindley. Star WR Vincent Brown is out for the year but teammate DeMarco Sampson has stepped for the Aztecs with 50 catches for 676 yards and 8 td's.

The Aztecs running game is fairly weak which allow the Cowboy defense to just focus on stopping the air game. Hopefully they can do a better job against the Aztecs then they did against Max Hall and the BYU Cougars last week.

Wyoming leads the overall series 16-14 and won last year 35-10.

Prediction: Wyoming 28 - SDSU 24

Yes the Cowboys have lost three in a row and last week was ugly but they were outmatched and underdogs in all three games. This game is winnable and if they take care of the ball they should be able to get win #5.

Cowboys add 6'4 WR

Jonathan Eiken a 6'4 205 lb WR out of Ellsworth JC (Iowa) verbally committed to join the Cowboys for the 2010 season. Eiken run s 4.4 40 and his combination of size and speed will add a new dimension to the Cowboys offense next season. He could fit into a similar mold of former Cowboy WR Malcom Floyd who is currently with the San Diego Chargers.

Eiken is the third JC WR to commit to the Cowboys in the last week. He will graduate in May and enroll at UW in the summer. This gives the Cowboys 15 commitments for the 2010 season.

Check out Eiken's highlight video:

Men's Hoops add 2012 commit

Cameron Harvey a 6'3 guard out of Naperville, IL verbally commited to join the Cowboys in 2012. This is huge signing for the Cowboys as Harvey was consider one of the top IL recruits and even a top 40 national talent. The signing of a player of this caliber can be huge for the Wyoming program.

Harvey was recuited by a number of Big 10 and Big East programs but chose Wyoming because of the coaching staff and the engineering program. It is good to see that he is concerned about his education as well as playing basketball. As a sophomore last season Harvery averaged 15 points 6 assists and 6 rebounds.

He still has two years to grow and fine tine his game but Harvey can certaintly be a cornerstone for this team to build around in the future.

Weather Forecast for San Diego

If your traveling to the game this weekend you should enjoy some great weather. Highs are expected to hit 63 degrees but game time temprature should be in the upper 50's with the late kickoff.

Hopefully the Cowboys don't view this trip as a vacation and get back to the business of winning.

Cowboys won't be using any redshirts

According to a Casper Tribune article Coach Heath Schroyer doesn't plan on letting any of his freshman recruits spend the season on the bench and using a redshirt season.

F Daylen Harrison and G Desmar Jackson should see action in the Pokes season opener this Friday vs South Dakota State.

F Amath M'Biaye is still waiting to hear back from the NCAA regarding his amatuer status. He could be the best of the bunch once he sees the floor.

Pokes add WR recruit

The Wyoming WR corp just added another weapon for the 2010 season when Snow College WR Mazi Ogbonna verbally commited to the Cowboys over the weekend. Speed is something the team has been missing this year and hopefully Ogbonna can help provide that spark for the Cowboys next year. Listed at 6'1 190 lbs has caught 32 passes for 678 yards and 8 touchdowns so far this year.

Austyn Carta-Samuels has had a hard time finding anyone to throw to besides David Leonard this season. And while Leonard has tons of receptions most of them are short passes that go for less than 10 yards.

According to the article from Bommerang Mazi's teammate WR DeJay Lester might also commit to the Cowboys shortly after going over his options.

Men's Hoops: Season Preview

Pictured: Jaydee Luster (front) and Boubacar Syalla (back)


Head Coach Heath Schroyer has certaintly done a lot with the team since taking over two years ago. Last season the Cowboys finished 19-14 (7-9 MWC) and earned a post berth by playing in the CBI tournament.

The Cowboys certainly have plenty of new faces to fill in for all the talent that graduated last season. Gone is Brandon Ewing the leading scorer in the Mountain West last year as well Sean Ogirri and Tyler Johnson the #2 and #4 scorers last year for the Cowboys respectively.

While the Cowboys could spend their time worrying about who is gone instead they are excited about who is new to town and how they can impact the team. This is a young team that has only one senior and two juniors returning. Junior Djibril Thiam is only returning upperclassmen who had an impact on the court last season (5.2 points, 5.1 rebounds).

Taking a look at the Sophomore class will tell you nearly everything you need to know about the Cowboys this year:

F Afam Muojeke - The Cowboys returning scorer (13.8) from last year and Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Afam will be counted on to continue where he left off last year. At 6-7 210 he has nice size and will be startin at SF for the Cowboys.

G Jaydee Luster - Luster transferred from New Mexico State and had to sit out last year according to NCAA regulations. Expect him to be the catalyst for the Cowboy offense all season long. He is a pass first point guard that has solid ball control. Was voted team captain by his teammates.

C Boubacar Syalla - Transferred from Auburn last year. Listed at 7-2 235 he is the tallest player to ever play for the Cowboys. Didn't do much in his prep career at StoneRidge Prep (CA). It will be interesting to see if he can actually play or just spend most of his time just taking up space in the lane.

G Thomas Manzano - A 6-4 200lb SG that transferred from a JC (Garden City) last year. Manzano has a nice scoring touch and will help out on the perimeter. Will be counted on to help provide some offensive punch this season.

C Adam Waddell - Would be your starting center this year Waddell injured his knee during the preseason and will be out for two to four weeks. At 6-10 he will spent most of his time at center unless the Cowboys go with a large lineup, which means he could move to the 4 with Syalla playing the 5.

Schedule: The Cowboys have a fairly pedestrian non-conference schedule this year. Some highlights would be:

11/21 - Boise St
11/29 - Pepperdine
12/15 - @ Tennessee
12/23 - @ Northern Iowa

The Cowboys start their Mountain West schedule on January 6th at home against Colorado State.

Outlook: The Cowboys are a young and athletic team will wear out some teams with their ability to run. This energy combined with the soft schedule will help them win a few more games then they probably should. While they probably won't see the post season again this season the Mountain West is wide open and the Cowboys could finish anywhere between 4th and 8th.

Mountain West Standings

----------Conf--All
TCU (4) 5-0 9-0
Utah (16) 5-0 8-1
BYU (22) 4-1 7-2
Air Force 4-2 6-4
SDSU 2-3 4-5
Wyoming 2-3 4-5
UNLV 2-4 4-6
New Mexico 0-5 0-9
CSU 0-6 3-7

BYU stomps Wyoming

Talk about a hot start. BYU scored on their first possession and their second. Actually the Cougars were able to score on their first eight possessions as they embarrassed the Wyoming cowboys on their home turf at War Memorial Stadium 52-0 Saturday.

Cowboys fans were certain their would do better than last years 44-0 defeat last year in Provo but somehow they took a step backwards and have been shutout 96-0 by BYU the past two years.

Max Hall was a boy wonder for the BYU passing attack while throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns. As a reward Coach Bronco Mendenhall gave him most of the second half off. BYU improved to 7-2 (4-2 MWC) on the season and redeemed themselves after losing to TCU last week.

The Cougars racked up 543 total yards compared to 223 for the Cowboys. McKay Jacobson returned for the first time in a month and had three catches for 100 yards including a 79 yard touchdown pass from Hall. J.J Di Luigi pulled in five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Wyoming 4-5 (2-3 MWC) never got on track during the game and only had one drive that threatened to put some points on the board. With time expiring in the first half Austyn Carta-Samuels over threw a open reciever in the endzone and the Cowboys ended the half down 31-0.

The Cowboys who are usually great with ball control turned the ball over three times with backup QB's Robert Benjamin and Karsteen Sween each throwing a pick. Benjamin also added a fumble in the third quarter.

Next week BYU travels to winless New Mexico while Wyoming heads to San Diego in battle between two teams that are hoping to earn bowl eligibility.

Weather Forecast for Laramie

Should be a really amazing day for football in Wyoming during November. Forget your parka at home - it will be warm and Sunny!

Temprature should be around 57 degrees at kickoff and things may heat up to 60 later in the day.

I doubt the temprature will be the same for the last home game on 11/21 against TCU.

Mountain West Action

Preview of what is happening around the Mountain West this weekend.

Army at Air Force
1:30pm MST

ESPN College Game Day is coming to Colorado Springs for a Veterans Day themed Military game. The Falcons need just one more win to become bowl eligibile but the Black Knights aren't the pushovers they used to be. Except a rough and tough game with Air Force pulling it out at the end.

#6 TCU at San Diego State
2:00 pm MST

The Aztecs have been playing some of their best football this season during the last couple weeks. Unfortunately they are hosting the Horned Frogs and even their best won't be good enough to stop the TCU juggernaut this year.

New Mexico at #17 Utah
4:00pm MST

After a couple of close games the past two weeks the Utes can finally let loose and blowout a team in style. Coach Whittingham hasn't announced who will start at QB for Utah yet but they could probably use their punter at QB this week and still trounce the punchless Lobos.

Colorado State at UNLV
8:00pm MST

One of these two teams will earn their fourth victory and and still keep their slim bowl berth hopes alive. While the loser will be able to start planning their offseason a little earlier. The Rams have lost five in a row and really need a victory to help out the fans in the sheep country.

Preview: BYU at Wyoming

#25 BYU at Wyoming
12pm MST
TV: The Mtn


Series history: BYU leads 42-30-3

Last year: BYU shutouts Wyoming 44-0 in Provo. Ugly performance by the Cowboys as they gave little challenge to the Cougars.

Point Spread: BYU by 13

There is no love lost between these two teams and don't expect anything to change soon. The Cowboys fans certainly don't make the Cougars feel very welcome when they come to Laramie. That hasn't stopped the Cougars from dominating this series lately. The Cowboys haven't beaten the Cougars since a 13-10 home victory on October 18, 2003.

Wyoming: For the second game in a row the Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) blew a victory with a weak second half performance. Wyoming led Utah 10-3 at halftime but gave up 19 unanswered points and took the loss. The offense which was cruising during the beginning of October has only scored 10 points in the last eight quarters. The Cowboy defense has been doing a good job of containing their opponents but is now longer getting any turnovers like earlier in the season.

QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has been effective for the Pokes but no one has else stepped this season and shown they can be a be a big time play maker and take some of the load off. WR David Leonard is having a great season with 52 receptions but is averaging only 8.7 yards per catch.

BYU: With the bye week the Cougars (6-2, 3-1) are rested and hopefully can forget the 38-7 loss to TCU off their minds. Thanks to the some losses by other teams the Cougars moved back in to the rankings and now sit at #25.

Senior QB Max Hall has led the offense for three seasons has completed 170 passes for 2231 yards so far this season. His favorite target has been Dennis Pitta with 38 catches for 533 yards. The Cougars also will have WR McKay Robinson back on their roster this weekend as he returns from a hamstring injury. Robinson is the only real deep threat on the team and can really open up the field for the Cougars.

Harvey Unga brings a power running game is the leading rusher in the Mountain West and is averaging just a tick under 100 yards per game. Unga has found the endzone 10 times already this season.

Why Wyoming will win: The Cowboys are 3-1 at home with their only coming against #2 Texas. The weather will good and the Cowboys will be playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in nearly a month. Max Hall has thrown 11 interceptions so far this and by taking advantage of those mistakes the Cowboys can really throw a wrench into the Cougars season.

Why BYU will win: The high powered Cougar offense will just be too much the young Cowboy team. The Cougars are rested and want to blow out Wyoming just like TCU did to them two weeks ago.

Prediction: Upset special here the Cowboys pull a few surprises and earn a victory in front of the home crowd: 28-24.

The Mtn Preview: BYU at Wyoming

James Bates shows off his Tennessee roots and gives us way too much information on High School. He also discusses the BYU-Wyoming game a little. At least he isn't wearing the orange creamsicle blazer he had on last week.

Devin Moore back with the Seahawks

According to an ESPN article the Seahawks have resigned Devin Moore to their practice squad following their release of RB Edgerrin James on Monday.

James is a good guy but never fit in with the Hawks this season. He has decided he needs to spend more time with his children.

We're glad that Devin Moore is back in the NFL but he probably won't be signed from the practice squad unless they Seahawks really wise up and dump Julius Jones.

Seahawks RB Depth Chart

Julius Jones

Justin Forsett

Louis Ranking

PS: Devin Moore

This Week

Cowboy Altitude is back.

I was out of town this weekend and then got sick the last couple days. Feeling much better so there is stuff to do.

So we'll use what is left of this week to get you caught up with things in Cowboy land.

Thursday: Preview of Wyoming vs BYU

Friday: Mountain West Weekend Preview

Saturday: BYU game recap

Next Week: Wyoming Mens Hoops Preview

Mountain West Mondays

No upsets this weekend in the Mountain West but still some entertaining games.

Air Force at CSU

The Falcons are now just one win away from becoming bowl eligible with a 34-16 victory over the Rams. Tim Jefferson threw for 111 yards and 2 TD's in a rare outburst for the Falcon air game. The Rams have now lost six in a row and the longest losing streak since the 13 game streak in 2006-07 seasons.

UNLV at TCU

Nothing can stop the Horned Frogs this season and the Rebels certainly didn't try to stop them. TCU won 41-0 and is now 8-0..

New Mexico at San Diego State

The Lobos nearly broke their winless streak but the Aztecs had another idea. Ryan Lindley threw 3 TD's in a 23-20 victory. SDSU is now two wins away from bowl eligibility.

Cowboys shutout in the second half

The Wyoming offense ground to a halt in the second half and the Utes scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to win 22-10 on Saturday. Freshman Jordan Wynn started the second half and provided the spark the Utah offense needed to come from behind to win.

Utah RB Eddie Wide was impressive on the ground with 125 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. The Utes had two field goals in the third quarter to bring the score to 10-9. Wynn's 22 yard TD pass to Jereme Brooks was the first of his career and gave the Utes their first lead of the game in fourth quarter. Wide scored his TD with 92 seconds remaining in the game after Wyoming turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory.

The Cowboys offensive line was stellar in the first half and gave Carta-Samuels plenty of time to throw the ball.
During the second half A-CS never looked comfortable as the Utah defense stepped up their pressure and sacked him a number of times. Several times he had to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked in the second hafl.

The Cowboys did have one shot to win the game as they were down by 1 and were driving with four minutes left. Robert Benjamin who was recently converted to WR had a pass go through his fingers which was then intercepted by Utah.

Wyoming drops to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Mountain West. Next weekend the Cowboys return home to face off against the BYU Cougars.

(note: I wanted to post this update after the game last night but I developed a terrible headache and had to go to bed early)