It was a game Wyoming should have won.
But even though the Cowboys put together one of their better offensive games, and did some good things on defense late in the contest, they lost their season-finale at New Mexico 36-30 Saturday.
UW (4-8 overall, 2-6 Mountain West) had 541 yards of total offense, ran 94 plays compared to New Mexico’s 39 and held the ball for nearly 42 minutes.
But with the ball at the New Mexico 5-yard line in the final minute of the game, the Cowboys couldn’t score. A false start penalty on senior offensive tackle Connor Rains — the lone senior on that offensive line — didn’t help. But the offense got no closer than the 4-yard line.
Here is video of the final few plays, including a nice 44-yard catch made by sophomore receiver Tanner Gentry to get the ball down to the 5.
A defense that gave up scoring plays of 75 and 69 yards settled down. But it was too late despite not allowing any New Mexico points in the fourth quarter. Then again, UW’s offense also didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
A special teams unit that blocked a field goal in the fourth quarter, also allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. New Mexico junior Carlos Wiggins, who now has four kickoff returns for a touchdown, ran one back 97 yards late in the third quarter in what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Why UW kicked to him I will never know. Coach Craig Bohl didn’t really answer the question after the game. There was word in the press box that Wiggins changed positions on the kickoff late in the formation. Maybe, but it wasn’t addressed by UW, and there was some missed tackles.
Here is Bohl after the game: