Behind the numbers: Wyoming vs. Portland State

LARAMIE -- 2-0

That's the number that really matters despite the Cowboys' meddling through their annual "cupcake" game in Laramie Saturday afternoon. Wyoming hung on for the 31-17 victory over a Portland State team that gave up 81 points last week at Oregon.

The Vikings, led by quarterback Dante Chachere, were one penalty away from making this a seven-point contest with a little under a minute to go in regulation.

It wasn't pretty, but it's in the win column.

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Wyoming will now turn its collective attention to the Texas Longhorns, the favorites in the Big XII Conference. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST next Saturday in Austin. The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network.

Here are some numbers that stood out in this one:

Andrew Peasley has never thrown that many touchdowns in one game. That is until Wyoming's super senior signal caller did just that today, twice hooking up with Ayir Asante and once with a wide-open Wyatt Wieland in the second quarter.

Peasley's 64-yard touchdown pass to Asante in the first quarter was the longest of his career. It was also the longest for a Wyoming QB since Tyler Vander Waal connected with James Price for a 72-yarder against Boise State way back in 2018.

201

That's how many yards Peasley threw for in the win over Portland State. Only once did he eclipse the 200-yard mark in 2022. That also came in Week 2, a 40-37 double-overtime victory over Tulsa. The Oregon native was later named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week. Will that happen again?

Yep, John Hoyland did it again. Last week he hammered through a 56-yard field goal on the opening play of the second quarter against Texas Tech. Today, he did it on the Cowboys' opening drive of the second half.

Sam Scott led all Wyoming rushers with 70 yards on just 11 carries in his first career start out of the Cowboys' backfield. That's an average of 6.4 yards per tote and he finished with a long of 19 yards. A first-quarter fumble is the only red mark on his day.

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That's how many yards receiving Asante racked up on just two catches. Of course, one of those was a 64-yard score. He added a 14-yard touchdown in the third quarter, too.

That's how many catches Wyoming wideouts finished with against the Vikings, led by Wyatt Wieland, who had three, including a 29-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter. Asante capped his day with two and Ryan Marquez and Jaylen Sargent both had one.

4.4

That's how many yards per carry the Pokes finished with Saturday in the run game. Scott led the way and Peasley rolled up 43 yards on six attempts. DQ James finished with just 33 yards on a game-high 14 carries.

2-for-2

The Cowboys were perfect in the red zone in this one. Jamari Ferrell got the party started with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone in the first quarter and Asante's 14-yard touchdown grab came in the third.

11-of-20

Wyoming had all kinds of issues getting off the field on third down against Portland State. After starting 6-of-8 in this category, the visitors cooled off a bit, but not much. The Vikings also converted a fourth-down call to extend a touchdown drive in the second quarter.

That's how many snaps the Vikings took on that aforementioned scoring drive. They rolled up 75 yards and took 9:01 off the game clock.

That's how many tackles for loss the Pokes finished with, led by Cole Godbout, who capped his day with 2.5.

That's the number of sacks Wyoming tallied in this one. Godbout had 1.5, combining with Braden Siders for another. Jordan Bertagnole also landed a QB takedown.

Two Wyoming tacklers finished with this many stops. Those guys are middle linebacker Easton Gibbs and nickelback Wrook Brown.

That's the number of fumbles that have come out of the Cowboys' running back room. James and Farrell coughed it up against Texas Tech. Scott lost one today.

That's the number of points the Pokes scored off two PSU turnovers. One was a Wyett Ekeler interception and cornerback Tyrecus Davis scooped up a first-half fumble. That turned into an Asante and Weiland touchdown grab.

22,121

That's the announced attendance today inside War Memorial Stadium.

63-14-3

That's Wyoming's overall record against the Big Sky Conference.

9-1

That's Craig Bohl's record against FCS teams since arriving in Laramie in 2014. The lone loss came to North Dakota in the 2015 season opener.

5-0

That's Texas's all-time record against Wyoming, the latest a 37-17 setback in Austin back in 2012.

100,119

That's the capacity of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.