Hoyland Boots 50-Yard Field Goal, Walks-off Birmingham

LARAMIE -- John Hoyland's Easter Sunday ended with an ESPN microphone in his face and a bucket of plastic multi-colored eggs dumped over his head.

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Those things can happen when you boot through all five of your field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder as time expires to lift your team to its first win of the season.

"I like these mini-eggs," Hoyland said with a smile, referring to the candy that landed below him on the turf.

Wyoming's all-time leading scorer unleashed a no-doubter in rainy Houston, giving the Gamblers a 22-20 victory over visiting Birmingham. He was true from 32, 37, 26 and 24 before drilling the decider.

"Yeah, just a great day out there," the humble rookie told ESPN. "All the credit to the guys for putting us in a position to win."

Hoyland actually went 6-for-6, but a penalty gave the Gamblers new life midway through the fourth quarter, and they finally found the end zone on one of their seven trips inside the red zone. The Broomfield, Colo., product tacked on the extra point.

In his United Football League debut last Sunday, Hoyland easily stroked through a 44-yard field goal in a road loss at Dallas.

Hoyland capped his Wyoming career with 366 points, overtaking the guy he replaced in 2020, Cooper Rothe, who finished with 342. The 23-year-old, who benefited from an additional year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic, also owns the school's record for field-goal makes (73) and attempts (92).

Hoyland missed just one extra point in college on 148 tries.

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Former Wyoming cornerback Azizi Hearn, a week after tallying five tackles in a loss to St. Louis, added four more stops and a pass breakup in the Defenders' 44-26 victory over Columbus.

Hearn played in Laramie from 2019-21, registering 80 tackles from the secondary in 32 games. He also broke up 13 passes. The 6-foot-1, 204-pound Oceanside, Calif., native began his career at Arizona and finished at UCLA after his tenure on the high plains.

Hearn's DC teammate Xazavian Valladay found the end zone from 10 yards out in his first UFL action. He finished with 38 yards on just nine attempts. The Chicago product is the second-leading rusher in Wyoming history, rolling up 3,281 yards and 19 touchdowns during a four-year stint at Wyoming from 2018-21.

Only Brian Hill (4,287) finished with more yards.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players