Three stars of the game

LARAMIE -- No one can say this team doesn't care.

It would've been easy to pack it in Saturday afternoon in Laramie. The Cowboys were coming off a humiliating loss to New Mexico, who did owned the nation's longest losing streak.

There's no bowl game on the horizon.

Boise State, the standard of the Mountain West, was coming to town. The Broncos were already bound for the league's title game, too. And who can forget the snowstorm that roared into Laramie and forced the field crew to shovel the white lines numerous times by hand.

This had all the makings of a let's-get-this-season-over-with outing. It was anything but that. Wyoming battled to the final whistle before eventually falling, 17-9.

The team as a whole was motivated, but these three guys really came to play in the snow Saturday evening:

1st star: Cole Godbout
Has any unit been more decimated than the defensive line? Whether it's opt outs, injuries, suspensions or the virus, this group has seen it all. Cole Godbout is no different. He even missed the UNLV game because of contact tracing. Saturday, the sophomore from Wisconsin was an absolute nightmare to deal with if you were wearing orange and blue. No. 94 was constantly blowing through the Broncos' front five. Godbout finished with eight tackles, including one for loss. In five games, he finished with 22 tackles from the defensive tackle spot. He also added a sack and batted down a pass.

2nd star: John Hoyland
How about the season this guy had? John Hoyland wasn't even listed on the depth chart when Wyoming traveled to Nevada for the season opener. The freshman walk-on spent the majority of fall camp in quarantine. Luke Glassock was awarded placekicking duties. That is until he got hurt. Hoyland nailed all four of his attempts in Reno, earning himself Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He didn't stop there. Hoyland made 13-of-14 kicks this year with a long of 42. In the last two weeks, he made all six of his kicks. The kicking spot was a real question mark for the Cowboys after Cooper Rothe graduated. I think they have their answer now.

1st star: Easton Gibbs
This game really meant something to Easton Gibbs. His mom went to Boise State. His family has always rooted for the Broncos. His good friend from California was lined up under center for the visitors Saturday evening. Hank Bachmeier played just eight miles up the road from Gibbs in high school. This was Gibbs' first career start. It sure didn't seem like it though. The redshirt freshman led the Pokes with 13 tackles and added one for loss. In just a game-and-a-half, Gibbs has racked up 23 tackles. He's been all over the field like another No. 28 who used to play in Laramie. His name was Andrew Wingard. Gibbs just needs to grow out the locks.