Three Stars of the Game: Pokes vs. Bulldogs

LARAMIE -- This objective list is never easy to compile.

Treyton Welch could've easily landed on it. He snagged all six balls that came his way, including a 12-yard touchdown. He finished the night with 74 yards receiving to lead the team in the 24-19 upset over No. 24 Fresno State.

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Shae Suiaunoa led the Cowboys with a dozen tackles, including nine solo stops. He also added a sack from his outside linebacker position.

Disruptive DeVonne Harris registered a huge sack early in the fourth quarter. That came on a third-and-goal and he even knocked starting quarterback Mikey Keene out of the game.

Easton Gibbs finished with eight tackles and is now 16th in school history with 300 of those. Harrison Waylee didn't eclipse the 100-yard mark on the ground for the first time in a UW uniform, but he did have the most all-purpose yards with 97.

Those guys all get a game ball, but here are my picks for the three stars of the game:

1st star: Andrew Peasley - Quarterback

If there was any doubt about Andrew Peasley's injured right shoulder, he quieted that chatter with one 14-yard rocket into the chest of Wyatt Wieland on the opening play of the second quarter.

The senior signal caller took the shotgun snap, looked to his right and fired.

It was a thing of beauty.

Peasley connected again with Wieland midway through the period. This pass had a tad more touch on it, hitting the senior wideout in the outstretched hands in the back of the end zone to give the Pokes a 17-7 lead.

Why stop there?

Peasley didn't.

With just 31 ticks remaining in the first half, the Oregon product found tight end Treyton Welch streaking across the brown-and-gold paint. The throw, once again a bullet, was right on target.

Peasley said he and fellow offensive captains, Weiland and Welch, called a player's only meeting after a lackluster performance against Appalachian State. In that meeting the theme was "What kind of offense do we want to be?"

I think we all know the answer now.

Over the last two weeks, wins over New Mexico and Fresno State, Peasley has thrown for 377 yards and four touchdowns. He added another on the ground in a 35-26 victory over the Lobos. Peasley has connected on 35-of-52 throws and in consecutive weeks completed passes to nine different receivers.

"I think that was as good as what I've seen Andrew throw the ball," Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said postgame. "... The throw we had to Wyatt on the touchdown was just it was a laser ball and Wyatt got hit. I thought the throw to Treyton was excellent."

Peasley has now thrown for 758 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He has been picked off just twice and has added three scores on the ground.

He's also now 5-0 under center this season and 12-5 overall as a starter at Wyoming.

2nd star: Wyatt Wieland - Wide Receiver

Wyatt Wieland arrived on campus way back in 2018.

Unheralded out of Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., and receiving zero Division-I offers, the 6-foot-1, 207-pound walk-on bet on himself in Laramie.

After a redshirt season, Wieland appeared in 17 straight games without catching a single pass. He finally broke that unwanted streak with a 15-yard snag in a road loss to Boise State during the 2021 campaign.

That is ancient history now.

Wieland hauled in two touchdown passes from Peasley Saturday night. It was the first multi-score game of his career. The first one came from 14 yards out on the first snap of the second quarter. He paid the price, too, taking a lick from an oncoming safety.

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The second, that one came roughly eight minutes later. That was a four-yard grab.

Wieland has hauled in a team-high 23 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

"I mean, it's guys like him, you know, that embody 'Cowboy Tough' football and stick around and want to get that 2% better every day," UW tight end Treyton Welch said. "No matter what the outside world says, no matter what the outside noise says, Wyatt is the guy that embodies 'Cowboy Tough' football. So, it's been awesome to see him succeed."

Wieland caught five balls for 50 yards in the win over the Bulldogs.

3rd star: Cole Godbout - Nose Tackle

Cole Godbout had nothing but bright green turf ahead of him.

Wyoming's 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior nose tackle was on the loose after tipping a Logan Fife pass to himself. The interception sealed the upset, but the Wisconsin product wanted more.

"It felt so good to get that," Godbout said postgame. "I wish I could have scored, but I'm not that fast."

He definitely didn't score, coming up about 25 yards shy of the end zone.

That's perfectly fine with his head coach.

"One thing I can tell you, I was screaming for him to get down," Craig Bohl said with a smile.

Godbout, who finished the night with four tackles, including half-a-sack, appeared to have a word with Fresno State running back Malik Sherrod, who eventually made the tackle.

"Me and the running back, we were just having some friendly competition," Godbout joked. "I was telling him to come get the ball."

Godbout said that was his first interception since his sophomore season at Hudson High School. Now, Easton Gibbs said, the defense is never going to hear the end of this gloating from the big man.

"I'm going to give him some crap that he didn't score, though, because he always claims, you know, that he would've got in the end zone," Gibbs said with a grin.

Godbout has 27 tackles this season to go along with 1.5 sacks.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players