Turning point, unsung hero and what’s next for UW football

LARAMIE -- Surprise, surprise.

After nearly 10 minutes of football, Wyoming was already trailing on the scoreboard and featured yet another drive-killing turnover, the team's 10th over the last four games.

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Unlike during the month of October -- 31 days of pure misery that included four straight Mountain West Conference losses -- Levi Williams and the Cowboys offense didn't say "here we go again."

They got to work.

After a four-yard Dante Wright touchdown opened the scoring, Wyoming had an answer.

Xazavian Valladay, now the second-leading rusher in program history after surpassing Ryan Christopherson and Devin Moore today, busted through the line for a 16-yard gainer.

That wasn't the end of that particular play.

Colorado State cornerback Logan Stewart brought UW's junior running back down by the facemask. The yellow hanky on the turf added 15 more yards.

On the following snap, quarterback Levi Williams dropped back as the pass rush formed a a circle around him.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it wasn't a full circle.

The Cowboys redshirt freshman stepped up in the pocket and found a crease -- a big one.

Aided by an Alex Brown downfield block -- and a perfect pick play from the back judge -- Williams parted the sea and coasted into the end zone untouched from 43 yards out to tie this one at 7-7 with 5:40 remaining in the opening frame.

Turns out, it was a play Williams needed to improvise on.

"You know, it's awesome. I didn't expect that to happen," he said with a grin. "Our guy actually fell down -- the guy that was supposed to get the ball. So, it was an accident that was meant to happen."

This one was starting to follow what's become an all-too-familiar script around here: turnovers, poor offensive plays, losing.

Williams and his buddies didn't allow that to happen.

Instead, the Cowboys snagged two interceptions of their own and rolled up a season-high 385 rushing yards.

This is what Cowboy football is supposed to look like.

"Right, 100%," UW linebacker Chad Muma said. "I thought that in all aspects. We were flying around today."

Wyoming 31, Colorado State 17

Unsung hero

This one goes to Ayden Eberhardt.

The Cowboys' super senior receiver was lost for the season after tearing his ACL last Saturday in San Jose. Despite the knee injury, the Loveland, Colo., product ran off the field -- from the far side -- to save Wyoming from being hit with a 10-second runoff inside the last two minutes of the game.

That takes heart.

Today, Eberhardt was an emotional leader for this team.

"He was one of the first people I saw after the game," Williams said. "I gave him a big hug and told him I loved him. You know, (this game) means a lot to him.

"... I know every ounce of his body wanted to be out there playing with us and to bring the boot home."

Bohl said he also shared a moment with Eberhardt before the team even entered the stadium.

"I saw him on the 'Cowboy Walk' over here," he said. "I hugged him and told him I loved him ... I'm sure he's in there celebrating, too."

Eberhardt's younger sister, Lexi, plays basketball at CSU. Her boyfriend, Dante Wright, is a receiver for the Rams. You know this one meant the world to No. 19.

Quotable

"Wyoming played a great football game today. They played better than we did. They were more physical than we were. I give a lot of credit to them. They played their best game of the year. I don't think we played very well and that's my responsibility. Obviously, I didn't do a good enough job getting our team prepared and that falls straight on me."

-- Colorado State's second-year head coach Steve Addazio after the 31-17 loss to Wyoming Saturday inside War Memorial Stadium

What's next?

Wyoming (5-4, 1-4) has a short week to prepare for a date with the Boise State Broncos (4-4, 2-2) Friday night on the blue turf inside Albertson's Stadium. At this moment, the Broncos are leading Fresno State 26-7 midway through the fourth quarter inside a sold out Bulldog Stadium. Kickoff in Idaho is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT and the game will be shown on FS1. Wyoming fell to the Broncos 17-9 last December in the Cowboys' season finale.