Wyoming’s Offense Blanked in 27-7 Loss at Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- The Wyoming Cowboys got off to a fast start but could not slow down the Rainbow Warriors of Hawai’i offense in a 27-7 road loss in the season finale inside the T.C. Ching Athletic Complex in Honolulu.

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The Hawai’i offense recorded 417 yards of total offense with 289 through the air and 128 on the ground. The Cowboy offense was held to just 246 yards with 202 passing and 54 yards rushing. Wyoming struggled on third down, going 3-of-15 on the night.

Quarterback Mason Drube saw extensive action in the contest, as the freshman from Gillette, Wyo., threw for a career-high 179 yards. He was 17-of-32 passing. John Michael Gyllenborg recorded a career-high six catches in his final game with the Pokes. Deion DeBlanc recorded a career-high four catches for a career-best 39 yards to lead the team with Gyllenborg.

“He extended plays, kept plays alive,” UW head coach Jay Sawvel said, referring to his rookie signal caller, who was under center for the entire second half. “He’s a tough kid and a really good athlete. The best part of all this is he got to play a little bit and still kept that year of eligibility on him. When he starts off in the spring he still has four years of eligibility. He’s uber competitive and I expect a lot of growth out of him.”

The Wyoming defense was led by linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz with seven tackles and a season-high 1.5 tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Evan Eller added six tackles and finished his college career with 311. The Johnson’s, safety Andrew and linebacker Brayden added five tackles.

Wyoming opened the scoring with an interception returned for a touchdown by safety Jones Thomas for his second interception of the season the Cowboys second interception for a score this season. The 50-yard return came on a third-down.

“It was a really good play by Jones,” Sawvel said. “He read the throw, really good catch, he’s got excellent speed and he showed that off. It was a big play for us but we weren’t able to sustain.”

The Rainbow Warriors responded the following drive with a 19-yard pass from Micah Alejado to Cam Barfield for a 7-7 game with 3:52 left in the first quarter. It was a 10-play, 75-yard drive for Hawai’i with most of the dame done on the ground. The Rainbow Warriors added to the lead with a 47-yard field goal from Kansei Matsuzwa for a 10-7 lead with 7:33 left in the first half.

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Hawai’i added to the lead with a 78-strike from Alejado to wide receiver Jackson Harris for a 17-7 game with under five minutes left in the first half. Hawai’i added to the lead with a field goal from 47-yards once again and took the 20-7 lead into the half, as Wyoming missed a field goal in the final minute of the half.

The Rainbow Warriors added another score to open the second half to take a 27-7 lead. Wyoming drove down the field and was stopped on fourth down inside Rainbow Warriors territory.

The Wyoming defense forced the first miss of the season for the Hawai’i kicker as the game remained 27-7 going into the final quarter and that is where the game would stay as Wyoming closed the season.

The Rainbow Warriors was led by Alejado passing for 289 yards in the contest. He recorded two touchdown passes. Barfield led the team rushing for 77 yards and added a touchdown reception. Harris added 153 yards receiving. The defense was paced
The Cowboys finished the season with a 4-8 record, as 24 seniors played their final game for the Brown and Gold.