NCAAF

BYU Cougars at Wyoming Cowboys

· NCAA - Football
3-0, 2-0 Away
Final
34 - 14
0-3, 0-2 Home

Retzlaff throws 3 TD passes as BYU wins 10th straight against Wyoming, 34-14

Keelan Marion returns kick 100-yard to the house

The Cougars (3-0) jumped out to an early 14-point lead in their 80th all-time meeting with Wyoming (0-3). BYU took advantage of a sputtering Cowboys offense, outgaining them 458-217 total yards.

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff bounced back from an interception in the first quarter, finishing 22-of-36 passing for 291 yards and three touchdowns while adding 62 yards rushing. Chase Roberts had 129 yards receiving on six catches.

“I’m happy that we are 3-0, and I’m proud of the team,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “I thought the energy and effort, all the stuff that we want from our guys showed up. It didn’t go perfectly, but there were some really good things to work on.

“I feel like we got better from last week to this week, and we are looking forward to making an improvement from this week to the next.”

Aside from a pair of scoring drives, Wyoming struggled to move the ball. The Cowboys totaled eight punts and collected just 12 first downs to BYU’s 23. Evan Svoboda completed 14 of 32 (44%) for 140 yards and an interception. He added 31 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“I wanted to win this game more than anybody,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said. “I wanted to win this game for the fans. I wanted to win this game for the state of Wyoming and everything else. We were going to have to play great football in order to win this game, and we didn’t do it.”

The Cougars opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to tight end Keanu Hill midway through the first quarter. BYU extended the lead to 14-0 early in the second with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Kody Epps to cap a nine-play, 74-yard drive.

The Cowboys cut the lead in half with a 2-yard touchdown run by Svoboda four minutes later after an 11-play, 75-yard drive, and BYU tacked on a 49-yard field goal by Will Ferrin with 45 seconds left in the first half to take a 17-7 lead into the break.

Keelan Marion opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for BYU to go up 17. A 30-yard pass from Retzlaff to Roberts set up 37-yard field goal for Ferrin on BYU’s first offensive drive of the third quarter.

The Cougars put the game out of reach with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Darius Lassiter to go up 34-7 going into the fourth quarter. Svoboda ran into Wyoming’s last points of the night on a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:29 left to play.

“It wasn’t perfect, but we got to play some complimentary football,” Sitake said. “The guys have worked really hard. We are excited with where we are at right not, but we’re not satisfied. We’ve got to keep working but we are going to celebrate and appreciate the wins.”

BYU and Wyoming were both members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Mountain States, Western Athletic and Mountain West before the former became independent in 2011. The teams have no dates on future schedules in a rivalry that dates back to 1922. The Cougars improved to 47-30-3 all-time against the Cowboys with Saturday’s win.

“For us to have won that game, we were going to need to win that thing like 24-21, 21-17 or something like that,” Sawvel said. “We let ourselves down in all three phases of being able to win that game. There was a pathway to win it, and it was a narrow pathway, and we didn’t find it.”

THE TAKEAWAY

BYU: Will enter Big 12 play 3-0 for the second consecutive season.

Wyoming: The loss gives the Cowboys their first 0-3 start since the 2015 season.

UP NEXT

BYU: Plays host to No. 14 Kansas State, which beat No. 20 Arizona on Friday.

Wyoming: Travels to face North Texas, which lost 66-21 on the road at Texas Tech on Saturday.

How To Watch

How can I watch BYU Cougars vs. Wyoming Cowboys?
  • TV Channel: Cougars at Cowboys 2021 College Football, week 3, is broadcasted on CBSSN.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cowboys: 13.7%
Cougars: 86.3%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

BYU TD 1st Period 5:58 Keanu Hill 20 Yd pass from Jake Retzlaff (Will Ferrin Kick)
BYU TD 2nd Period 9:12 Kody Epps 3 Yd pass from Jake Retzlaff (Will Ferrin Kick)
WYO TD 2nd Period 5:11 Evan Svoboda 2 Yd Run (John Hoyland Kick)
BYU FG 2nd Period 0:45 Will Ferrin 49 Yd Field Goal
BYU TD 3rd Period 14:45 Keelan Marion 100 Yd Kickoff Return (Will Ferrin Kick)
BYU FG 3rd Period 9:42 Will Ferrin 37 Yd Field Goal
BYU TD 3rd Period 0:02 Darius Lassiter 20 Yd pass from Jake Retzlaff (Will Ferrin Kick)
WYO TD 4th Period 6:29 Evan Svoboda 1 Yd Run (John Hoyland Kick)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/252.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBYU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2751.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWYO
23 1st Downs 12
2-11 3rd down efficiency 7-17
3-3 4th down efficiency 1-2
458 Total Yards 217
318 Passing 140
25/39 Comp/Att 14/31
8.2 Yards per pass 4.5
140 Rushing 77
28 Rushing Attempts 33
5.0 Yards per rush 2.3
9-80 Penalties 4-48
1 Turnovers 1
0 Fumbles lost 0
1 Interceptions thrown 1
33:22 Possession 26:38

Game Information

War Memorial Stadium

Location: Laramie, WY
Attendance: 24,513 · Capacity:
Full Standings

College Football News

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph avoids getting sacked and throws a short touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Josh Heupel discusses what No. 7 Tennessee needed to improve on for a better result in the first round of the CFP and outlines his vision for the future of the program.

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

After the first round of the College Football Playoff, the championship odds are more bunched than ever.

How will Stockton level up for Georgia against Notre Dame?

How will Stockton level up for Georgia against Notre Dame?

The SEC Now crew talks about how Gunner Stockton has the ability to prepare for the Fighting Irish and breaks down the game plan Georgia needs to come out victorious.

Does CFP need tweaking after lopsided losses in 1st round?

Does CFP need tweaking after lopsided losses in 1st round?

Heather Dinich reacts to the lopsided losses in the first round of the new College Football Playoff system.