Cowboys Fall Short at Hawai’i, 17-13
Chevan Cordeiro found JoJo Ward for the go-ahead 38-yard touchdown pass with 1:26 left and Hawai’i defeated the Wyoming Cowboys 17-13 Saturday night.
Wyoming (2-4, 0-2) had a chance to drive for a winning score. They reached the Rainbow Warriors’ 24-yard line, but a pair of incomplete passes, along with a sack, and a false start penalty pushed the Pokes back to the 35-yard line.
On fourth down and 21, Tyler Vander Waal found James Price for a first down at the Hawai’i 14 with one second left. Instead of running a play, Vander Waal spiked it and the game was over.
The Cowboys lone touchdown came on defense. Carl Granderson intercepted a pass and returned it 61-yards midway through the third quarter. That gave Wyoming a 10-3 lead.
Their only other scores were two Cooper Rothe field goals. He made one from 40-yards midway through the first quarter and a 3-0 lead. Rothe added another from 23-yards away with 5:31 left. That made it 13-10 UW.
Hawai’i (6-1, 3-0) got 148 pass yards from Cordeiro. Dayton Furuta added 101 yards rushing. The Rainbow Warriors finished with 304 yards of total offense. The Rainbow Warriors played without starting QB Cole McDonald. He was held out with an unspecified injury.
Wyoming had only 244 total yards of offense. Nico Evans ran it 24 times for 192 yards. Vander Waal was only 9-16 for 87 yards. He was sacked five times.
Defensively, the Cowboys were led by Logan Wilson with 11 total tackles. He had nine solo stops, including three tackles for loss, and a sack. Keyon Blankenbaker added seven tackles and one pass break-up. The UW defense finished with seven tackles for loss, which included four sacks, and two takeaways.
Wyoming is back on the road next Saturday night at Fresno State. That game will start at 8:30 p.m., Mountain Time.