For the second straight week, the Wyoming Cowboys enjoyed a fast start that led to their eighth overall win of the season and their fifth Mountain West Conference victory of the year as the Cowboys secured a 42-6 road win over the Nevada Wolf Pack.  Wyoming finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West.  The Cowboys will now await a bowl invitation for the sixth time in the past eight seasons and the third consecutive season.  Wyoming has never gone bowling in three successive seasons.

Nevada finished its 2023 season 2-10 overall and 2-6 in the Mountain West.

It was Wyoming’s fourth eight-win season during the Craig Bohl era and the first eight-win regular season since 2016.  The Pokes’ other two eight-win seasons under Bohl in 2017 and ‘19 included bowl victories.  Wyoming will have an opportunity to win nine games this season when they go bowling later this year.  The last time a Wyoming team won at least nine games was in 1996 when the Cowboys went 10-2 under then head coach Joe Tiller.

Wyoming enjoyed a balanced an attack in Saturday night’s win at Nevada, generating 409 yards of total offense on 244 rushing yards and 165 passing yards.  UW scored three touchdowns rushing, two passing and the defense scored a TD.  Special teams forced a fumble on the Nevada’s opening kickoff return of the second half that led to one of those touchdowns.

Cowboy quarterback Andrew Peasley entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 32 in the nation in Points Responsible For, averaging 14.0 points per game.  He threw two more TD passes vs. Nevada and rushed for two TDs to improve his season totals to 22 passing touchdowns and 9 rushing TDs.  His 31 total touchdowns responsible for plus a two-point conversion earlier this season improved his season average to 17.1 points per game in the 11 games he has played in 2023.

Wyoming free safety Wyett Ekeler returned a 38-yard interception for a Pick Six in the second quarter.  It was Ekeler’s second interception of the season.

The UW defense also recorded a season high 6.0 sacks, led by defensive end Sabastian Harsh, who had 2.0 sacks and led Wyoming in tackles with six total tackles.

Head coach Craig Bohl was very pleased with his team’s overall performance after the game.  One area of the Cowboy team that played particularly well was the defensive line and he was asked what he thought of the D-Line’s dominant performance.

“There was no doubt that they played extremely well.  We felt like we had an advantage there but we needed to come in and play on point and that’s something at times we’ve not done on the road,” said Bohl.  “Nevada’s players played hard and they were well coached.  I thought it was one of our better performances.”

The Cowboy offense and special teams both played just as well on Saturday as did the Poke defense.

“Our team certainly was ready to play tonight,” said Bohl.  “We’ve kind of had a bugaboo on the road and all of a sudden we’re Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (between home and away games), and we wanted to set the record straight with an opportunity to close out our regular season with a road win.

“It’s special for me to see these seniors and the effort they’re giving and some of the performances by the young players, as well.”

Wyoming’s offense ended the night with 409 yards of total offense, including 244 rushing yards and 165 passing.  Bohl was proud of the way the offense controlled the game throughout.

“Andrew (Peasley) made some really nice runs, and we did some good things up front.  Anytime you can rush the ball like that, that’s a good sign.”

Bohl was also asked to comment on his team getting eight wins against a very challenging schedule that included preseason Top 25 team Texas Tech and a road game at then No. 4 ranked Texas.

“You expend so much energy on every game but those non-conference games -- there was no breather there,” said Bohl.  “Then we went into conference play, and we play a real rugged conference, so coming up with eight wins is I think the most we’ve had in the regular season since 2016.  It’s a great way to end our regular season and we’re looking forward to be playing in a bowl game.”