Tucson, Ariz. — In one of the most exciting finishes of the college bowl season, the Wyoming Cowboys took a 24-21 lead with 2:08 remaining in regulation, but the Ohio Bobcats came back to send the game to overtime with a 46-yard field goal with only four seconds remaining. In overtime, Wyoming place-kicker John Hoyland gave the Cowboys a 27-24 lead in the first OT, but on a third and 8 on Ohio’s first overtime possession the Bobcats completed a 10-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to capture a 30-27 win in the 2022 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl.

“I’m really proud of these guys,” said head coach Craig Bohl following the game. “We came in as an underdog and we had tons of adversity. It was a tough game, but I’m really proud of how we battled back from behind. There are a bunch of guys hurting in that locker room.”

When asked how important it was that Ohio won the coin flip and chose to go on defense first in overtime, Bohl said, “Probably not as important as it is in the NFL, but typically you know what you have to do when you get the ball second. We of course kicked the field goal on our first possession, and then Ohio knew that if they scored a touchdown they would win and their guy made a heckuva a play.”

The coach was asked what words he shared with his team after the game.

“I told them not only how proud we were of them, but how much we loved them,” said Bohl. “In life, sometimes you give everything you have and sometimes the result is not always what you want it to be. We knew it was going to come down to a play here and there. In this game, there were lots of plays that we made and lots of plays that Ohio made. I told them to hold their heads high, thank the seniors who aren’t going to be back next year and that next season starts as soon as the plane lands back in Laramie.”

The game began with the Cowboys scoring on their first possession of the game, exploding for a nine-play, 70-yard drive that took 4:42 off the clock. Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley completed 5 of 6 passes on the drive for 42 yards. He completed those passes to five different receivers — wide receivers Alex Brown, Ryan Marquez and Wyatt Wieland, tight end Treyton Welch and fullback Caleb Driskill. The scoring drive was capped off by a 17-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman Jordon Vaughn, who was playing in his first game as a Cowboy, giving Wyoming a 7-0 lead following an extra point by Hoyland. 

Ohio replied by scoring on its first offensive possession of the game. Ohio’s Keegan Wilburn took the ensuing kickoff from Wyoming at his own goal line and returned it 42 yards to give the Bobcats excellent field position on their first possession. Ohio gained a first down on its first play of the drive on a 10-yard pass, but then it appeared that Wyoming’s defense would force the Bobcats into a punt when Ohio’s pass attempt fell incomplete on a third and 11 play. However at the end of the play, Cowboy cornerback Kolbey Taylor was called for a 15-yard targeting penalty, giving Ohio a first down at the Wyoming 34-yard line. Taylor was ejected from the game on the targeting call. On the very next play, Bobcat quarterback CJ Harris connected with wide receiver Jacoby Jones on a pass play at the Wyoming 2-yard line and Jones carried the ball into the end zone. Ohio then pulled out a surprise play on the extra point attempt, snapping the ball to holder Jonah Wieland, who threw a pass to long snapper Justin Holloway for the successful two-point conversion to give the Bobcats an 8-7 lead. 

After gaining two first downs on its second drive of the game, Wyoming faced a fourth and 9 at the Ohio 44. Cowboy punter Clayton Stewart punted the ball down to the Ohio 14-yard line where Ohio’s Sam Wiglusz muffed the punt and UW linebacker Cole DeMarzo recovered the ball at the Ohio 17. The Pokes wasted no time in capitalizing off the turnover as Peasley threw to tight end Welch at the front right corner of the end zone and Welch came down with the contested catch for his fifth TD reception of the season. Hoyland’s extra point extended UW’s lead to 14-8.

Ohio moved their first possession of the second quarter down to the Wyoming 26-yard line where the Pokes forced a fourth and 7. Bobcat place-kicker Nathanial Vakos came in the game to attempt a 43-yard field goal and successfully made the kick to cut Wyoming’s lead to 14-11.

After a quick drive, Cowboy kicker Hoyland trotted on the field to attempt a 53-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the half. Hoyland’s kick was good, but Ohio had called a timeout prior to the kick to try and ice Hoyland. The sophomore lined up for a second attempt and once again the kick was good, extending UW’s lead to six points at 17-11.

In the third quarter, the defensive units took over for both teams. There would be only one score in the third quarter. Ohio began a drive with excellent field position at its own 44-yard line at 7:21 remaining in the quarter following a Wyoming punt. The Ohio scoring drive would be fueled by redshirt freshman running back Sieh Bangura, who would carry the ball on four successive plays with runs of 5, 8, 40 and 3 yards to account for all 56 yards on the drive and put Ohio ahead 18-17 with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter.

The next score for either team wouldn’t come until the 4:17 mark of the fourth quarter. Ohio mounted a seven-play, 38-yard drive deep into Wyoming territory, but the Cowboy defense tackled Bangura for only a 1-yard gain on a third and 4 at the UW 28-yard line. Ohio place-kicker Vakos, came in for a 45-yard field-goal attempt, which he made to put the Bobcats up 21-17.

It was then that the Pokes, led by Peasley, would generate another clutch drive like they had done so many times during the 2022 season. A six-play, 75 yard drive was capped off when Peasley handed the ball to Vaughn, and the running back scored his second rushing TD of the game to put the Cowboys back in front at 24-21 with 2:08 remaining.

Ohio wasn’t finished. The Bobcats drove all the way down to the Wyoming 40-yard line, but on a third and 10 pass play, Cowboy linebacker Easton Gibbs knocked the pass attempt away from the Bobcat receiver. Unfortunately, this time interference was called on the Cowboys and placed the ball at the UW 32-yard line. Ohio completed one more pass of 4 yards with only eight seconds remaining in regulation. Bobcat place-kicker Vakos came in to attempt a 46-yard field goal. Right before he was to kick, Wyoming called a timeout to try and ice Vakos. He went through with his motion and missed the field goal to the right as the timeout was granted by the game officials. Vakos lined up again, and the second time he kicked the ball through the uprights to tie the game at 24-24. Wyoming ran one offensive play after the kickoff and it was time for overtime.

For the Cowboys, it was their second overtime time game in a bowl. Back in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl, Wyoming defeated Fresno State by a score of 35-28 in double overtime.

Wyoming started the overtime aggressive, with Peasley completing a 13-yard pass to Marquez down to the Ohio 12-yard line. An incomplete pass followed. Peasley attempted a quarterback draw on the next play, but was tripped up for no gain. On third and 10, Peasley was tackled for a gain of only 1 yard. Hoyland came in the game and knocked through a 29-yard field — his second field goal of the day to put the Pokes back on top 27-24.

Ohio faced a third down and 8 at the 10-yard line, quarterback Harris found tight end Tyler Foster in the back of the end zone for the winning 10-yard TD pass, and the Bobcats had won the 2022 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl title.

For the Cowboys, it broke a three-game winning streak in bowl games. But the Cowboys ended the season with many accomplishments for a team that began the season picked to finish fifth in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming ended the season with a 7-6 record, finished second in the MW Mountain Division and won seven games for the fifth time in the past seven seasons (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022). UW also appeared in its fifth bowl game in the past seven seasons (2016 Poinsettia Bowl, 2017 and 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowls and 2019 and 2022 Arizona Bowls), which is the most successful period in the 126-year history of Cowboy Football.