The Cowboys football team rushed for nearly 400 yards in a 45-14 road win over UNLV on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas. Wyoming (2-2 in the Mountain West) scored six touchdowns on the ground.

“We talked at halftime about our execution and UNLV’s good players and we had to make them work hard,” UW head coach Craig Bohl said. A defensive stop early in the second half — followed by a UW touchdown — got the team rolling, Bohl said, while “our point of attack on the defensive and offensive line were well up to par.”

Senior Trey Smith rushed for a career-high 156 yards with one touchdown. He recorded 6.8 yards per carry for the game with a long of 28 yards. Junior Xazavian Valladay added 94 yards — including a 78-yard TD run on the second play of the game.

“Our offensive line did a great job of opening up holes,” Bohl said. “Trey [Smith] kept his feet moving and made some great runs, it was very heartwarming to see him out there and execute at such a high level.”

Freshman quarterback Levi Williams had three rushing touchdowns, running for 44 yards and passing for 99.

The Wyoming offense averaged 7 yards per play and held onto the ball for over 35 minutes. Wyoming finished the game with 498 yards of total offense.

The Pokes defense, meanwhile, allowed UNLV only 290 yards. Wyoming recorded two turnovers and turned those into points. Wyoming recorded five sacks in the contest, including three from junior linebacker Chad Muma.

“We knew that UNLV had some weakness and the blitzes our coaches dialed up really allowed Chad [Muma] to make plays,” Bohl said. “It is encouraging to see the development from our coaches with our defensive line.”

The Cowboys wasted little time getting on the board with Valladay finding paydirt on a 78-yard scamper for the longest rush of the season for the Cowboys and longest of his career. The Pokes added to their lead with a 36-yard field goal by John Hoyland with 6:52 left in the opening frame. 

Wyoming made it a 17-0 contest with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 15-yard scamper from Williams.

The Rebels got on the board in the final seconds of the first half on a 2-yard touchdown run by Max Gillam. The 98-yard TD drive made it a 17-7 game at the half.

However, UW safety Esaias Gandy stopped UNLV on fourth down to open the second half. UW then made it a 24-7 game on a 1-yard rush from Williams with 8:27 left in the third quarter.

The Cowboy defense then made another big play, as freshman defensive end Cameron Smith hopped on a fumble inside UNLV territory. Williams’ third touchdown run of the day, this time from a yard out, put UW up 31-7 with 5:27 left in the third period.

A pick from UW senior safety Braden Smith set up another score from the Pokes, a 28-yard run from Trey Smith.

Wyoming added to its lead in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard run from Brett Brenton to make it 45-7. UNLV (0-5 in the MW) added a touchdown late.

Wyoming returns to Las Vegas on Saturday, facing New Mexico at 8:30 p.m.