Gold Edges Brown To Win Wyoming Spring Game [VIDEO]
Cooper Rothe kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired to give the Gold a 10-8 victory over the Brown in the Wyoming Spring Game Saturday in Laramie.
Two late drives, one by each squad, added to an exciting finish on a cloudy day at War Memorial Stadium.
Senior quarterback Nick Smith led the Brown offense to its only score of the day with 1:45 left. Smith connected with sophomore Dontae Crow on a 38-yard touchdown pass. Smith then hit running back Mike Green II for the two-point conversion and an 8-7 lead.
After the kick-off went out-of-bounds, the Gold took over at its 35 yard line. Redshirt freshman QB Tyler Vander Waal engineered a 12 play, 56 yard drive that resulted in Rothe’s game-winner. Vander Waal hooked up with junior Austin Conway three times on the drive. Senior running back Nico Evans had a key 11-yard gain on fourth down and one with 17 seconds left. After a pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Brown 7-yard line, Vander Waal centered the ball and set-up the field goal.
Rothe had been 0-2 with misses from 47 and 43 yards earlier in the game. The 47-yarder hit off the right upright for the Gold.
The Gold took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on Evans’ three-yard touchdown run. That capped a 10 play, 75 yard drive that took four-and-a-half minutes off the clock. It stayed 7-0 until the last two possessions of the game.
Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl was happy with how the day turned out.
The final stats reflected how close the game actually was. The Gold out-gained the Brown 188-to-184 in total yards. Evans ran for 111 yards and a TD on 18 carries for the Gold. The Brown threw for 156 yards by three QB’s. Conway led all receivers with six catches, but for only 37 yards. Crow had three grabs for 85 yards and a TD for the Brown.
The two defenses combined for nine sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The Gold defense had five sacks by five different players. Junior Alijah Halliburton led the Brown with eight tackles, which included four solo stops. Sophomores Esaias Gandy and Ryan Gatoloai-Faupula had five tackles apiece for the Gold. Gandy had a sack and tackle for loss.
The game featured no turnovers.