BYU 34-14 Wyoming (September 14, 2024) Match Report

LARAMIE, Wyo. — BYU extended its winning streak against Wyoming to 10 games with a dominant 34-14 victory Saturday night in what could be the last meeting between the longtime rivals at War Memorial Stadium.

The Cougars (3-0) jumped out to an early 14-point lead in their 80th game against Wyoming (0-3). BYU took advantage of the Cowboys' faltering offense, outgaining them 458-217 in total yards.

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff recovered from an interception in the first quarter to complete 22 of 36 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns while gaining 62 yards in the running game. Chase Roberts gained 129 yards on six catches.

“I'm happy we're 3-0 and I'm proud of the team,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “I think the energy and effort, everything we want from our guys, was there. It wasn't perfect, but there were some really good things we could work on.”

“I feel like we've improved from last week to this week, and we're looking forward to improving from this week to the next.”

Aside from two scoring drives, Wyoming struggled to move the ball. The Cowboys totaled eight punts and managed just 12 first downs to BYU's 23. Evan Svoboda completed 14 of 32 (44%) for 140 yards and one interception. He added 31 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“I wanted to win this game more than anyone,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said. “I wanted to win this game for the fans. I wanted to win this game for the state of Wyoming and everything else. We would have had to play great football to win this game and we didn't.”

The Cougars opened the scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to tight end Keanu Hill midway through the first quarter. BYU extended the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Kody Epps, capping a nine-play, 74-yard drive.

The Cowboys cut the lead in half four minutes later with a 2-yard touchdown run by Svoboda after an 11-play, 75-yard drive, and BYU scored on a 49-yard field goal by Will Ferrin with 45 seconds left in the first half to take a 17-7 lead into the break.

Keelan Marion opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give BYU a 17-point lead. A 30-yard pass from Retzlaff to Roberts set up a 37-yard field goal by Ferrin on BYU's first offensive drive of the third quarter.

The Cougars put the game out of reach with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Darius Lassiter and took a 34-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Svoboda scored Wyoming's final points of the night with a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:29 left.

“It wasn't perfect, but we were able to play some good games,” Sitake said. “The guys worked really hard. We're excited about what we just accomplished, but we're not satisfied. We have to keep working, but we'll celebrate and appreciate the wins.”

BYU and Wyoming were both members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Mountain States, Western Athletic and Mountain West before the former became independent in 2011. The teams have no other dates on future schedules in their rivalry that dates back to 1922. The Cougars improved their overall record against the Cowboys to 47-30-3 with Saturday's win.

“To win the game, we should have won it 24-21, 21-17 or something like that,” Sawvel said. “We let ourselves down in all three phases of the game. There was a way to win it, but it was a narrow path and we didn't find it.”

THE RESULT

BYU: Will enter the Big 12 with a 3-0 record for the second consecutive year.

Wyoming: The loss marks the Cowboys' first 0-3 start since the 2015 season.

Next

BYU: Hosts No. 14 Kansas State, which defeated No. 20 Arizona on Friday.

Wyoming: Travels to face North Texas, which lost 66-21 on the road at Texas Tech on Saturday.

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