2005 Week 10

LARAMIE, Wyoming - It was without a doubt the biggest win in Joe Glenn's short tenure at the helm of Wyoming football, and it was also arguably one of the biggest wins in school history.

Wyoming played with confidence and poise, controlled the clock and kept the Colorado State offense off the field for most of three quarters, all while executing a masterful game plan almost perfectly. The result was a 21 - 0 lead at the end of the third quarter, and although the Rams made a gritty comeback, the defense held on, giving the Cowboys an improbable 21 - 14 victory Saturday in the Border War.

It was the first win over Colorado State in three tries for head coach Joe Glenn, and this victory clearly belonged to Glenn as much as to the players, as it was his confident and creative play calling that allowed Wyoming not only success, but dominance.

"Hats off to Glenn," Rams coach Sonny Lubbock told reporters after the game.

"We were completely unprepared for what they threw at us, and when we adjusted, so did they."

Wyoming was led on offense by sophomore quarterback Kenneth Wingate who made good decisions all afternoon, despite constant pressure. Wingate was sacked four times on the day, but he got right back up every time, and more often than not, his next pass more than made up for the loss.

After the game, Wingate analyzed his performance for reporters.

"Coach gave us a tremendous game plan this week, and we were fortunate to have some success with it. CSU did a pretty good job jamming Jovon most of the game, but that just gave other guys a chance to step up, and they did."

No one stepped up bigger than speedy freshman wide receiver Andre Kirkpatrick. With Bouknight in double coverage most of the day, Kirkpatrick made four catches for 95 yards and two scores. He also had 80 yards on four punt returns, and an 11 yard kickoff return for 186 all-purpose yards.

"Dre did an incredible job making plays today," Wingate said.

"Both his touchdowns were just him making a play. I just put the ball out in front of him, and he outran the coverage and made two great catches."

Kirkpatrick's first touchdown was a 59 yard bomb in which he juked the defender out of his shoes and caught the pass in stride at the 25 with enough separation from the secondary to high step all the way into the end zone. On the second, he caught a drag pass two yards off the line of scrimmage and exploded to the corner to score untouched.

"They were plays that just had to be made," Kirkpatrick stated matter-of-factly.

"They were doubling and tripling Jovon, and we needed to score. As an offense, we just did what we had to do. Plus, the defense really put us in good positions all day. They stopped the Rams on third down I can't remember how many times. It was awesome."

Ah yes, let's not forget about the defense. Colorado State came into the game averaging more than 500 yards of offense a game. Saturday, the Cowboys held them to 203 total yards, most of that in the fourth quarter. Colorado State was 1 - 11, on third down attempts, a pathetic 9% conversion rate.

With the win, Wyoming moves to an unprecedented 7 - 2 on the year, and is guaranteed a winning season for the first time in the 21st century.