(Tucson, AZ) Chamber of Commerce weather greeted both Toledo and Wyoming all week leading up to the Arizona Bowl.
Both teams came from snowy climates and Wyoming actually left Laramie just as a blizzard hit.
Three great story lines for this game.
Barstool Sports Owner Dave Portnoy was in attendance and actually took part in the broadcast on his network. The game was also shown on the CW network as well.
For the Wyoming, this will be the swan song for Head Coach Craig Bohl who in nine years had a 60-60 record and trying to go out on top and over .500 on his Cowboy career.
The Toledo Rockets came to Tucson with an 11-2 record, which is the best record for an Arizona Bowl participant. Their only losses were to Illinois 30-28 and to Miami (OH) 23-14 in the MAC Championship Game in Detroit on December 2nd.
The Rockets got the ball first and went three downs and out. The punt was a beauty and was downed at the Wyoming six yard line.
Wyoming came out as expected with their ground and pound rushing attack. They mixed the run and pass effectively with Andrew Peasley connecting on 3-4 passes. Toledo made them work for it having to convert several third down opportunities. The drive stalled as the Toledo defense stiffened. John Hoyland kicked a 34 yard field goal for the game’s first score and put the Cowboys up 3-0 at the 6:31 mark of the opening quarter.
The Rockets got their offense in gear on their second possession as Tucker Gleason started to connect on his passes.
In a strange play at the 2:21 mark, Gleason’s pass was touched by the wideout and fell into the hands of lineman Devan Rogers who ran it to score a touchdown. The play was nullified for illegal touching of an inelegible player and was reviewed and upheld.
Photo – Matthew Martell Jr/520 Sports Talk
Going on fourth down, Gleason’s pass was intercepted at the two yard line, where Wyoming would start in the shadow of their own goal post.
Peasley got his team out of trouble as he connect on a thirty six yard pass to John Gyllenborg and out to the forty seven yard line to end the first quarter.
The Pokes took a timeout with a fourth and four and came back an barely converted on a 52 yard field goal as the ball snuck over the crossbar and a 6-0 lead with a little over elevan minutes till halftime.
Toledo’s non huddle offense kept the Cowboys on their heels but they stopped the drive and forced a 33 yard field goal to get the Rockets on the scoreboard 6-3 and 8:36 to go in the quarter.
Photo – Matthew Martell Jr/520 Sports Talk
On the first play of the drive, Jacquez Stuart blasted off tackle for eighty yards for a touchdown to put the Rockets up 10-6 into halftime.
Both teams moved the ball in the first half, but nothing consistent. The big defensive line for Toledo kept Wyoming from the big play and the Pokes defense had problems with the Toledo rushing attack in the second quarter.
Wyoming who had won the coin toss and deferred possession to the second half took the kickoff but could only muster twenty six yards before having to punt it away.
The Rockets punt return put them in good field position to start their initial possession of the third quarter. They couldn’t move the ball as Wyoming used different defensive looks and forced the punt.
Wyoming was backed up against their own goal line when Peasley was sacked in the end zone for a two point safety making the score 12-6.
The ensing kickoff after the safety, Stuart ran it back thirty five yards to midfield that gave the Rockets a short field.
They quickly took advantage but had to convert a fourth and nine to keep the drive alive.
The Rockets settled for a 33 yard field goal but with the safety, they captured five points from Wyoming to make a two possession game 15-6 with 2:45 left in the third quarter.
Wyoming caught a break when linebacker Dan Bolden was called for targeting and disqualified from the game.
That’s the spark that Toledo needed after the penalty as they sacked Peasley to end the Cowboys’ drive.
Photo – Matthew Martell Jr/520 Sports Talk
Into the fourth quarter, two things needed to happen for Wyoming, one the Pokes needed to find their offense and score down two possessions and two, they needed to hold the Rockers scoreless the rest of the game.
The drive started well for the Cowboys as Waylee Harrison ran up the middle for eighteen yards. Opening up the offense via the air paid off as Wyoming as Evan Svoboda capped off the drive with a one yard plunge into the end zone to tighten up the score 15-12 and still 8:37 left in the game.
Toledo had initial success moving down the field, but stalled at the Cowboys thirty seven yard line. Instead of trying a fifty four yard field goal, they elected to punt and downed it at the Cowboys’ five yard line.
Ayir Asante took a short pass and gained twenty six yard to the Wyoming thirty two and a big first down.
On a fourth down and one yard, Svoboda got three yards and a sigh on relief from the Wyoming faithful.
Once again, the football gods were with the Pokes as they completed to Wyatt Wielding for sixtee yards, but a personal foul penalty on cornerback Roland Delancy III cost the Rockets an additional fifteen yards to the Toledo twenty four yard line. Still 1:14 left in the game.
Another big yardage play followed as Svoboda ran for thirteen yards to the Toledo ten yard line.
Coach Bohl let the clock run down to four seconds and it would come down to a make or break field goal from twenty six yards out which went right down the middle and the Cowboys won the game in Craig Bohl’s final game to put his record at 61-60 for his Wyoming career.
Both Toledo and Wyoming look to be in good shape next season as they still can add players via the Transfer Portal and the late Signing Day come February 2nd.
Fans from Arizona, Ohio and Wyoming and elsewhere came out and definitely got their money’s worth.
The game lived up to what the Arizona Bowl has become, as one of the most exciting games of the Bowl Season. Today’s game attendance was 30,428.
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