The Wyoming Cowboys will be seeking their eighth win of the season when they travel to San Jose State to face the Spartans this Saturday for the regular-season finale for both teams. The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m., Mountain Time (2 p.m., Pacific Time) from Citizens Equity First Credit Union Stadium in San Jose, and will be televised on ESPN3. The Cowboys Sports Network will broadcast the game on radio beginning with the pregame show one hour prior to kickoff.
The Cowboys (7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain West) are trying to match their win total of last season with a victory. A year ago, the Cowboys posted an 8-6 overall record and a 6-2 conference mark.
Wyoming will be facing a San Jose State team (1-11 overall, 0-7 in the Mountain West), who has won each of the last two meetings between the two schools. The Spartans won by a touchdown over the Cowboys in San Jose in 2013 (51-44) and in Laramie in 2014 (27-20 in 1 overtime).
The Pokes and Spartans will be playing for the 10th time this week. Wyoming leads the overall series 6-3 and is 4-1 in games played at San Jose State.
In the history of Cowboy football, 20 teams have won eight games in a season. The last time Wyoming won eight games in back-to-back seasons was 1997 and '98.
Since joining the Mountain West Conference in 1999, the Cowboys posted their best conference record of 6-2 in 2016. With a win Saturday, the Pokes could match that 6-2 record of a year ago.
The Pokes have held opponents to 14 points or less in six of 11 games this season, and in the last four consecutive games. The last time Wyoming held four consecutive opponents to 14 points or less was the 1969 season -- 48 years ago.
In the six games that UW has held its opponents to 14 or fewer points, the Cowboys have won five of those games. The only loss was last week in a 13-7 home loss to Fresno State. Wyoming's starting quarterback Josh Allen did not play in the game versus Fresno State due to injury. Head coach Craig Bohl has described Allen as day-to-day this week, but did tell media at a Monday press conference that Allen was making progress in his rehab.
If Allen can't go, junior quarterback Nick Smith will make his second consecutive start. Smith completed 20 of 32 passes (62.5 percent) for 231 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in last week's loss to the Bulldogs. On UW's fourth-quarter scoring drive, Smith completed 6 of 7 passes, taking the Cowboys 80 yards in seven plays to pull UW to within six points at 13-7 with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter. He concluded the drive with a six-yard swing pass to running back Nico Evans, who made a Bulldog miss to get into the end zone. With 50 seconds remaining in the game, Smith and the Cowboy offense would get one final possession to try and win the game. Smith would lead the Cowboys 53 yards in nine plays, but was tackled at the Fresno State 27-yard line to end Wyoming's hopes of a comeback.
The Wyoming defense continues to be the strength of the team this season, and that defense is led by junior strong safety Andrew Wingard and sophomore middle linebacker Logan Wilson. Both Wingard and Wilson surpassed the 100-tackle milestone for the season last Saturday. Wingard had 12 tackles versus Fresno State to improve his season total to 101 tackles. Wilson made eight tackles against the Bulldogs, improving his season total to a team leading 105 tackles. It is Wilson's first 100-tackle season of his career. He had 94 tackles his freshman season of 2016.
With his 101 tackles this season, Wingard became only the third Wyoming Cowboy in school history to record 100 tackles in three different seasons. He had 122 as a freshman in 2015 and 131 as a sophomore in 2016. The only other two Cowboys to accomplish that feat were free safety John Salley in 1980, '81 and '82 and middle linebacker Jim Talich in 1995, '96 and '97.
Wyoming is seeking its seventh win in its last nine games this season. The Cowboys have had two three-game winning streaks this season. The first streak coming in successive weeks versus Hawai'i, Texas State and Utah State and the second coming in consecutive weeks versus New Mexico, Colorado State and Air Force. The only two losses during the last eight games came against this year's two participants in the Mountain West Championship Game – Boise State and Fresno State. The Cowboys are also looking to conclude the season with a winning road record. UW is currently 2-2 in road games this season, having won at Utah State and Air Force and having lost at Iowa and Boise State.
The Cowboys have already earned bowl eligibility this season. It marks the first time since the 1998 and '99 seasons that Wyoming has been bowl eligible in back-to-back seasons.
