IOWA CITY, Iowa (Sept. 2, 2017) -- The Cowboy defense forced four turnovers, but the Iowa defense held the Wyoming offense in check, as UW fell 24-3 in the season opener on Saturday afternoon in Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
 
"We knew Iowa would have a very good front seven," UW head coach Craig Bohl said. "Iowa tackled very well and were excellent on the perimeter. We were pleased with the takeaways on defense. We lost a little composer at the end of the first half and that had an impact on the ball game."
 
The Pokes were held to 233 yards of total offense against one of the nation's top defenses. The Cowboy defense were also stout holding Iowa to 263 yards of offense. UW rushed for 59 yards, as it would have been a season low in 2016.

"There were some good things that we did out there, but right now it doesn't feel too good," Bohl said. "Without question we knew we had to neutralize their running game. We were effective at times getting off the field and other times we were not."

Junior Josh Allen was 23-of-40 passing for 174 yards with two interceptions. Sophomore Austin Conway led the Pokes with a career-high eight receptions for a career-high 51 yards. Sophomore Milo Hall recorded his first-career carry in the first quarter and finished the game with 30 yards on nine carries.

"We sputtered on offense," Bohl said. "We couldn't get a running game established. Certainly there was a period of time at the end of the first half that changed the game. We have some young players out there and we will learn from that. We had a lot of freshman out there in big time game situations. We will move forward from it. Our players are disappointed and I am personally, but we got a game coming up next Saturday."
 
The UW defense was led by junior Carl Granderson. He had a career-high 10 tackles for UW and added a sack along with a forced fumble. Junior Andrew Wingard added eight tackles and sophomore linebacker Logan Wilson finished with six, all of which were solo.
 
The Pokes defense was aggressive in the opening quarter recording two turnovers in the frame. Senior Rico Gafford, an Iowa native recorded a pick on a tipped pass on the Hawkeyes' second possession. The Cowboys also recovered a fumble in the frame when sophomore Cassh Maluia jumped on a fumble forced by junior Marcus Epps.

"We worked hard on stripping the football over the summer and it helped us make plays today," Bohl said.
 
The Cowboys opened the scoring with a career long 49-yard field from sophomore Cooper Rothe at the 11:21 mark of the second quarter. A third down pass from Allen to sophomore C.J. Johnson that also saw a 15-yard penalty by the Hawkeyes helped put the Pokes in field goal range. 

The Hawkeyes responded to the Cowboys score on a two-yard pass from Nathan Stanley to Noah Fant on a play action pass on fourth and two from the Cowboys two yard line. In all, it was an 11-play, 65 yard drive that featured Iowa's first pass completion of the game.
 
The Hawkeyes ended the half with another touchdown pass from the arm of Stanley to Fant this time from 27 yards to make it 14-3 at the half. Wyoming freshman punter Tim Zaleski fumbled the ball late in the half setting up the Iowa score.
 
Iowa added to the lead at the 5:34 mark of the third quarter on Stanley's third touchdown pass of the game, as he connected with Nick Easley from 45 yards. The touchdown made it a 21-3 contest, as both defenses held strong to open the second stanza.
 
The Cowboys recorded their third forced fumble of the contest with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter. Junior Kevin Prosser striped Stanley in the backfield, and then jumped on the loose ball. On the following play, Allen nearly connected with Johnson on a deep pass in the endzone, but Johnson was just out of bounds after the play was reviewed. Rothe attempted a 47 yard kick, but was wide left as the third quarter ended 21-3 in favor of Iowa.
 
The Hawkeyes added a pair of interceptions in the four quarter and added a field goal to take the 24-3 win over the Pokes. It was the first time UW has failed to score a touchdown since falling to San Diego State 38-3 on Nov. 14, 2015.
 
Stanley threw for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Akrum Wadley rushed for 116 yards on 24 carries. The Iowa linebackers combined for 38 tackles with Josey Jewell recording a game-high 14.

"I think the front seven of Iowa is talented," Bohl said. "One of the better ones I have seen in a long time. They were well schooled in the gaps and tackled well."
 
The Cowboys return to action next week hosting Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium. The contest can be seen on AT&T SportsNet.