The series history between Wyoming and San Jose State goes back as far as 1959, but the two teams have only played a total of 15 times. It has been a back-and-forth affair between the two schools, with UW narrowly grasping on to a winning record over the Spartans, leading the series 8-7.
UW mostly dominated SJSU throughout all the times the teams met in the 20th century, as the Cowboys won five of the six meetings thesy had during that time period. The one win the Spartans did manage was a rather dramatic affair, and a historic one as well.
Oct. 3, 1992
Despite the Spartans having not won a game in the series history up to this point, then head football coach Joe Tiller was not overlooking a feisty SJSU team. The Cowboys were playing in their last non-conference tilt of the season, as SJSU was still in the Big West at the time and the Cowboys were in the WAC.
"This is a fine, solid football program. San Jose State knows how to win, and it does so against outstanding programs," Tiller said ahead of the contest. "They've already played two top 20 teams…so they know how to play on a very high level."
Momentum was certainly on the Cowboys' side leading into the contest, as the Cowboys had narrowly snuck past Louisville on the road by a final score of 26-24. A safety earlier in the contest proved to be the difference for the Pokes winning by a margin of two, which moved them to a 2-2 overall record.
SJSU was also off to a nice start to the season, also holding a 2-2 record with its only losses being to a ranked California team and a ranked Stanford team, with both losses on the road.
It was UW, though, that quickly began to overwhelm its opposition in the early goings of the contest. SJSU struck first with a field goal, but the Cowboys would rattle off 17 unanswered points including an impressive one-play scoring drive where starting quarterback Joe Hughes would find UW Hall of Famer Ryan Yarborough for a 52-yard touchdown grab.
SJSU would finally break the Cowboys' scoring streak with a safety off a blocked punt with only 30 seconds left in the first half. That safety would transform into 20 unanswered for the Spartans, who would take a 23-17 lead late in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys only had three minutes to drive down the field and take the lead—and they would, with third string quarterback and redshirt freshman Scott Jones leading the Cowboys down the field to take a 24-23 lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in the contest.
Jones's heroics was not the storyline that finished the game, however, as the SJSU offense did just enough to set up kicker Joe Nedney, who kicked a program-best 60-yard field goal to snatch a 26-24 win over the Cowboys.
Ironically, the Cowboys lost by two after allowing a safety just a week after the Cowboys had won by the margin of a single safety at Louisville. Nedney's 60-yard game winning field goal also remains the longest made field goal in SJSU football history.
Sept 18, 1993
Tiller's Cowboys were able to find their revenge just one year after the Cowboys were upset in dramatic fashion, and UW's 36-25 win over SJSU is one of the last times it has found a win in San Jose.
UW's road tilt in San Jose was the first road game of the 1993 season for the Cowboys after starting 1-1 at home against Oregon State and Northern Iowa. SJSU was home for the first time that season, after suffering narrow defeats on the road at Louisville and ranked Stanford.
Nedney picked up where he left off in the last meeting, connecting on a 33-yard field goal to open the scoring for the Spartans. The Cowboys were quick to answer with a pair of touchdown runs by running back Ryan Christopherson.
Nedney again was true for another field goal to make it 14-6, but an electric UW offense continued to tack on points, scoring two more times in the second half to take a commanding 27-12 lead. The Cowboys had already amassed 317 yards of total offense in the opening half, including 206 yards of passing behind a returning Hughes.
The Spartans wouldn't go away, though, as a touchdown early in the fourth quarter brought them as close as 30-25—and a failed two-point conversion could have made it even closer.
The Cowboys were able to close this one out this time around, as Hughes would fire a 51-yard touchdown strike to Yarborough following SJSU's scoring drive, and the UW defense would hold firm for the remainder of the final quarter to seal a 36-25 win.
Tiller's Cowboys were also able to win at San Jose in 1996, but that serves as the last time the Cowboys have ever won against the Spartans on the road.
