BYU vs Wyoming

Poinsettia Bowl 2016

On a rare wet and rainy night at Qualcomm Stadium, BYU capped off its 2016 season with a wild 24-21 win over Wyoming in the 2016 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday.

MAHE FAMILY TRIBUTE

Q1

Tanner's TD

Wyoming’s punter fumbled the snap near the end of the first quarter at the Cowboy 3-yard line. Quarterback Tanner Mangum scrambled and punched it in for a rushing score to put BYU up 7-0 with 38 seconds to play after a slow and soggy first quarter.

Mangum threw an interception on the next Cougar possession and Wyoming ran it back to the BYU 39-yard line. The Cougar defense forced a field goal attempt and a fake was snuffed out as Langi batted down a pass attempt. BYU took over at its own 25-yard line midway through the second frame.

BYU was able to get three points on the next possession at the 3:08 mark in the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal from Rhett Almond. The Cougars took a 10-0 lead into halftime.

Q2

Mangum threw an interception on the next Cougar possession and Wyoming ran it back to the BYU 39-yard line. The Cougar defense forced a field goal attempt and a fake was snuffed out as Langi batted down a pass attempt. BYU took over at its own 25-yard line midway through the second frame.

BYU was able to get three points on the next possession at the 3:08 mark in the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal from Rhett Almond. The Cougars took a 10-0 lead into halftime.

Q3

Out of the break, Wyoming went 60 yards on its first drive, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run to cut BYU’s lead to 10-7 after a drive over eight minutes long.

Balderee TD

BYU answered in its first possession of the half. Mangum completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive, capped off with a completion on a desperation throw on to the end zone that bounced off of multiple players’ hands before falling into Tanner Balderree’s arms for a 5-yard touchdown. Nick Kurtz had a 39-yard reception to set up the score. With 2:42 left in the third quarter, BYU had a 17-7 lead.

Q4

JAMaal Williams TD

On the first play following a targeting call that ejected defensive back Micah Hannemann near the end of the third quarter, Lake stepped in front of a pass and intercepted it for his third pick of the year, returning it 14 yards to the BYU 45-yard line. The Cougars cashed in five plays later when a Jonah Trinnaman block helped spring Williams for a 36-yard touchdown scamper to make it 24-7 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

Kai Nacua Seals the win

Wyoming cut the advantage to 24-21 and had the ball at the Cougar 32-yard line with 1:22 to play before senior Kai Nacua picked off a pass heading near the end zone to end the final threat of a comeback. Nacua’s interception was his sixth of the year and 14th of his career.

COUGS for the win! 24-21

The win was BYU’s first bowl win since its last trip to the Poinsettia Bowl in 2012 when the Cougars defeated San Diego State 23-6. BYU finishes the season 9-4 with a bowl victory in head coach Kalani Sitake’s first season at the helm.