Colorado State helps Wyoming earn bowl eligibility

FORT COLLINS — With a bowl bid resting in the balance and less than seven minutes remaining, Wyoming had the right guy directing the game-winning drive. Freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels had proven his grit.

“Austyn is really a cool customer,” said Wyoming kicker Ian Watts, cool in his own right. “He’s faced pressure in the past this season and dealt with it.” 

Watts kicked a 33-yard field goal with 1:27 left Friday as Wyoming became bowl-eligible with a 17-16 victory over Colorado State.

Wyoming anticipates a bid from the New Mexico Bowl.

The Cowboys were last bowl-eligible in 2006, but they didn’t receive an invitation. The last time Wyoming went to a bowl was the Las Vegas Bowl in 2004. 

“This is the best,” said Wyoming coach Dave Christensen, who became the second coach to get the Cowboys into postseason play in his first year. “Taking a team that was not supposed to do anything ... and look what we’ve done.”

Carta-Samuels had touchdown runs of 6 and 49 yards for Wyoming (6-6, 4-4 Mountain West). He finished 13-for-21 passing for 137 yards. 

In three other games, Carta-Samuels led the Cowboys to fourth-quarter comeback wins. Make that four. 

“I try to stay cool in those situations,” Carta-Samuels said. “I’m used to them, and our fourth quarters this year have proven to be our best times.” 

The Cowboys had lost four of their previous five games and their last five meetings in Fort Collins. 

Backup quarterback Jon Eastman, a junior college transfer, threw a touchdown pass in his first FBS start for Colorado State (3-9, 0-8). Eastman was 22-for-30 for 185 yards. 

“Obviously, we had more than enough chances to win,” Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild said. “Neither side of the ball made enough plays to put it away.” 

The Rams lost their last nine games, including all eight in the conference. The last time Colorado State went winless in the conference was 1981, when they were in the Western Athletic Conference and went 0-12 overall. 

The game featured five lead changes, the last coming on Wyoming’s final possession, which began at its own 15. Samuels picked up a fourth-and-6 along the way that helped the Cowboys reach the Colorado State 15, from which Watts kicked his field goal. 

The Rams had pulled ahead 16-14 on Ben DeLine’s field goal with 6:57 remaining. 

Colorado State drove 85 yards on its first possession of the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead. 

Cowboys defensive tackle John Fletcher was called for roughing the passer, which moved the ball to the Wyoming 8. Lou Greenwood ran the ball off left tackle into the end zone on the next play. But Fletcher blocked the PAT. 

“It was good to make amends for the penalty,” Fletcher said. 

The teams exchanged punts, and Wyoming’s David Leonard returned Pete Kontodiakos’ kick 53 yards to the Rams 19. Three plays later, Samuels scrambled 6 yards into the end zone with 2:19 before halftime to put the Cowboys up 7-6. 

Eastman gave the Rams a 13-7 lead with 12:22 left in the third quarter, throwing a 4-yard TD pass to Zac Pauga on their opening drive. Leonard Mason had 19-yard run on the drive. 

The Cowboys came right back with a drive of their own. Samuels completed a 23-yard pass on a third-and-13 and then shed tacklers to race 49 yards for his second touchdown of the game. It came 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. 

“I had to come through,” Carta-Samuels said. “I didn’t want to let our seniors down.” 

Some bad news accompanied the victory. Wyoming freshman tight end David Tooley will undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his knee as he was tackled.