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. . . halftime of Wyoming's 2014 season-opening 17-12 victory over Montana, the Cowboys sat in their locker room as rain sprayed the Jonah Field turf and lightning lit up the sky in the surrounding area. The overwhelmingly supportive 25,243 fans, who turned out in droves for the birth of a new era, were scattered in all directions outside the stadium.
Montana reached the end zone first in a play that might as well have been drawn in the sand -- a double-reverse pass in which Ryan Burke hit Josh Janssen from 26 yards out for the wide receiver's first career touchdown. Moreover, the team's feel-good story of a starting quarterback, redshirt senior Colby Kirkegaard, had been emotionally and physically battered, after being sacked four times and committing two turnovers that yielded a 6-3 halftime deficit.
In a year, the tables had seemingly turned on head coach Craig Bohl. In the 2013 season opener, he steered a powerful North Dakota State juggernaut into Manhattan, Kansas, and left town as conquering heroes, having upset the reigning Big 12 champion by a 24-21 margin.
At the FCS level, he was the king of the giant killers. And suddenly, his troops were under the blade. At this moment, in the midst of a 25-minute halftime lightning delay, the new-look Cowboys could have folded, harkening back to the old look. They could have assessed their wounds and stayed down, waiting for the coroner to pronounce them officially dead.
They could have stayed in the locker room, abruptly ending what was supposed to be a hearty celebration before it had a chance to really begin. Instead of doing that, Wyoming's running backs responded. "This football team, in the past, has had a lot of ups and downs. Adversity is something that occurs during the course of a game," Bohl said. "We talk about playing with poise and composure, and that the next play's ours. "I thought our guys responded very well."
The Cowboys scored their first two touchdowns of the 2014 season in the third quarter, allowing their duo of talented runners to play to their strengths.
First, powerful 212-pound junior Shaun Wick churned his legs, put his head down and dragged a host of Grizzlies along for the ride in a 16-yard run. Wick appropriately finished what he started in the 57-yard drive, scooting along the left side of the line and soaring through Montana tacklers into the end zone.
The result was no surprise to Kirkegaard.
"Going into halftime, we told each other, 'Hey, we've got this. We can move the ball. We've seen progress in the first couple drives,'" said Kirkegaard, who finished with 92 passing yards and an interception.
"We just had to eliminate the mistakes. Obviously, the two turnovers today from my position, that didn't help us. But we had confidence going into the locker room at halftime, knowing we could go out there and drive the ball."
Next, redshirt sophomore D.J. May reminded Wyoming fans of the speed that hasn't been on display since 2012. After missing last season with a torn pectoral, May burst through a gap on the left side on 3rd and 2 and triumphantly sped 58 yards for a score.
"I just went to where the play told me to go, and it opened up, and I couldn't even believe it at first," a giddy May said minutes after the victory. "I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, there's no one around me. There's no one around me!'"
In all, Wyoming's power-speed combination enforced its will in equal force, as Wick chugged for 134 yards and a touchdown and May scooted for 96 yards and a score of his own.
And when the Cowboys needed to kill the clock late in the game, they were able to. Kirkegaard and his slew of running backs milked 5:19 from the play clock in a 10-play, 47-yard drive that squashed the Grizzlies' will and ended the potential threat.
In all, it wasn't always pretty. Bohl's victories aren't designed to be.
But after enduring a half filled with its fair share of obstacles, Wyoming fired back.
"[We decided] that we're not leaving this place without a win," Wick said of his team's mentality at halftime. "We're going to try our best, and we're going to have fun doing it."