by staff–8 Nov ’16
For the second consecutive week, two Wyoming Cowboys were honored as the Mountain West Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. This week, Cowboy redshirt sophomore quarterback Josh Allen and redshirt freshman linebacker Logan Wilson earned the honors for their performances in Wyoming’s 52-28 home win over Utah State to improve the Cowboys’ record to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the Mountain West. It is the second MW Player of the Week honor for Allen this season and the first for Wilson. Allen was also recognized for his play against Northern Illinois in the 2016 season opener.
Allen accounted for five of Wyoming’s seven touchdowns throwing four touchdown passes and rushing for a fifth TD. He had career highs in total offense (327 yards), touchdown passes (4) and TDs responsible for (5) against Utah State. Allen threw for 261 yards and rushed for 66.
The native of Firebaugh, Calif., produced 11 big plays on Saturday — nine pass plays of 15 or more yards (18, 16, 25, 24, 15, 20, 46, 37, 21 yards) and two rushing plays of over 10 yards (15 and 38 yards).
Allen was nearly flawless in leading Wyoming to a 35-7 halftime lead. He completed 70.6 percent of his passes (12 of 17) in the first half and threw three of his four TD passes before halftime. He personally converted 7 of 8 third-down attempts in the first half — three by passing and four by rushing.
Late in the third quarter after Utah State had cut Wyoming’s lead to seven points at 35-28, on the very next possession for the Cowboys Allen accounted for 75 yards in back-to-back plays. Allen rushed for 38 yards on second and 10 and threw a 37-yard TD pass to tight end Jacob Hollister on the following play to increase Wyoming’s lead back to 14 points at 42-28.
The redshirt sophomore’s four TD passes on the day went for 25 yards, 15 yards, 46 yards and 37 yards to three different receivers — Tanner Gentry (2 TDs), Jake Maulhardt (1 TD) and Jacob Hollister (1 TD). Allen added a rushing TD of one yard.
He connected with eight different receivers on completions in Saturday’s win. Allen averaged 16.3 yards per pass completion and 7.3 yards per rush attempt.
Wilson was instrumental in both of the two turnovers forced by the Wyoming defense in its 52-28 win over the Aggies. He also accounted for 7 tackles, including 5 solo tackles, to go with his interception, which he returned for 56 yards, and his fumble recovery.
Late in the second quarter, Wilson recovered a fumble forced by Cowboy cornerback Rico Gafford at the Utah State 44-yard line with only 1:19 remaining in the first half. Following a two-yard loss on a sack by the Wyoming offense on first down, Wilson’s fumble recovery led to a 46-yard TD pass two plays later that gave Wyoming a 35-7 halftime lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson intercepted an Aggie pass at the Wyoming 18-yard line and returned the interception 56 yards to the Utah state 26-yard line. That interception ended a nine-play, 50-yard drive by the Aggies and set up Wyoming’s final touchdown of the game four plays later to seal a 52-28 home win.
Among Wilson’s seven tackles, were a solo tackle in the first quarter on a one-yard pass completion that was part of a series that Utah State was forced to punt two plays later. In the fourth quarter, Wilson had back-to-back tackles on pass plays of five and nine yards followed up by his 56-yard interception return on the same series.
Last week, Wyoming senior nose tackle Chase Appleby and senior tight end Jacob Hollister were named the Mountain West Conference Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week, respectively, after leading the Cowboys to a 30-28 win over #13 ranked Boise State.
