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Two Wyoming Cowboys were Mountain West Conference "Players of the Week" for September 1, 2007

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

JULIUS STINSON, WYOMING -- Senior, Cornerback, Victorville, Calif./Silverado

Julius Stinson intercepted two passes, which he returned for 30 yards, and was second on the team with four tackles, including one for a loss of 10 yards as Wyoming’s defense held Virginia to a total of 110 yards of total offense. Stinson’s first interception of the game stopped the Cavaliers one serious touchdown opportunity of the day. With the ball on Wyoming’s 28-yard line early in the third quarter and the Cowboys leading 13-3, Stinson intercepted a Cavalier pass on the Wyoming 10 to end the Virginia threat.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

BILLY VINNEDGE, WYOMING -- Senior, Place Kicker/Punter, Arroyo Grande, Calif./Allen Hancock CC

Billy Vinnedge doubled as Wyoming’s place kicker and punter against Virginia in the season opener on Saturday afternoon in Laramie. Vinnedge hit field goals of 48, 40 and 39 yards, while averaging 49.7 yards on three punts to fuel the Cowboys 23-3 home win over the Cavaliers. Attempting his first field goal in a college game after serving as Wyoming’s punter only last season, Vinnedge put Wyoming on the scoreboard first with a 48-yard field goal at the 4:41 mark of the first quarter. He followed that performance with field goals from 40 and 39 yards in the second half. He also converted both his PAT attempts, giving him 11 of Wyoming’s 23 points on the day. Vinnedge netted a 49.7-yard punting average on the day with a long of 59 yards. He also had one punt that he placed inside the Cavaliers 20-yard line.

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University of Wyoming Football Postgame Notes following a 23-3 Home Win Versus Virginia on Sept. 1, 2007

• 31,620 fans attended today’s game, the fifth largest crowd in the history of Cowboy football. The game was also the ninth sellout crowd in UW history. The crowd was also the largest home-opening day crowd in school history.
• With today’s win, the Cowboys are now 70-39-2 (.640) in season-opening games. They are also 51-17-1 (.746) in season-opening games at home.
• The Cowboys have now won four consecutive home games dating back to Oct. 14, 2006. During that span, the Pokes have also defeated Utah (31-15 on Oct. 14), Colorado State (24-0 on Oct. 21) and San Diego State (27-24 on Nov. 4).
• The Cowboys are now 2-0 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference schools at home. The Pokes defeated North Carolina State 15-14 in 1961 in their only other home game against an ACC team.
• With today’s win, the Cowboys are now 4-1 against ACC teams in UW history. The Cowboys have also defeated Florida State (28-20 in the 1966 Sun Bowl) and North Carolina State twice. The Pokes’ only loss to an ACC team came last season when they lost at Virginia, 12-13, in overtime.
• Today’s win was the Cowboys 201st win in War Memorial Stadium history.
• Today’s win was UW head coach Joe Glenn’s 180th career win. Glenn is now 180-85-1 (.679) in 23 years as a head coach.

Offensive Notes

• Sophomore quarterback Karsten Sween threw for a career high 253 yards. His previous career high was 204 yards at New Mexico in 2006.
• Sophomore Greg Bolling scored his first career touchdown in the second quarter of today’s game. He also finished with a career high 5 catches for 43 yards.
• Junior running back Devin Moore ran for 125 yards, the second highest single-game performance of his career. He ran for 131 yards in 2006 against San Diego State.
• Senior Hoost Marsh finished with 73 receiving yards, the second most in his career. He had 85 yards receiving at Syracuse in 2006.

Defensive Notes

• The last time Wyoming held a team to 130 yards or less of total offense was Sept. 16, 1978 in a 30-11 win over South Dakota. In that game, the Cowboys allowed USD only 130 yards--33 passing and 97 rushing.
• The defense allowed Virginia to just 110 yards of total offense, picking up right where they left off last season. Last season, the Pokes held their opponents to under 200 yards of offense three times as they ranked second in the Mountain West Conference and ninth in the nation in yards allowed.
• The Cowboy defense held Virginia to just seven yards of rushing today. The Poke defense has now held its opponent to under 100 yards of rushing in eight of its last 13 games. The seven yards of rushing by Virginia also marked the fourth time that the Cowboy defense held its opponent under 40 yards of rushing in the past 13 games.
• Senior Julius Stinson had two interceptions in today’s game marking the second time he has had two interceptions in a game. He also picked off two passes in 2005 at home against Louisiana Monroe. Stinson now has six career interceptions.
• Sophomore defensive end Mitch Unrein recorded the first sack of his career as he and John Fletcher sacked Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell in the fourth quarter.

Special Teams Notes

• Senior Billy Vinnedge kicked his first career field goal in the first quarter of today’s game, a 48 yard attempt. He finished three of four in field goals attempts making distances of 48 yards, 40 yards and 39 yards and missing from 37 yards.

Injuries

• #87 Chris Sundberg, te sprained right knee
• #36 Weston Johnson, olb sprained right thumb

Postgame Quotes From Wyoming Head Coach Joe Glenn

• “If this was a heavyweight match, we threw the first punch. Our kids fought and battled, the coach’s did a great job with their schemes, offense, defense and special teams, and we just out played them in every aspect of the game. It was a great effort.”
• “I wanted to thank the ticket people for selling every last ticket they had and anyone else who had a part in making this football game. A big thank you and Powder River Let ’er Buck. It was a big win for us.”
• “I thought our no huddle was very accurate. The kids ran hard and blocked well against an All-American in Chris Long. You have to hand it to the three new starters on the offensive line and overall. We rushed for 218 yards against a good defense. That was a good team we played against today. They need to figure out a few things on offense, but they have a solid defense.”
• “Our defensive play was amazing. They couldn’t throw or run which made it a long day for their offensive coordinator. I credit Coach Breske and the defensive coaches for putting together a great defensive plan.”
• “Billy Vinnedge really came through today in punting, kick offs and field goals. Other than a couple long returns I thought Billy did a great job.”

Postgame Quotes from Wyoming Wide Receiver Greg Bolling

• “It felt awesome to get my first college touchdown against an opponent like Virginia. It was great to finally play in a game instead of just practice.”
• “I thought the offense dominated all day. We had that kind of mindset coming into the game and they had to stop our no huddle. Overall, I felt great about the offense.”

Postgame Quotes from Wyoming Defensive Back Julius Stinson

• “As a team we felt comfortable. We also thought that last year’s loss was a game that we let get away and I think we proved that today.”
• “Overall, I think we performed well as a defense. The stats don’t say it, but it was pretty much a shut out. They didn’t get past the 50 yard line more than a couple of times.”
• “The crowd of 31,620 people was great. That is the largest crowd that I have ever played in front since I’ve been here. I’m so proud of our fans and their support for us.”

Postgame Quotes from Wyoming Quarterback Karsten Sween

• “It seems surreal to finally get out there and play a game. The offensive line did a great job. It starts and ends with those guys. They played well and the young guys really stepped it up. The running backs and wide receivers did a good job and we really gelled. Our defense proved that they are one of the top defenses in the conference. It was a great game.”
• “I felt good out on the field. The no huddle is so fast and sometimes it took my breath away. Overall, it was awesome.”

Postgame Quotes From Virginia Head Coach Al Groh

• “I’d have to say that was a lot less than what we expected.”
• “It’s all about we, us and ours. We’ll stay united through this. We’ve got a long way to go. A lot of people put a lot into this, at this point, to see a better result than that.”
• “It was very disappointing we definitely expect much better.”
• “It eventually comes down to the game of playmaking. It was quite apparent that Wyoming did a real good job. I’m very impressed with their team.”
• “They got a lot of plays out of their quarterback position, and they got a lot of plays out of their running back position. Plays determine games and we certainly didn’t make very many.”
• “We had some guys open in the first half, we had some seam routes and couldn’t hit them.”

Postgame Quotes from Virginia Running Back Chris Peerman

• “Obviously, you lose a game its going to hurt a little bit, as football players you have to have a short memory, understand what we did wrong and we must learn from it.”

• Wyoming enters this week’s game having won its last four consecutive home games dating back to Oct. 14, 2006, when UW defeated Utah 31-15 in Laramie. The Pokes followed that home victory with three more over Colorado State (24-0 on Oct. 21, 2006), against San Diego State (27-24 on Nov. 4, 2006) and over Virginia (23-3 on Sept. 1, 2007). The last time Wyoming lost at home was versus Air Force on Sept. 23, 2006, by a score of 24-31.
  
  
• The Cowboys and Aggies will be meeting for the second consecutive year in Laramie. A year ago, Wyoming won by a score of 38-7.
  
  
• UW has won the last three consecutive meetings versus Utah State. In addition to last season’s 38-7 Wyoming victory, the Pokes also won at Logan, Utah, in 2003 by a 48-21 score and defeated the Aggies 43-42, also in Logan, in 2001 by the score of 43-42.
  
  

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Wyoming Series Record vs. Utah State

The 2007 Meeting Will be the 62nd.
Overall Series Record: UW trails 23-34-4
Series Began: Nov. 21, 1903
Wyoming Record in Laramie: 14-11-3
Wyoming Record on the Road: 9-23-1
Wyoming Head Coach Joe Glenn vs. Opponent: 2-0-0
Utah State Head Coach, Brent Guy vs. UW: 0-1-0
Longest Wyoming Win Streak: 8 (1949-56)
Longest Utah State Win Streak: 10 (1927-37)
Largest Wyoming Margin of Victory: 45 (1968)
Largest Utah State Margin of Victory: 57 (1917)
Most Points Scored by Wyoming: 48 (1968, 2003)
Most Points Scored by Utah State: 57 (1917)
Last Meeting was Sept. 2, 2006. Wyoming won 38-7 in Laramie, Wyo.

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About Utah State:

The Utah State Aggies are coming off a tough home loss in their 2007 season opener, losing 16-23 to UNLV on Aug. 30.

Utah State held a 10-3 lead at halftime versus the Rebels on a two-yard run by tailback Aaron Lesue followed by a 38-yard field goal from Peter Caldwell -- both scores coming in the second quarter. UNLV kicked two third-quarter field goals to pull within one point, 10-9, entering the fourth quarter. UNLV proceeded to take a 16-10 lead on a 15-yard touchdown run and extra point early in the fourth quarter, but then Utah State looked as if it would regain the lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Leon Jackson with 8:23 remaining. However, Aggie kicker Chris Ulinski missed the extra point and the game was tied at 16-16. With only 1:02 remaining in the game, the Rebels from Vegas scored the winning touchdown from 11 yards out to capture the road win.

Utah State gained 234 yards of total offense to the Rebels 314. USU was led in rushing by tailback Curtis Marsh, who ran for 50 yards on 13 carries. Lesue added 33 yards on 13 rushing attempts, and Jackson gained 11 yards on 12 carries. Jackson completed 13 of 19 passes (.684) for 137 yards, with no touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Perhaps the most productive individual for USU last week was wide receiver and return specialist Kevin Robinson. Robinson accounted for 275 all-purpose yards, including 166 yards in kickoff returns, 62 yards receiving and 47 yards in punt returns. He enters this week ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in allpurpose yardage for the season.

Leading the Utah State defense was senior strong safety Antonio Taylor, who had 10 tackles. Sophomore strongside linebacker Paul Igboeli added eight tackles, and junior middle linebacker Jake Hutton was credited with six tackles, including one sack.

Entering this season, Utah State was picked to finish eighth by conference media and eighth by conference coaches in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference.

Utah State finished the 2006 season with a 1-11 overall record and a 1-7 WAC mark. The Aggies are looking to break a seven-game road losing streak. They have lost their last nine road openers, including last year’s to the Cowboys by a 38-7 score on Sept. 2, 2006, in UW’s War Memorial Stadium. Among the other road-opening losses during that nine-game streak were: three at Utah (2001, 2003 and 2005); one at New Mexico (1998); one at Georgia (1999); one at Texas Tech (2000); one at Nebraska (2002) and one at Alabama (2004). Their last road-opening win was in 1997 at Utah by a score of 21- 14.

USU is entering its third season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Utah State began competing in the WAC in 2005. In 2003 and 2004, the Aggies were members of the Sun Belt Conference. The two seasons prior to that, 2001 and 2002, USU was independent in football. The last time Wyoming and Utah State were members of the same conference was way back in 1961 as members of the old Skyline Conference. The next year, 1962, Wyoming became a founding member of the WAC and was a member of the WAC until moving to the Mountain West in 1999.

Current Utah State head coach Brent Guy follows in the footsteps of some great former head coaches in Logan. Former Wyoming assistant coaches John L. Smith and Charlie Weatherbie both went on to serve as head coach of the Aggies. Smith led USU for three seasons from 1995-97. Weatherbie preceeded Smith at Utah State in 1992, ‘93 and ‘94. The most recognizable former head coach of the Aggies was former Denver Broncos head man John Ralston, who spent four seasons in Logan from 1959-62.

Head Coach Brent Guy:

Brent Guy is in his third season as Utah State’s head coach. He is the 25th head football coach in Aggie history.

A former Aggie assistant (1992-94), he returned to Logan from Arizona State where he had been defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the previous four seasons. Guy also was defensive coordinator at Boise State, and the linebackers coach at Oklahoma State during his career. He has been part of nine bowl games during his playing and coaching career. He had two stints at his alma mater of Oklahoma State.

He was an outstanding player at OSU as a defensive end and linebacker. He played for Jimmy Johnson. Guy posted the first WAC win in Utah State school history when he defefated San Jose State, 24-17, on Oct. 8, 2005. He currently holds a 4-20 (167) college head-coaching record in three seasons -- all at Utah State. In conference play, Guy is 3-13 (.188).