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Air Force overcomes late turnovers, takes down Wyoming to remain unbeaten

October 16, 2023 by The Denver Post

Air Force picked the wrong time to start turning the ball over.

But the Falcons picked the right time to turn the Wyoming Cowboys back.

Air Force made a critical defensive stop with its back against the wall and the score tied late in the fourth quarter, then John Lee Eldridge III broke free for a 58-yard touchdown run to send the Falcons to a dramatic 34-27 win over Wyoming on Saturday night at Falcon Stadium.

The win moved the Falcons to 6-0 overall and kept them all alone atop the Mountain West standings at 4-0 as they rallied from deficits of 14-0 in the first quarter and 21-17 at halftime. Wyoming (5-2, 2-1 MW) lost for the first time in conference play.

“Sensational,” Eldridge said on the CBS Sports broadcast following the win. “We came out here and we handled business today.”

Not without a little drama, of course — not to mention the Falcons’ first two turnovers in four games.

Air Force had a chance to salt away a 27-21 lead after forcing Wyoming to punt with 8:53 to go. But with quarterback Zac Larrier knocked out of the game on the previous possession, the Falcons fumbled on consecutive possessions.

The first, a botched exchange between Jensen Jones and Emmanuel Michel, was converted into a Wyoming touchdown when Andrew Peasley found Treyton Welch in the end zone on a 7-yard pass on fourth-and-4. The ensuing point-after attempt was blocked, however, keeping the score knotted at 27-all.

But Jones fumbled away the ball on the very next offensive snap, giving Wyoming possession at AFA’s 29-yard line with 5:45 left. The Cowboys gained just one yard on back-to-back plays, then Bo Richter sacked Peasley for a 6-yard loss, forcing a 52-yard John Hoyland field goal attempt that sailed wide.

Three snaps later, Eldridge took an option pitch from Jones and found a seam up the sideline, running 58 yards to the front pylon for the go-ahead score — one the defense made hold up with one final four-and-out stop.

“I seen daylight (on the outside) and I said, ‘I got to take this to the house,’” Eldridge said.

“There’s nobody who cares more than John Lee does,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said, “so for him to have a play like that is pretty neat.”

Eldridge actually had two touchdowns on the game — the other coming on a 17-yard reception from Larrier that tied the score at 14 with 7:09 left in the second quarter.

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Larrier led Air Force with 109 yards rushing and was 6-of-9 passing for 58 yards. Michel added 97 of the Falcons’ 356 yards on the ground.

Peasley was 15-of-25 passing for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a 1-yard run for the game’s first score, part of a 14-0 Wyoming first quarter.

In taking a 21-17 halftime lead, Wyoming gained 267 yards and was 9 of 10 on third down. The Cowboys finished with 321 total yards and were 0 for 5 on third down in the second half.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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