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.
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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