Final Stats | USATSI Gallery

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Receiver Keelan Doss posted his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and Keleen Culberson returned a fumble 21 yards for a score but Wyoming used two quick touchdowns for an early 14-0 lead lead en route to a 45-22 nonconference football win over UC Davis before 18,781 fans at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies, who dropped their second FBS matchup of the season, are 1-2 heading into next week's Big Sky opener against Weber State. The Cowboys improved to 2-1 with their second home win of the year.

Doss caught seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Ben Scott threw for 178 yards and Joshua Kelley rushed for a team-high 46 yards. The Aggies, though, were held to just 255 total yards after racking up 617 in last week's win over Southern Oregon.

Senior Luke Williams caught a 3-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Brock Dale late in the game, freshman Matt Blair had a 41-yard field goal and defensive end Zak Pettit had a game-high nine tackles, including 3 TFLs. One of the latter was a sack that resulted in a forced fumble against Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen and led to Culberson's score.

Brian Hill rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns to lead Wyomings' attack, going over the 200-yard mark for the sixth time in his career. The Cowboys rushed for 274 yards and had 472 total yards. Allen completed 11 of 15 passes for 198 yards and three scores.

'"I want to say hats off to Wyoming. They're a really good football team," said head coach Ron Gould. "Those guys are very physical on both sides of the ball. They made plays when they had to make them. The quarterback, Josh [Allen], is sensational. As I said before, he reminds me of [Carson] Wentz, the kid that was at North Dakota State. He's a big, prototypical guy."

The Cowboys wasted little time in taking control of the game, scoring twice in the first six minutes to go up by a pair of touchdowns. Allen found Tanner Gentry for a 16-yard score with just under five minutes gone while Hill plunged in from three yards after Scott was intercepted on the Aggies' third play from scrimmage. They were up 14-3 after the first quarter before tacking on 21 unanswered points to end the half to take a 35-9 lead into the break.

Trailing 35-9 going into the third quarter, UC Davis came out and put together its best drive of the game. Scott found Doss for an 18-yard gain to midfield and then hit tight end Nehemiah Winston down the left sideline after he broke free and was wide open. That set UC Davis up at the Wyoming 25 and two plays later Scott found Doss again, this time right at the endzone pylon for a spectacular 25-yard score.

Wyoming was in control to that point after its quick start. Down 14-0, UC Davis got on the scoreboard late in the first when Blair capped a 13-play, 57-yard drive. That came after the Aggies had gone three-and-out on their first two drives, totaling just two yards.

Culberson picked up his touchdown with an assist from Pettit on the Cowboys' next possession after Blair's field goal. Allen was forced out of the pocket by Pettit, who spun him around and caused him to lose the ball. It flew right in the hands of Culberson who raced untouched 21 yards for the score. The Aggies got to within 14-9 after that big play, which also produced UC Davis' eighth takeaway of the year.

But Hill helped Wyoming with its three-touchdown rally to end the half. Hill, who rushed 11 times for 132 yards in the first half for an 11.9 average, picked up a big chunk of that yardage on a 59-yard touchdown run up the middle early in the second quarter that put the Cowboys up 21-9.

Allen went to the air for Wyoming's two remaining touchdowns in the first half. He hit Jake Maulhardt on a 39-yard play to cap a 9-play, 95-yard drive that started after punter Colby Wadman pinned the Cowboys' at their own 5. Blair tried a 53-yard field goal late in the half and had plenty of distance but missed just right. Wyoming then raced 64 yards down the field in just three plays, picking up its halftime lead when Allen found C.J. Johnson for a 37-yard touchdown.

Wyoming scored twice in the third quarter, the first time coming on Allen's 3-yard TD run around the right side with 4:52 left in the quarter. The Cowboys' Carl Granderson then sacked Scott, forcing a fumble that Wyoming recovered and later turned into a 21-yard field goal by Cooper Rothe with 27 seconds to go.

Scott went down with an injury late in the game and was replaced by Dale who pushed UC Davis near the goal line and then found Williams for the short TD pass.

"We didn't play very well on either side of the ball, especially in the first half," Gould said. "We had some blown calls up front which resulted in some long touchdown runs. The guys didn't get to check, and unfortunately when you don't communicate, you get exposed. When you're playing a really good football team, that's what they do.

"Offensively, we couldn't get the run game going," he added. "I knew going in they had a really, really good defense. I talked about it all week. They got us on our heels a little bit. We didn't respond in the first half. We had a couple turnovers that resulted in points for them."

Besides his rushing, Kelley returned three kickoffs for 104 yards, including one for 55. Scott finished 18 of 31 for 186 yards and a touchdown. Culberson had eight tackles while linebacker Brady Stibi finished with seven stops.

The Aggies will now turn their attention to the Big Sky Conference. They'll host Weber State next Saturday at 6 p.m. in the first of eight league games.