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LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Bohl-ball is now the official brand of Wyoming football.
Wyoming ground out a 17-12 win over Montana on Saturday behind a methodical pro-style, ball-controlling offense and a stingy, swarming defense in Craig Bohl's first game as head coach.
Shaun Wick rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, D.J. May added 96 yards and a score and the Cowboys defense held Montana to 253 yards total offense. Wyoming (1-0) has beaten Montana, a Football Championship Subdivision school, in all 14 of their matchups.
Of the 301 total yards gained by the Cowboys against the Grizzlies, 209 came on the ground.
The No. 5 Grizzlies (0-1) were led by quarterback Jordan Johnson, who completed 24 of 45 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown.
Bohl was hired last December after leading North Dakota State to three consecutive FCS national championships.
Bohl's style of football is completely opposite from the quick-strike, high-scoring offense and a worn out, porous defense that resulted in few wins for Wyoming in recent years under former coach Dave Christensen.
"The ultimate deal is to win the game, it doesn't count on style points," he said.
On Wyoming's last offensive series of the game, the Cowboys drove down to Montana's 9-yard line with 1:23 left, but chose to run time off the clock rather than trying to score. The Grizzlies only had 2 seconds left when they got the ball back after Wyoming turned it over on downs on the Montana 16 yard line.
The new offense did its job on Wyoming's first possession of the game, driving 57 yard in 12 plays for a 41-yard field goal by Stuart Williams.
But the Cowboys had two other drives into Montana territory ended by an interception in the end zone and a fumble on a quarterback sack — one of four sacks by the Grizzlies in the first half.
Montana took a 6-3 lead into halftime on a 26-yard TD pass from wide receiver Josh Janssen to Ryan Burke on a trick play. The extra point failed.
"When we did get down, nobody on the sideline really panicked," Wyoming defensive end Eddie Yarbrough said. "We knew our time was coming."
That time came in the third quarter when Wyoming scored both its TDs — a 5-yard run by Wick and a 58-yard run by May.
Johnson connected with Mike Ralston on a 16-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies couldn't muster any more drives against the Cowboys defense.
"You come and play an FBS team like Wyoming or any of them and certainly want to put your kids in a position where they get an opportunity to win the game, and we did that and played very well in a lot of instances," Montana coach Mick Delaney said. "We wore down and broke down in the second half."
The game was delayed twice by lightning for a total of about an hour, but players and coaches from both teams said it didn't affect how each team performed.
Montana returns home to face Central Washington Saturday afternoon in Missoula.
Arkansas State 37, Bobcats 10
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Michael Gordon, Terrance Hollingsworth and Johnston White each ran for touchdowns Saturday to help Arkansas State notch a 37-10 season-opening win over No. 19 Montana State for new head coach Blake Anderson.
Fredi Knighten broke it open late in the third quarter with a 23-yard pass to Dario Griswold to make it 23-10, then Hollingsworth and White each scored on short runs. Knighten was 19 for 29 for 219 yards passing and ran for 104 yards on 15 carries.
The Red Wolves' defense stepped up after Anthony Knight tied it at 7 and held the Bobcats to three-and-outs for the remainder. Arkansas State gained 558 total yards to 228 for MSU.
Leading Montana State rusher Shawn Johnson was sidelined after being speared on the second-half kickoff by Frankie Jackson, who was disqualified for an illegal hit.
The Bobcats will make their home debut Saturday night in Bozeman against Black Hills State.
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