Vols give Cowboys much to celebrate

The 1980s music blared from the Wyoming locker room, the Cowboys' players singing along and letting the good times roll Saturday afternoon.

"They're smiling ear to ear, all of them,'' Wyoming coach Joe Glenn said. "That's a happy team in that locker room.''

The Cowboys (4-6) kept their bowl hopes alive with Saturday's 13-7 victory over Tennessee (3-7) at Neyland Stadium.

"Tennessee is a great team with a legendary coach, and they were playing with emotion,'' Wyoming quarterback Chris Stutzriem said. "But you can never count out boys from Wyoming.''

Stutzriem was a modest 8-of-16 passing for 95 yards and a TD, but the 260-pounder made plays when he had to, running through four UT defenders on a 13-yard scramble early and delivering a 26-yard first-down pass off the run late.

"I knew from the get-go we were ready on defense,'' Cowboys cornerback Marcell Gipson said. "I never had a doubt in my mind.''

Wyoming held the Vols to 219 total yards and intercepted UT starting quarterback Nick Stephens twice.

Cowboys junior defensive end Mike Neuhaus picked off a Stephens' pass from point-blank range on the Vols' fifth offensive play of the game.

"That was one of the best feelings I've had in college football,'' said Neuhaus, who returned the interception 55 yards to the UT 4 to set up Wyoming's first TD. "He kind of threw me the ball - I just jumped a little bit.''

Cowboys' senior linebacker Ward Dobbs stepped in front of another Stephens' pass at the Vols' 24 and returned his interception for a TD to put Wyoming up 13-0 at the 9:03 mark of the second quarter.

Cowboys senior center Tim Bond said the win over UT ranks among the best he has experienced.

"It's one of the better ones because we'd been in a slump, and it's not like we were losing by a little, we were losing by a lot,'' Bond said. "We just tried to out-physical (Tennessee). There's nothing to be intimidated about, it's exciting.

"It was a privilege to play in this game.''

Wyoming snapped a five-game losing streak with its 35-10 win over San Diego State last week. The average margin of defeat in those five losses was 39 points.

"I know we've got some hideous scores, but guys, we're not bad,'' Glenn said. "With Tennessee, having gone through what they did, their kids weren't happy, but they kept fighting.''

Glenn said it was hard to find the right words for UT coach Phillip Fulmer when the two met at midfield after the game.

"It's hard to know what to say,'' Glenn said. "I'd talked to him before the game and thanked him for what he has done for the game of football.

"He's a guy everyone looks up to in the American Football Coaches Association. He's a leader, he's a winner and a wonderful person.''

And Saturday will be remembered as a wonderful win for the unheralded Cowboys, some of whom were still pinching themselves after a game they entered as 26-point underdogs.

"Oh man, it's absolutely amazing,'' said fullback Greg Genho, who reeled in a 4-yard TD pass to start the scoring. "It's like a dream, it still hasn't settled in. There's some crazy emotions going on.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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