Alex Taylor: Taylor Peasley proved to be a warrior for the Cowboys

Nov. 30—University of Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley's numbers don't exactly jump off the page.

The Cowboys (8-4 overall, 5-3 Mountain West) finished the regular season 118th in passing offense at 167.2 yards per game. Peasley accounted for 1,823 out UW's 2,007 passing yards on the season, a mark that ranks No. 87 in the country.

The sixth-year senior isn't the biggest player on the field. He doesn't have the strongest arm, and he's been known to take a sack or two under pressure. But for what Peasley lacks in pure athleticism, he makes up for with his heart and determination.

Peasley has proven that since the day he transferred to UW from Utah State two years ago.

UW coach Craig Bohl has a recurring expression when asked about Peasley, often saying the quarterback is, 'As tough as boot leather.'

"We have a really good relationship," the coach said last month. "It's been fun. That's a case of the transfer portal (benefiting UW). Everyone is talking about different things, but it just seems like yesterday he and his father were sitting in my office, and I was like, 'Wow, this is weird,' and it was weird for him.

"It was kind of like, 'OK, we made this decision, and here we are. I don't know a lot about you, you don't know a lot about us, but we're going to make this work.' It's beyond that. It's been really good."

One of the biggest traits that sticks out about Peasley is his maturity. The La Grande, Oregon, native took full accountability for UW's frustrating three-game road losing streak in conference play, even going as far as making a closing statement before leaving the podium after the loss to UNLV in Las Vegas.

"This team's had a lot of ups and downs, but whatever people say about us, we'll always stick together," Peasley said. "This is a true unit of a team. I know it sucks for the fans that we're 0-4 on the road, but we do care a lot.

"We put in a lot of effort towards this. You can say what you want to say about me, you can say what you want about this team, but we'll always stick by each other's sides."

Peasley put his money where his mouth was in the final two weeks of the regular season following the loss to UNLV. The Cowboys outscored Hawaii and Nevada 84-15 to close out the conference schedule, scoring a season-high 42 points in both games.

Peasley gashed the Rainbow Warriors in UW's home-finale, totaling 319 yards and three passing touchdowns. The momentum carried over against the Wolf Pack, with Peasley throwing for two more touchdowns and scoring two more times on the ground.

Peasley led UW to 881 total yards of offense through the last two weeks of the season. His gutsy performances over the past two seasons have reinforced the trust his teammates have had in him. That trust has led to some teammates defending him at the podium following a poor showing.

"(Peasley's) leadership and knowledge of this offense is the greatest that we have," sixth-year offensive tackle Frank Crum said after UW's win over Appalachian State. "To have that behind you, him dialing it up, whatever his stats are, I don't really care. I care about the 1-0 stat.

"For anybody that wants to get after Andrew Peasley, we're the Cowboys, and you can come attack all of us. It's not a one-man show out there. He doesn't deserve any flak. We've all got things we need to get better at. This is not a criticizing thing for Andrew. We all have things to work on. We're 1-0. That's our biggest goal."

Peasley had his ups and downs with the Cowboys, including historically bad games against Illinois last fall (5-of-20 for 30 yards and an interception) and App State in September (5-of-15 for 31 yards and an interception). The quarterback also led UW to its first 7-0 showing at War Memorial Stadium this season.

All in all, Peasley finished his final regular season 146-of-241 (60.6%) for 1,823 yards and 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He added 403 yards on the ground and led UW in rushing touchdowns with seven.

Most importantly, Peasley finished No. 1 in the MW and No. 22 in the country in points responsible for with an average of 14.9 per game. The high production earned him an All-MW honorable mention this week.

Peasley won't go down as UW's greatest quarterback in school history, but he proved he knew what it took to win games. Peasley was 15-8 in games he started with the Cowboys, and he put Laramie on the map in the season-opener with his infamous postgame interview on CBS' national broadcast.

"(Our goal was) to take them to the deep end of the pool, and they're going to fold," Peasley said after UW's double-overtime win over Texas Tech. "That's exactly what we did, and I'm just happy to come away with a W."

Peasley will have one final game in a Cowboys uniform, a bowl game that will be decided following the conference championship games this weekend. Looking back on his decision to finish out his career in Laramie, the quarterback wouldn't have it any other way.

"A lot of good memories," Peasley said after the win over Hawaii. "It's very special for a transfer like me just to come in and be able to play in an environment like that. ... It's just been really special, man.

"I'm glad I could be a part of this program. Glad I could call this place my home."

Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.