Nov. 11, 1999

PROVO -- Jay Stoner remembers the last time he saw BYU standing on the other side of the field.

How could he forget?

A redshirt freshman in 1996 when Wyoming faced off against BYU in the inaugural WAC championship game in Las Vegas, Stoner watched his team lose its grip on a late fourth quarter lead and eventually lose the game in overtime, 28-25.

Since the Cougars and Cowboys haven't faced each other since leaving the turf of Sam Boyd Stadium, one play is still fresh in the minds of everyone who witnessed the game.

"Yeah, I remember what happened in that game," Stoner said in a telephone interview with The Daily Herald. "I'm sure a lot of people still remember that safety."

Ah, the safety -- former Cowboys coach Joe Tiller's infamous last call.

With under two minutes remaining and the Cowboys pinned deep in their own territory, Tiller elected to take a safety instead of punting the ball away, cutting Wyoming's five-point lead down to three.

BYU ended up taking the free kick and driving down to the 3-yard line, setting up an Ethan Pochman field goal that sent the game into overtime.

Following the game, Wyoming fans were calling for Tiller's head.

So should the Cowboys have played it straight up?

"I don't know, because there were some other things that happened, too," Stoner said. "Maybe if they hadn't happened, we wouldn't have been in that situation. I'm never going to second guess a coach."

Listening to coaches is something Stoner has had to do a lot of since coming to Laramie. After all, the 6-foot-1, 203-pound junior has seen a lot of changes.

Try three new offenses in four years.

Tiller was the main reason Stoner made his way from Mitchell High in Colorado Springs, Colo., to the plains of Laramie. The former coach, who is now directing Purdue's high powered offense, gave every quarterback what he wanted -- a chance to throw the football.

"I really liked the offensive scheme that was being used up here," Stoner said.

Three- or four-wide sets every play? What quarterback wouldn't?

But things changed when former Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel arrived in town. The Cowboys moved to using two-back sets and focused more on the run.

Now, things are all mixed up.

Stoner has been a busy man this season, trying to lead his team with a new offensive scheme -- the triple shoot offense, brought in by offensive coordinator Manny Matsakis.

"It's a really good system," Stoner said. "It's got the potential to do a lot of things."

Like confuse defenses.

The triple shoot comes with numerous options, mixing up wide receiver sweeps, halfback dives and passing plays -- all under the premise of giving Wyoming a balanced attack.

But like any new system, the Cowboys have struggled at times this season. After riding its defense and a big play from Stoner to receiver Kofi Shuck for a 10-7 win over Air Force on the road, Wyoming came home and fell to UNLV 35-32 in perhaps the conference's biggest upset of the year.

The difference in the game was that UNLV came up with four interceptions. But none of them were thrown by Stoner, who sat out with a separated sternum.

Stoner has actually battled through two injuries this season, the first one being a bruised shoulder in the Cowboys' opening day loss at Tennessee. During this up-and-down season, one thing has become clear -- Stoner, a third-year starter, is crucial to the team's success.

Last week against Utah, Stoner passed for more than 300 yards and led an offensive explosion in the second half that gave Wyoming a 43-29 win over Utah in Salt Lake City.

"We expected him to have the type of performance that he had last weekend and the weekend before against CSU all year," Dimel said of Stoner. "Any time throughout the year when your starting quarterback gets hurt twice, it's a big hit to your football team. Him being back in there has been a big plus for us."

The win over the Utes came at just the right time. Wyoming -- a team floundering after back-to-back conferences losses -- now has a shot to earn a share of the MWC title.

To do it, the Cowboys must topple the team that kept them from a title in 1996 -- BYU.

The Cougars will challenge Stoner with the league's top defense. BYU has terrorized MWC opponents this year, giving up only 48 points in five contests.

But according to Dimel, Stoner knows what to expect from opposing defenses.

"He's making good decisions," Dimel said. "He has a real good feel in the pocket when people pressure him.

"We really actually hope people pressure him with blitzes because that's what he does best and we can get some big plays, because he understands. He does a ton of film study during the week."

Which means Rob Morris and Co. should expect a little big tougher battle than they got from the likes of Sean Stein, Jason Vaughan and Jack Hawley.

Because no matter what offense he's running, Stoner looks like he knows what he's doing.