The Wyoming Cowboys came out of the gate fast on Friday night in Laramie. Wyoming’s dynamic rushing attack and swarming defense yielded a 31-7 victory over the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors at War Memorial Stadium. It was the ninth consecutive home win for the Cowboys.

Junior running back Xazavian Valladay notched his ninth career 100-yard rushing game, picking up 163 rushing yards on 32 carries and catching two passes for 32 yards. Graduate transfer Trey Smith, meanwhile, ran for 89 yards on 20 carries. Valladay and Smith scored two rushing touchdowns apiece.

As a team, the Cowboys ran for 281 yards and had 112 yards passing for 393 yards of total offense, while Hawai’i mustered only 233 yards.

The Pokes defense also forced two turnovers. Junior linebacker Chad Muma recovered a fumble that led to a Cowboy field goal, giving Wyoming a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Sophomore linebacker Charles Hicks intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 47 yards to set up a Wyoming touchdown that extended the Pokes’ lead to 24-7.

“This is one of our trademarks: If we can handle the line of scrimmage, run the football and play good defense, that is a winning formula,” said Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl.

In his postgame presser, Bohl was questioned about the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Levi Williams, who has become the starting quarterback after an injury to Sean Chambers.

“He made improvements,” the coach said. “There are still things he needs to do to improve his game. But the number of reps he was able to take this week in practice and knowing he was going to play the whole game I think made a difference.”

A total of 6,232 fans attended Friday’s game.

The Cowboys will travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, on Thursday for the 112th edition of the Border War with rival Colorado State University. That game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network and broadcast on radio over the Cowboy Sports Network.