Texas Native Hauls in INT That Turned Tech Game Around

LARAMIE -- Craig Bohl said it was the turning point of the game.

Wrook Brown simply called it surreal.

"If you told me when I was a kid that I would have a pick against Texas Tech, I wouldn't believe you," Wyoming's nickelback said on Monday. "It's pretty exciting."

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Especially if you are a native of the Lone Star State.

Brown grew up in Salado, less than six hours southeast of Lubbock. Brown said he grew up a Texas A&M fan. Both of his parents attended the school in College Station. Aggies and Red Raiders don't mix, going back to their days as conference rivals in the Big XII.

"I've never liked Tech. My dad can't stand Tech," the 5-foot-11, 188-pound sophomore said with a smile. "He was telling me that all week, calling me on the phone, saying, 'We have to beat the Raiders.'

"My uncle is a big Red Raider, too, so my dad and him had some texts going."

With the Cowboys trailing 17-3 early in the second quarter, Tyler Shough took the shotgun snap, faked the delayed handoff and immediately looked to his left. His head never moved. His eyes did. With plenty of time to operate in the pocket, Texas Tech's 6-foot-5 signal caller patiently waited for wideout Myles Price to break on his route.

From the far hash, Shough stepped into the throw.

Brown stepped in front of it, ripping the ball right out of Myles' would-be grasp before tumbling to the turf in a tug of war for possession.

"It's one called the 'K route' and it's kind of a double move," explained Brown, who also tallied five tackles on the night. "So, it's kind of a tough route to cover sometimes. We ran it a lot in practice. Coach (Jay) Sawvel told us they would run it on us. It might have gotten me a few times on practice with the scout team, so I got to the top of the route and I had a feeling that one was coming."

It did -- and he held on and stayed in bounds.

"At the top of the route, they go a little bit slower," he continued. "I saw his pace change a little bit and that was kind of the indicator."

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Six snaps later, Andrew Peasley lofted a pass into the flat off the bootleg. It landed in the awaiting hands of fullback Caleb Driskill, who turned up field and found the end zone, giving the Cowboys their first touchdown of the night and all the momentum in front of more than 26,000 in attendance.

Bohl said the interception proved to the team it could make plays, too, prompting a 20-0 run that would eventually turn into a 35-33 upset in double overtime.

For Brown, it was technically his first collegiate pick.

"Technically" is the trigger word.

In a road tilt with Hawaii last October, he snagged an errant Brayden Schager pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown, giving the visitors a shot in the arm and tying the game at 7-7.

It was all for naught.

A yellow hanky flew, wiping the play and score off the board. UW linebacker Cole DeMarzo was hit with a roughing-the-passer penalty. It wasn't exactly egregious.

"What pick-six?" Brown said with a sarcastic grin.

This one was more impactful, anyway, he added.

"I got quite a few," he said, referring to postgame texts and calls. "I've got some friends and coaches that went to Tech and they texted me, saying, 'Oh, I didn't say you could beat us, I just wanted you to have a good game.'

"It was nice."