ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Wyoming trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter. Its offense was led by a freshman quarterback, its defense was facing the nation's leading rusher.

Time to worry? Not these comeback Cowboys.

Freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels threw three touchdown passes, the last a 13-yarder to David Leonard in the second overtime yesterday, and Wyoming rallied past Fresno State, 35-28, in the New Mexico Bowl.

"Same old deal for all of us," Carta-Samuels said. "We knew we could do it."

The first of 34 bowls was a high-scoring matchup that was decided at the end by defense.

Wyoming (7-6) stopped the nation's leading rusher, Fresno State's Ryan Mathews, on two rushing attempts from the 1 in the first overtime. The Bulldogs (8-5) tried a quarterback sneak on third down, and Mathews came up short again on fourth down.

"If you can't put it in from the 1-yard line, you have to give a lot of credit to the defensive stand by Wyoming," Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said. "We had our chances."

Wyoming missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt, which would have won it.

The Cowboys, who won four times this season after rallying in the fourth quarter, scored on the first possession in double overtime, then held Fresno State on downs.

FRESNO ST. 0 14 7 7 0 0—28

WYOMING 7 7 3 11 0 7—35

FIRST QUARTER

Wyo—Alexander 68 run (Watts kick), 7:37.

SECOND QUARTER

Fre—Mathews 4 run (Goessling kick), 12:22.

Wyo—Bolling 21 pass from Carta-Samuels (Watts kick), 5:01.

Fre—Hamler 10 pass from Colburn (Goeourth Quarter

Fre—Mathews 5 run (Goessling kick), 13:59.

Wyo—D.Leonard 11 pass from Carta-Samuels (Bolling pass from Carta-Samuels), 10:15.

Wyo—FG Watts 37, :20.

SECOND OVERTIME

Wyo—D.Leonard 13 pass from Carta-Samuels (Watts kick).

A—24,898.

          Fre Wyo

First downs 19 26

Rushes-yards 44-197 50-234

Passing 169 204

Comp-Att-Int 14-20-0 18-33-1

Return Yards 25 5

Punts-Avg. 3-46.3 3-37.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-61 3-19

Time of Possession 26:47 33:13

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Fresno St., Mathews 31-144, Colburn 9-24, Miller 1-12, Marl.Moore 1-11, Rouse 1-8, Team 1-(minus 2). Wyoming, Alexander 12-137, Carta-Samuels 19-71, Stewart 18-28, Team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING—Fresno St., Colburn 13-19-0-126, West 1-1-0-43. Wyoming, Carta-Samuels 17-31-1-201, McCoy 1-1-0-3, Burkhalter 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Fresno St., Hamler 7-85, West 2-43, Wylie 2-17, Marl.Moore 1-9, Newborn 1-9, Ajirotutu 1-6. Wyoming, D.Leonard 7-60, Bolger 4-55, Bolling 2-35, Burkhalter 2-15, Salyards 1-17, McNeill 1-14, Alexander 1-8.