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Wyoming vs Air Force (Saturday at 6 p.m.) CBSSN

Cowboys Host Air Force in MW Opener on Homecoming Weekend in Laramie on Saturday

It is the 99th Homecoming Game in School History


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Jay Sawvel Radio Show on Wednesday

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 23, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys return to War Memorial Stadium this Saturday hosting Air Force at 6 p.m. on Homecoming in Laramie. It is the Mountain West opener for the Brown and Gold as Wyoming is 13-12 in MW openers,

The contest will be televised on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz on the call along with Robert Turbin analyzing the action and Amanda Guerra on the sidelines.

Ticket Information

Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:

•Go to GoWyo.com/tickets

•Email tickets@uwyo.edu

•Call (307) 766-7220

•Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.

Mountain West Openers: The 2024 season marks the 26th season of the Mountain West Conference, and this year’s Wyoming-Air Force contest is the conference opener for the Cowboys. Wyoming is 13-12 (.500) in Mountain West openers. UW is 9-6 (.600) when opening MW play at home and is 4-6 (.400) when opening on the road. The Cowboys have won 7 of their last 11 MW openers. The Cowboys and Falcons opened the 2022 conference season in Laramie with the Cowboys earning a 17-14 victory.



Wyoming Hosts 99th Homecoming Game This Week: This week’s game versus Air Force will mark the 99th Homecoming game in University of Wyoming history, and the 74th Homecoming game to be played in War Memorial Stadium. Last season, Wyoming defeated New Mexico on Homecoming by a score of 35-26.



UW’s Overall Record in Homecoming Games: 49-46-3

UW’s Homecoming Record in War Memorial: 44-27-2



Cowboys Missing with Injuries: The Cowboys have had numerous injuries to open the season on both sides of the ball. Wyoming has 12 players on the roster that have had injuries this season that have started a game in their career. Those 12 players have combined for 26 missed games this season. That includes a pair of running backs in Daiwaiian McNeely and Harrison Waylee along with safeties Wyett Ekeler and Isaac White among other players.



King to the House: Wide receiver Tyler King has been excellent this season returning kicks. In fact, King ranks third in the nation and first in the Mountain West averaging 36.7 yards per kick return. He recorded a 100-yard return for the Brown and Gold at North Texas tying the school record held by Sonny Jones, as he recorded a 100-yard return against Colorado State College in 1948.



Scott Does It All: Running back Sam Scott paced the Cowboy offense against North Texas. He rushed for 39 yards to lead the team and also added three catches tying a career-high and recorded a career-high 52 yards receiving. He hauled in a 41-yard reception for a score in the second quarter for the first of his career. He leads the team with six receptions on the season averaging 12.5 yards per catch.



Gyllenborg Back in Form: Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg is working his way back into the offense after an injury. He grabbed five catches for a team-high 56 yards against North Texas. The five catches tied a career-high for the tight end, as he had five last season against Texas Tech in the season opener.



Suiaunoa Passes 200 Tackles: Linebacker Shae Suiaunoa recorded nine tackles to lead the Cowboys at North Texas. He has now recorded 206 tackles in his career in 51 games for the Brown and Gold. He also has 12 tackles for loss in his career and has recorded 119 solo stops for UW.



Shay Settles in as Starter: Linebacker Connor Shay has settled into his role at linebacker for the Pokes. He recorded eight tackles for a career-high against North Texas. This season, Shay has recorded 25 tackles to rank third on the Cowboys. Him and Suiaunoa have combined for 52 stops this season.



Singleton Makes First Start: Nickelback Malique Singleton made his first

career start at North Texas for Wrook Brown, as he was suspended for targeting in the first half of the game against the Mean Green. Singleton, a native of Alaska alongside Read Sunn, a linebacker recorded a career-high four tackles in the contest.



Running Backs in Passing Game: The Cowboy running back duo of Sam Scott and DJ Jones combined for five catches for 72 yards against the Mean Green. Both had career-highs in the game with Scott recording 52 yards receiving and Jones adding 20 yards on a pair of catches including one for 11 yards on a third-down conversion.



Hoyland Adds to School Record: Kicker John Hoyland knocked in a 30-yard kick in the first quarter for the 61st of his career as he continues to build on his school record. He also added a pair of extra points. For his career, Hoyland has scored 311 points and is currently third at UW in career scoring.



Rk. Player, Position Years TDs Points Goals Points

1. Cooper Rothe, pk 2016-19 0 165 59 342

2. Sean Fleming, pk 1988-91 0 153 57 324

3. John Hoyland, pk 2020-Pres. 0 128 61 311



Home Stretch: The Cowboys return home for homecoming on Saturday against Air Force. The Pokes will remain in Laramie for a while now with the next road action at San Jose State on Oct. 19. UW will enjoy a bye week after the Falcons before returning to action against San Diego State in Laramie on Oct. 12.



Bertagnole and Tackles for Loss: Defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole is moving up the tackles for loss list at UW. He has 24 in his career with the Brown and Gold.



1. 39.0 Eddie Yarbrough 2012-15

2. 36.0 John Fletcher 2005-09

3. 35.5 Carl Granderson, 2015-2018

4. 35.0 Logan Wilson, 2016-19

5. 31.0 Josh Biezuns 2008-11

6. 26.5 Zach Morris 2001-04

7. 25.5 Cole Godbout 2019-23

8. 25.0 Andrew Wingard, 2015-2018

9. 24.0 Ward Dobbs 2005-08

24.0 Jordan Bertagnole, 2020-Pres.



About Air Force: The Falcons (1-2 overall, 0-1 Mountain West) are coming off an open date after losing back-to-back games to San Jose State (17-7) and Baylor (31-3). Air Force opened the season with a 17-7 victory over FCS Merrimack.



Defensively, the Falcons rank 40th in the FBS in points allowed (18.0 ppg) and 61st in yards allowed (335.7 ypg). Air Force is averaging 167.3 yards rushing (64th), 50 yards passing (134th) and 10.3 points (132nd) through three games.



Cade Harris, a senior wide receiver, leads the team in rushing with 132 yards and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback John Busha, a 6-2 junior, is 13-for-39 (33.3%) passing for 125 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.



Air Force leads the all-time series with Wyoming 31-27-3, including a 34-27 victory in last year’s MW opener at the Academy. The Falcons have lost their last four games at War Memorial Stadium and are seeking their first victory in Laramie since a 28-27 win in 2012.

Wyoming’s Hidden Gem: Will Pelissier’s Impact Goes Beyond Stats

“Growing up, everybody told me, ‘You’re from Big Horn, such a small school... playing D1 football is a lot harder than you think.’ There were times I didn’t even know if it was a possibility,” Pelissier admitted.

Wyoming’s Tom Burman Talks Realignment, Future Stability for Cowboys

“It seems logical to continue to play this game... That bronze boot, that tradition has value, and we shouldn’t throw that away due to egos.

Where's Our Commitment(s)?

Reading the AD's interview, looks like we're seeking "stability" instead of making the MWC as competitive as possible. We just now added another freeloader program to a conference of freeloaders. Another mouth to feed. Looking forward to UTEP winning the MWC in football in............or basketball in.......

We came within a whisker of being blown up entirely, we weathered the punches....and now we want to go back to being.....stable. So we're apparently looking at Harlequin...er, Tarleton State!

I have no answers, but wouldn't it be something if Gloria Nevarez had a sit down with the MWC AD's and did something radical, like propose each school meet an annual minimum of at least $65-70 million in spending on athletics, emphasizing football, as one component of a new, rebooting strategy to make us less poachable? Or propose they commit at least $20M to NIL?

That would be met with stone silence and likely a motion to have her fired, because the remaining schools in the room have combined for one MWC football ring in the past 10 years, and barely that in basketball, so shut up.

It seems nobody is intent on building the MWC and putting muscle on it--instead let's just hang on to it. Keeping things stable. A sure recipe for the vultures to return if there's anything left on the bone.

Burman said, "We are a unique entity, but we bring great value to the Mountain West Conference or any other conference out there. But you have to look a little deeper to find the value..." Anybody have a guess as to what he's talking about?

That's the flowery, platitude, avoiding specifics b.s.'ing . of the fans that ensures a .49 percent football and .48 percent hoops program over the last 10 years. The word value has been redefined...

UTEP vice president and director of athletics Jim Senter obviously talked with him...."I know the Miners will feel right at home with the other quality athletic programs in this great conference."

More value talk.....“I’m still excited about Wyoming football... We have a very good core, and we’re recruiting very well. Jay Sawvel is doing some extremely good things with this program. I think we’re going to be fine in football,” he said, adding that basketball and other Olympic sports are also seeing promising futures.

“There’s a lot of opportunity at the University of Wyoming,” Burman said.



One day--probably two years from now--Eli Wallach and 200 other banditos in college football will ride back for another raid, but there's no more Magnificent 7 to save us. Perhaps enough people will by then finally understand how "extremely good things" is actually defined in Laramie. In the meantime, we'll resume our seat at the hind teat, make room for UTEP, and hope UNLV, AFA and Nevada can keep us fed. Or maybe Tarleton St.

Buried a great Cowboy Fan Saturday…..

My Uncle Teense Willford.

No bigger Cowboy fan. He had our family season tickets that we have had since 1950.

Ragtime Cowboy Joe was sang by all at his services, and it was timed so the services ended early enough so that folks could get from Saratoga in time for the game in Laramie.

The Governor ordered the Wyoming flag flown at half mast on Saturday and about 500 folks attended his services. I am still heartbroken.

Please sing a verse of Cowboy Joe for my dear Uncle.
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