Wyoming
Bridger's Rifle goes to Aggies: Wyo's QB solution and controversial calls make for unique trophy game
LARAMIE, Wyo. — In what may be become Wyoming’s most remembered conference game of the season, the Cowboys were forced to hand over the Bridger Rifle trophy to the Utah State Aggies after a 27-25 home loss. Six lead changes, back-and-forth quarterback switching and a call so controversial it warranted an official statement from the referee made this evening one the Pokes won’t soon forget.
Wide Receiver Tyler King was having a good game. He rushed for 79 yards, received for 52, ran a 21-yard kick return and ran a 54-yard touchdown constituting half of Wyoming’s touchdowns tonight. When he was on the field and had the ball in his hands, the Cowboys were getting downfield.
That was until he received the ball and an ensuing tackle that knocked him to the ground and made him fumble the ball, which Utah State took advantage of by running away with it. King was knocked to the ground and had to be assisted walking off the field. Cowboys fans were enraged because there was no call for targeting.
Following the game’s conclusion, Mountain West official Cal McNeill, lead ref in tonight’s contest, released a statement defending the lack of call.
“The play in question was reviewed for all elements of targeting and did not meet the requirements for rule 9-1-3. The offensive player was a runner, not a defenseless player,” McNeill said. “In that situation, in order for it to be targeting, it would have had to have been leading with the crown of the helmet.”
In his post game press conference, Wyoming Football Head Coach Jay Sawvel accepted the decision. Although, he added that it was not a positive force in momentum-building and did make a comment earlier in the conference suggesting that he didn’t think the officiating has been up to snuff.
“We got the ball deep in their territory,” Sawvel said. “We’re at least going to get something out of it, right? And flip—the ball is in our territory. If I remember right on that series, we stopped them in that situation but, still, we were in a position to get points.”
Wyoming Football Head Coach Jaw Sawvel speaking on Oct. 26, 2024 (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)It’s circumstances like that that explain the disparity between touchdowns and total offensive yards: a ratio 2:470. Instead, the bulk of Wyoming’s points were field goals from kicker John Hoyland. Hoyland scored a total of 12 points for the Cowboys in the contest.
The other noticeable change in the Cowboy’s offense was the team’s new two-quarterback solution. Starting quarterback Evan Svoboda wasn’t performing to the caliber expected of him, but backup quarterback Kaden Anderson still has uncertainties surrounding his leadership and play-making. The solution? play them both.
In total, Anderson rushed for a gain of 33 yards. He passed for 182 yards and was 15-24 on attempts. Svoboda, meanwhile, passed for 12 yards and had an interception.
Whether this will continue to be the offensive strategy for the Pokes or whether one will usurp the other is something Sawvel did not make a definitive comment on.
“With the quarterbacks, it’s something that we have to go back, watch all the videos and see where we’re at with certain things,” Sawvel said.
Anderson spoke at tonight’s press conference as well. There, he dismissed the potential notion that he was at all discouraged by the new system, even in moments where he drives the ball close to the end-zone just to be switched out with Svoboda.
“I had a three-and-out there and coach said he’s gonna ride the hot hand. I did have a three-and-out in the second quarter,” Anderson said. “When he pulled me or whatever, I was fine. I love Evan. I feel like we support each other very well.”
Either way, Sawvel said he doesn’t think the offensive capitalized well on the opportunities they had in the second half and especially the third quarter where the defense held the Aggies to just nine yards.
“We won the third quarter six to nothing. With the way that we played the third quarter, both offensively and defensively, that should have been 10. It should have been 14. There could have been some separation in the game,” Sawvel said. “I think the fact that we didn’t win that quarter by a margin bigger than six to nothing, with the way that quarter went, there’s a big chunk of your reason why we lost.”
The Cowboys now move down to 1-7 for the season and 1-3 in conference-play. The team has just four more contests to go in the year, with only one being at home. That final home game is against 6-1 and nationally ranked conference powerhouse Boise State Nov. 23. Before that, the Cowboys will head to Albuquerque to play the New Mexico Lobos next week at 2 p.m.
For more information on the University of Wyoming Cowboy’s football team, including the team’s current roster and schedule, visit the university’s athletics webpage.
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Wyoming power plant booming with suspected UFO, drone sightings — but still no answers after over a year
Fleets of drones and suspected UFOs have been spotted hovering over a Wyoming power plant for more than a year, while a local sheriff’s department is still searching for clues.
Officials with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office recorded scores of beaming, drone-like objects circling around the Red Desert and Jim Bridger Power Plant in Rock Springs over the last 13 months — though they didn’t specify how many, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
Sheriff John Grossnickle was one of the first to witness the spectacles, and last saw the mind-boggling formation on Dec. 12, his spokesperson Jason Mower told the outlet.
The fleets periodically congregate over the power plant in coordinated formations, Mower claimed.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t been able to recover any of the suspected UFOs, telling the outlet they’re too high to shoot down.
The law enforcement outpost’s exhaustive efforts to get to the truth haven’t yielded any results, even after Grossnickle enlisted help from Wyoming US Rep. Harriet Hageman — who Mower claimed saw the formation during a trip to the power plant.
Hageman could not be reached for comment.
“We’ve worked with everybody. We’ve done everything we can to figure out what they are, and nobody wants to give us any answers,” Mower said, according to the outlet.
At first, spooked locals bombarded the sheriff’s office with calls about the confounding aerial formations. Now, though, Mower said that people seem to have accepted it as “the new normal.”
Mower noted that the objects, which he interchangeably referred to as “drones” and “unidentified flying objects,” have yet to pose a danger to the public or cause any damage to the power plant itself.
“It’s like this phenomenon that continues to happen, but it’s not causing any, you know, issues that we have to deal with — other than the presence of them,” he told the outlet.
The spokesperson promised the sheriff’s office would “certainly act accordingly” if the drones pose an imminent harm.
Meanwhile, Niobrara County Sheriff Randy Starkey told the Cowboy State Daily that residents of his community also reported mystery drone sightings over Lance Creek — more than 300 miles from the Jim Bridger Power Plant — starting in late October 2024 and ending in early March.
Starkey said he’s “just glad they’re gone,” according to the outlet.
Drone sightings captured the nation’s attention last year when they were causing hysteria in sightings over New Jersey.
Just days into his second term, President Trump had to clarify that the drones were authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to quell worries that they posed a national security threat.
Still, the public wasn’t convinced, but the mystery slowly faded as the sightings plummeted.
In October, though, an anonymous source with an unnamed military contractor told The Post that their company was responsible for the hysteria.
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