Wyoming

BYU football: Cougars are wary of 0-2 Wyoming's ability to pull off upsets, after the Cowboys surprised Texas Tech in an opener last year

Published

1 year ago

September 13, 2024

BYU football: Cougars are wary of 0-2 Wyoming's ability to pull off upsets, after the Cowboys surprised Texas Tech in an opener last year

LARAMIE, Wyoming — Wyoming football players, coaches and fans have spent a lot time the past week talking about how important BYU’s visit on Saturday is to them, and how great it would be if they could knock off their once-bitter rivals on the high plains of Laramie.

“They are a wounded dog right now, and we better be ready to go, because they have got great coaches, they have got good players, and they have got good schemes. So we gotta be ready for their best shot.”
— BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill

At least one Cougar knows that it isn’t idle talk. BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker’s father, former BYU and minor league baseball player Stephen Glasker, was born in Wyoming, and every year the family travels to Rock Springs, Wyoming, for a family reunion on Independence Day.

“All my cousins live there and they are diehard Wyoming fans, so they kinda give me crap all the time about (playing for BYU),” Glasker said. “I would say I got a little extra juice going into this game, for sure, just because the whole family is going to be there.”

They won’t be alone. Despite the Cowboys’ 0-2 start, and the embarrassing 17-13 loss to FCS Idaho last week, 30,000-seat War Memorial Stadium was close to being sold out as of midday Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Saturday and the game will be televised by the CBS Sports Network.

BYU leads the series 46-30-3 and has won the last nine matchups. The Cougars (2-0) are 10-point favorites and obviously have bigger games down the road in their second season in the Big 12, but Glasker says they won’t be looking past the Cowboys, after hearing from their own coaches who have played and coached in Laramie about how charged up the home team will be.

“Honestly, I have never been there, so I can’t really say too much, but I am excited just to see the atmosphere,” Glasker said. “I have heard it is crazy, so for sure.”

For BYU’s defense, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Glasker said the key to success is simple.

“Stop the run. That’s it. We are big on stopping the run,” he said. “Make them beat us over the top, mostly.”

Wyoming has one of the bigger quarterbacks BYU will face this season — 6-5, 245-pound junior Evan Svoboda of Mesa, Arizona. He won’t be an easy QB to bring down for a BYU defense that has posted five sacks through two games.

“I feel like we are not too worried about (Svoboda’s size). He is a pretty good quarterback on film. So mostly we need to just keep him contained, and if we just do our job, we are going to be all right,” Glasker said.

Both teams will be without their best running backs, as Wyoming’s Harrison Waylee and BYU’s LJ Martin are sidelined with injuries. BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said Wyo’s offense is still capable of exploding for a big game, after a rocky start.

“They are tough guys up front,” said Hill, who will call plays from the press box after suffering a heart attack on Aug. 29. “They have not been necessarily rolling, putting up big numbers yet. … But they are a wounded dog right now, and we better be ready to go, because they have got great coaches, they have got good players, and they have got good schemes. So we gotta be ready for their best shot.”

BYU coaches have told their guys to remember what happened in an opener last year, when the Big 12′s Texas Tech went into Laramie as a 13-point favorite and was stunned 35-33 by the Pokes in double-overtime. Texas Tech took a quick 17-0 lead, but Wyoming roared back.

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, a former BYU receiver and Utah assistant, said he’s seen firsthand how well Wyoming plays at home.

“First of all, every game in college football is huge. There is so much riding on every game. And you have to approach every single week the same way. And then going into Laramie, I have been trying to impress upon these guys what a (tough place that is). We are going to get their very, very best,” Roderick said. “They will play their best and their fans will be into it. This will be a hostile environment. … I have been up there a number of times, been in some really tough, dogfight games. … So I have been trying to make sure our players understand what they are up against.”

Roderick said Wyoming’s defense wasn’t totally to blame for Arizona State putting up 48 points on them in the opener in Tempe.

“I just go historically on how they have been. It is the same defense they have been running, and they are very good at it. Everyone is in their gap. Everyone knows what they are doing. They are very disciplined and tough, physically tough,” Roderick said. “They have a good defense.”

Cougars on the air

BYU (2-0, 0-0) at Wyoming (0-2 ,0-0)

Saturday, 7 p.m. MDT
At War Memorial Stadium (capacity: 29,811)
Laramie, Wyoming
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM

BYU starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff proved he can win on the road last week at SMU, improving late in the game after committing three turnovers. Retzlaff grew up in Southern California and admits he knew nothing about the BYU-Wyoming rivalry until this week. The Jewish QB was not in the program yet when BYU beat Wyoming 38-24 in Provo in 2022.

“It is a storied rivalry from the Mountain West days, and I know there is a good likelihood this is the last time we are going up there. So I am excited to go up there. They are a tough, physical team. They always play us tough,” Retzlaff said. “And so I am excited to go up there and go kick their butt.”

BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker makes a play during victory over Southern Illinois in the Cougars’ opener at LaVell Edwards Stadium. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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Wyoming

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

Published

4 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

The top boys’ basketball players in Wyoming for Classes 1A and 2A were chosen for the 2026 high school season. The Wyoming Coaches Association has unveiled the all-state awards for this year, as voted on by the head coaches in the two classifications, respectively. The Wyoming Coaches Association only recognizes one team for all-state, and only these players receive an award certificate from the WCA. WyoPreps only lists all-state players as defined by the WCA.

WCA 1A-2A BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATE SELECTIONS IN 2026

Each class selected 14 players for all-state, reflecting a broad recognition of talent across Wyoming. Notably, congratulations go to Hulett’s Kyle Smith, Brady Cook from Lingle-Fort Laramie, and Carsten Freeburg from Pine Bluffs, who earned all-state honors for the third straight year. In addition, eight more players achieved all-state status for the second time in their prep careers.

Class 1A

Paul McNiven – Burlington

Bitner Philpott – Burlington

Ammon Hatch – Cokeville (All-State in 2025)

Hudson Himmerich – Cokeville

Kyle Smith – Hulett (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Anthony Arnusch – Lingle-Ft. Laramie

Brady Cook – Lingle-Ft. Laramie (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Tymber Cozzens – Little Snake River (All-State in 2025)

Corbin Matthews – Lusk

Max Potas – Meeteetse (All-State in 2024)

Jace Westring – Saratoga

Hazen Williams – Saratoga

TJ Moats – Southeast (All-State in 2024)

Nic Schiller – Upton

Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps

WyoPreps 1A-2A State Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps 3A-4A Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026

1A-2A Boys Basketball Regional Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 11 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-25-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-18-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26

Class 2A

Caleb Adsit – Big Horn

Chase Garber – Big Horn

Carsten Freeburg – Pine Bluffs (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Mason Moss – Rocky Mountain

Oakley Hicks – Shoshoni

Kade Mills – Sundance

Cody Bomengen – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Zak Hastie – Thermopolis

Ellis Webber – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Joseph Kimbrell – Wright

Mitchell Strohschein – Wright (All-State in 2025)

Adriano Brown – Wyoming Indian

Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black – Wyoming Indian (All-State in 2025)

Cordell Spoonhunter – Wyoming Indian

The 2026 state champions were the Saratoga Panthers in Class 1A. They beat Lingle-Fort Laramie, 50-45, in the championship game. The 2A winners were the Thermopolis Bobcats, who repeated as champions, after a 45-38 victory over Wyoming Indian in the title game.

Lusk versus Rock River high school basketball 2026

Game action between the Tigers and Longhorns

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Lisa Shaw

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Wyoming

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

Published

16 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.

One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.

Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”

The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”

The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.

It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.

The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.

Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”

Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”

The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.

SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.

Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”

Both bills go into effect July 1.

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Wyoming

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule – SweetwaterNOW

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule

Samuel “Tote” Harris. Photo from gowyo.com

LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.

Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.

The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.

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Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.

The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.

Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.

With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.

Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.

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