Wyoming
Remembering some of BYU's best wins over Wyoming
BYU football’s 100 season history would not be complete without Wyoming.
Other than Utah and Utah State, the Cougars have never faced another foe more than the Cowboys, having shared four different conferences together for a total of 88 years.
Though the two programs don’t meet on the field as often as they once did — this weekend’s trip to Laramie will be BYU’s first since 2009 — the rivalry remains rich with tradition and intrigue. It’s nearly impossible to forget the fervent hatred between Wyoming and the Cougars back in the day.
“This is a special game, really, when you get down to it for our players, for our program, for the state,” Cowboys head coach Jay Sawvel said of the matchup with BYU. “They’re not on any future schedule. I don’t know when they (will) ever come back to War Memorial Stadium. I think because of that this will obviously be a big deal to everyone in the state of Wyoming.”
If Saturday’s action truly is the last time the Cougars visit Cowboy country or even play Wyoming at all, then it’s been a ridiculous ride. Here’s a look back through the years at some of BYU’s most memorable victories over the brown and gold.
Nov. 14, 1922 — BYU 7, Wyoming 0
BYU has won more than 600 games in its history, and it all started against Wyoming.
The Cougars and Cowboys battled on a muddy south campus field where the Joseph Smith Building stands today, with Paul Packard finding fullback Hunter Manson for a 25-yard touchdown to give BYU both its first-ever touchdown and victory.
Since then, the Cougars have bested Wyoming on 45 more occasions, with Kalani Sitake’s crew looking to add one more to the tally this weekend.
Oct. 13, 1984 — No. 5 BYU 41, Wyoming 38
No one came closer to toppling the Cougars in their national championship campaign than Wyoming, which led BYU by five points heading into the final quarter of homecoming day in Provo.
Robbie Bosco connected with tight end David Mills late in the contest for a go-ahead touchdown — Mills’ third score of the game — as the Cougars held on for a 41-38 win en route to a 13-0 mark and improbable national title.
Bosco threw for five touchdowns against the Cowboys, while Lakei Heimuli totaled 118 yards of offense and an end zone trip as well.
Dec. 7, 1996 — No. 6 BYU 28, No. 20 Wyoming 25 (WAC Championship Game)
One could argue this was the rivalry’s most incredible contest.
Competing as nationally-ranked foes in the first-ever WAC title game, BYU held a 13-point halftime lead before the Cowboys swung right back to lead 25-22 late in the fourth quarter.
Steve Sarkisian then drove the Cougars down the field for a game-tying field goal to force overtime, where Ethan Pochman split the uprights once again to clinch BYU’s 16th and final WAC title.
Pochman netted four field goals that day against Wyoming, with Chad Lewis hauling in a Sarkisian pass for a score and Brian McKenzie adding a rushing touchdown as well.
BYU would go on to defeat Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl and earn a No. 5 national ranking, while the Cowboys didn’t even receive a bowl invite despite their No. 22 ranking and 10-2 record.
Nov. 10, 2001 — No. 13 BYU 41, Wyoming 34
In this late-season showdown, BYU was looking for a 10-0 start, while Wyoming was fighting for its third win of the year. This would be a cakewalk for the Cougars, right?
It turned out to be anything but. The inspired Cowboys played out of their minds, even tying the score at 34 points apiece in the fourth quarter.
Luke Staley’s fourth touchdown of the afternoon gave BYU its final lead, with safety Levi Madarieta breaking up a Wyoming fourth-down pass at the goal line with 28 seconds remaining to preserve the Cougars’ victory.
Dec. 21, 2016 — BYU 24, Wyoming 21 (Poinsettia Bowl)
It was a great way for Kalani Sitake to end his first season at the helm of the Cougars.
BYU outlasted Wyoming in the final installment of San Diego’s Poinsettia Bowl, with Jamaal Williams exploding for 210 rushing yards and his teammates intercepting future NFL superstar Josh Allen twice in a 24-21 dub.
Tanner Mangum filled in for an injured Taysom Hill and both threw for and ran in a pair of touchdowns. Harvey Langi racked up 16 tackles, and Kai Nacua sealed the 14th bowl win in BYU program history by picking off Allen in the game’s final minute.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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