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.
A pipeline company has proposed a massive new “expansion” to ship Canadian crude to a storage facility and interconnect to other pipelines near Guernsey, potentially giving Powder River Basin producers a leg up in the North American market.Casper-based Bridger Pipeline formed a subsidiary, Bridger Pipeline Expansion to get Canadian crude to Guernsey. The pipeline would stretch 645 miles from Phillips County, Montana, to Bridger’s oil storage terminal and pipeline interconnect near Guernsey.
The expansion would open the spigot for 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the company says. Although the crude would mostly pass through eastern Wyoming, the venture opens opportunities for Wyoming oil producers in the region for more transportation access to U.S. refineries and shipping ports, according to Bridger and local industry officials.“It would be the biggest project in our history, if it comes to fruition,” Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin told WyoFile on Friday. “We are, however, in the really early stages of the project. But we’re very excited about it.”Industry trade groups speculate the Bridger Pipeline Expansion is part of a competitive scramble to fill a gap left by TC Energy’s Keystone XL project. That company, in 2021, abandoned the controversial project in the face of major opposition and protests. It would have transported Canadian tar-sands oil into the U.S. market via a route extending through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Among many challenges for Keystone XL was acquiring new rights-of-way easements. Though the Bridger Pipeline Expansion proposal requires some new rights-of-way, that’s not the case for the 210-mile Wyoming segment, according to Salvin.“All of that distance is within, or parallel to, existing pipeline corridors,” Salvin said.
The expansion would open the spigot for 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the company says. Although the crude would mostly pass through eastern Wyoming, the venture opens opportunities for Wyoming oil producers in the region for more transportation access to U.S. refineries and shipping ports, according to Bridger and local industry officials.“It would be the biggest project in our history, if it comes to fruition,” Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin told WyoFile on Friday. “We are, however, in the really early stages of the project. But we’re very excited about it.”Industry trade groups speculate the Bridger Pipeline Expansion is part of a competitive scramble to fill a gap left by TC Energy’s Keystone XL project. That company, in 2021, abandoned the controversial project in the face of major opposition and protests. It would have transported Canadian tar-sands oil into the U.S. market via a route extending through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Among many challenges for Keystone XL was acquiring new rights-of-way easements. Though the Bridger Pipeline Expansion proposal requires some new rights-of-way, that’s not the case for the 210-mile Wyoming segment, according to Salvin.“All of that distance is within, or parallel to, existing pipeline corridors,” Salvin said.
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The Wyoming segment would pass through Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen and Platte counties.Bridger Pipeline, a subsidiary of Casper-based True Companies, submitted a notice of intent to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in January and noted it will formally initiate environmental applications to the agency. Salvin told WyoFile he’s uncertain about the full spectrum of regulatory requirements in Wyoming.However, the company regards the Cowboy State as a great fit for the project, he said. “This [project proposal] just highlights how important the region is and how Wyoming is a very good place for energy projects like this.”Reached for comment, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said the proposed pipeline only stands to benefit Wyoming producers and the state.“Investments like these, along with continued growth in areas like the Powder River Basin, show Wyoming will continue to play an important role in the nation’s energy markets,” PAW Vice President and Director of Communications Ryan McConnaughey told WyoFile. “Connecting in Guernsey allows product to be transported to refining hubs like Cushing, Oklahoma.” WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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LARAMIE — Nasir Meyer converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining to give Wyoming Cowboys men’s basketball the lead for good, and Wyoming held Air Force Falcons men’s basketball scoreless over the final two minutes to secure a 66-62 victory Saturday night.
The win marked the 13th home victory of the season for Wyoming, which improved to 16-13 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
“Air Force deserves all the credit and let’s talk about a team that has every reason not to fight, but thats why they are Air Force and the cadets and I have a lot of respect for them,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “They were not going to quit, and I didn’t drive that message home enough and hats off to Air Force because they deserved to win. We snuck away with a win. Adam Harakow showed when we need him and he was massive for us. Simm-Marten was made big plays and Naz was clutch for us late.”
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Wyoming shot 35% from the field and went 7 of 28 from 3-point range, making just two from beyond the arc in the second half. Air Force shot 49% overall and 44% from 3, hitting eight shots from long distance. The Cowboys made 13 of 16 free throws (81%) and scored 22 points off 15 Air Force turnovers while holding a 39-36 edge in rebounding.
Damarion Dennis led Wyoming with 16 points and three assists, going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Meyer finished with 14 points and tied a career best with eight rebounds. Adam Harakow added 14 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting, his first double-figure scoring game since the first meeting with Air Force. Simm-Marten Saadi had nine points in 13 minutes, and Kiani Saxon grabbed seven rebounds.
Air Force opened with back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 6-0 lead. Meyer scored Wyoming’s first basket, and Leland Walker added a 3-pointer to make it 8-5 with 16 minutes left in the first half.
Wyoming responded with a 9-0 run over nearly four minutes, with Saadi and Harakow each connecting from beyond the arc to give the Cowboys an 11-8 lead with under 14 minutes remaining. Air Force regained a 12-11 advantage as Wyoming went scoreless for more than two minutes.
Harakow’s second 3-pointer pushed the lead to 22-16 with nine minutes left in the half, and Wyoming used a 6-0 run while holding the Falcons without a field goal for more than four minutes to build a 28-18 lead with six minutes remaining. The Cowboys closed the half on a defensive stand, keeping Air Force scoreless for the final two minutes to take a 35-25 lead into the break. Wyoming scored 15 first-half points off turnovers.
The teams traded 3-pointers early in the second half, and Air Force cut the deficit to 40-31 with under 17 minutes left before trimming it to seven 90 seconds later. Walker answered with a 3-pointer to make it 43-33 with 15 minutes to go.
Air Force used a 9-0 run during a stretch in which Wyoming went more than 3 1/2 minutes without a point to pull within one with nine minutes left. The Falcons later tied the game at 51-51 with 5:30 remaining after forcing six straight missed shots.
A pair of free throws by Meyer and a basket from Saadi gave Wyoming a 57-53 lead with under four minutes to play. Air Force answered with three consecutive 3-pointers from Kam Sanders to take a 62-59 lead with two minutes left.
Meyer scored with 90 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one. On the next trip, he converted an and-one to give Wyoming a 64-62 lead with 35 seconds left. The Cowboys added late free throws to close out the 66-62 win.
Sanders led Air Force with 16 points and nine rebounds, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Eli Robinson added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Wyoming closes its home schedule Tuesday against Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Cowgirls.
The 2-time defending champ Tongue River girls, along with both teams from Big Horn will represent Sheridan County in the small school version of March Madness.
Click here to see results from the regional tournaments.
2A Boys:
First Round:
Thursday, March 5th: (All games played at Casper College)
(#2E) Big Horn vs. (#3W) Shoshoni – Noon
(#1W) Thermopolis vs. (#4E) Sundance – 1:30pm
(#2W) Wyoming Indian vs. (#3E) Wright – 6:30pm
(#1E) Pine Bluffs vs. (#4W) Rocky Mountain – 8pm
Friday, March 6th: (All games played at Ford Wyoming Center)
Consolation Round:
Big Horn/Shoshoni loser vs. Thermopolis/Sundance loser – Noon LOSER OUT!
Wyoming Indian/Wright loser vs. Pine Bluffs/Rocky Mountain loser – 1:30pm LOSER OUT!
Semi-Finals:
Big Horn/Shoshoni winner vs. Thermopolis/Sundance winner – 6:30pm
Wyoming Indian/Wright winner vs. Pine Bluffs/Rocky Mountain winner – 8pm
Saturday, March 7th:
Friday Noon winner vs. Friday 1:30pm – Noon at Ford Wyoming Center Consolation Championship
Friday 6:30pm loser vs. Friday 8pm loser – 3pm at Natrona County High School 3rd Place
Friday 6:30pm winner vs. Friday 8pm winner – 7pm at Ford Wyoming Center Championship
2A Girls:
First Round:
Thursday, March 5th: (All games played at Casper College)
(#2W) Wyoming Indian vs. (#3E) Big Horn – 9am
(#1E) Sundance vs. (#4W) Shoshoni – 10:30am
(#2E) Tongue River vs. (#3W) Greybull – 3:30pm
(#1W) Thermopolis vs. (#4E) Pine Bluffs – 5pm
Friday, March 6th: (All games played at Ford Wyoming Center)
Consolation Round:
Wyoming Indian/Big Horn loser vs. Sundance/Shoshoni loser – 9am LOSER OUT!
Tongue River/Greybull loser vs. Thermopolis/Pine Bluffs loser – 10:30am LOSER OUT!
Semi-Finals:
Wyoming Indian/Big Horn winner vs. Sundance/Shoshoni winner – 3:30pm
Tongue River/Greybull loser vs. Thermopolis/Pine Bluffs loser – 5pm
Saturday, March 7th:
Friday 9am winner vs. Friday 10:30am winner – 9am at Ford Wyoming Center Consolation Championship
Friday 3:30pm loser vs. Friday 5pm loser – 10:30am at Ford Wyoming Center 3rd Place
Friday 3:30pm winner vs. Friday 5pm winner – 5:30pm at Ford Wyoming Center Championship
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