Pokes, ‘Dogs meet in regular-season finale Friday in Fresno
* University of Wyoming press release
LARAMIE -- Thanksgiving Week for the Wyoming Cowboys will include a trip to Fresno, Calif., to play the Fresno State Bulldogs in a special Friday night game.
The Cowboys (7-4 overall and 5-2 in the MW) are in second place in the Mountain West Mountain Division, while the Bulldogs (7-4, 6-1 in the MW) have captured the West Division of the Mountain West.
Friday’s game is schedule to kick off at 8 p.m., Mountain Time (7 p.m., Pacific).
Where to Watch and Listen
Every Cowboy Football game is broadcast live on the 26 affiliates of the Cowboy Sports Network. Announcers are Keith Kelley, Play-by-Play (1st year), Kevin McKinney, Color Analyst (25th year) and Erick Pauley, Sideline Reporter (1st year). The pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
Friday’s Wyoming-Fresno State game will be televised by FS1. Calling the game for FS1 will be Guy Haberman (Play-by-play) and Will Blackmon (Color Analyst).
Wyoming Cowboys the Surprise Team in the Mountain West in 2022
The Wyoming Cowboys are the surprise team of the 2002 season in the Mountain West Conference.
Wyoming was picked to finish 5th in the Mountain Division in a preseason poll of conference media members. The Cowboys are in 2nd place in the Mountain entering this week’s final regular-season game.
UW defeated every team but one in the Mountain Division -- that one team being first place Boise State. No other team in the conference exceeded expectations like the Cowboys have, posting a 7-4 record and a 5-2 conference mark.
Mountain Division
Current Standings Preseason Picks
Boise State 7-0 Boise State 1st
Wyoming 5-2 Wyoming 5th
Utah State 5-2 Utah State 3rd
Air Force 4-3 Air Force 2nd
Colorado State 2-5 Colorado State 4th
New Mexico 0-7 New Mexico 6th
West Division
Current Standings Preseason Picks
Fresno State 6-1 Fresno State 1st
San Diego St. 5-2 San Diego St. 2nd
San Jose St. 4-3 San Jose St. 3rd
UNLV 2-5 UNLV 5th
Hawai’i 2-5 Hawai’i 6th
Nevada 0-7 Nevada 4th
Two of the Nation’s Winningest Active Head Coaches Will Face Off in Wyoming-Fresno State Game
Two of college football’s winningest active head coaches will face off when the Wyoming Cowboys and Fresno State Bulldogs play this Friday. Wyoming’s Craig Bohl currently ranks as the 11th winningest coach among active FBS head coaches with 156 career wins. Fresno State’ Jeff Tedford ranks as the 20th winningest active head coach with 115 wins.
Cowboy Linebacker Easton Gibbs Among Top Tacklers in the Mountain West and the Nation
Wyoming sophomore linebacker Easton Gibbs leads the Cowboys in tackles this season with 99 tackles. He is averaging 9.0 tackles per game to rank No. 3 in the Mountain West and No. 31 nationally. A year ago, he tallied 90 tackles, nearly reaching the elite 100-tackle mark. Gibbs enters this week with 231 career tackles.
Hoyland Ties the Wyoming School Record for Most Field Goals in a Single Season
Cowboy sophomore place-kicker John Hoyland will enter this week’s Fresno State game with 20 made field goals for the 2022 season. Hoyland is tied for the school record of 20 made field goals in a single-season with Cory Wedel, who made 20 field goals in the 1996 season, and J.D. Wallum, who made 20 in the 2001 season.
Titus Swen Nearing Wyoming’s Top 10 Career Rushers, 15th Cowboy to Rush for 2,000 Career Yards
Cowboy running back Titus Swen is pursuing elite status in the history of Wyoming Football. The junior is moving closer and closer to Wyoming’s Top-10 career rushing list.
Swen enters this week with 2,098 career rushing yards and is only 90 yards away from the all-time Top 10 in Wyoming history. His 212 rushing yards vs. Boise State on Nov. 19, 2022, pushed him over the 2,000-yard mark for his career, making him only the 15th Cowboy to reach that milestone.
Swen Needs Only 36 Yards to Record His First 1,000-Yard Rushing Season
Wyoming junior running back Titus Swen will enter this week’s game with 964 rushing yards this season and needs only 36 rushing yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau for the season. It would be Swen’s first 1,000-yard rushing season.
MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS FROM 7220SPORTS:
* Saturday night marked 10th coldest Wyoming game since 1970
* Wyoming Football: News and notes ahead of Fresno State
* Step by step, Craig Bohl discusses controversial final play call
There have been 15 seasons where an individual Cowboy has rushed for 1,000 yards. Only 11 Cowboys in the 126-year history of Wyoming Football have rushed for 1,000 yards in a single season. The reason their are only 11 Cowboys who have rushed for 1,000 yards and 15 total 1,000-yard seasons is because Brian Hill, Ryan Christopherson, Dabby Dawson and Xazavian Valladay each posted two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in their careers.
Wyoming-Fresno State Common Opponents
Wyoming and Fresno State have played four common opponents this season -- Boise State, Hawai’i, New Mexico and San Jose State.
The Cowboys and Bulldogs both defeated Hawai’i and New Mexico. Both teams lost to Boise State, while Fresno State defeated San Jose State and Wyoming lost to the Spartans.
Common Wyoming Boise State
Opponents Versus Versus
Boise State L 17-20 (H) L 20-40 (A)
Hawai’i W 27-20 (A) W 55-13 (H)
New Mexico W 27-14 (A) W 41-9 (A)
San Jose State L 16-33 (H) W 17-10 (H)
About the Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State, like Wyoming, has a 7-4 overall record this season. The Bulldogs are 6-1 in Mountain West Conference play and captured the West Division title. Fresno State will play in the MW Championship Game on Dec. 3 in Boise, Idaho.
The Bulldogs were the preseason favorite to win the West Division this season. They began the year with a win over Cal Poly before falling to Oregon State in the second game of the year. In the third game at USC, Bulldog quarterback Jake Haener suffered an ankle injury, courtesy of former Wyoming defensive end, Solomon Byrd.
Heaner would go on to miss the next four games. FS lost the first two games without Haener at UConn and at Boise State, but came back to win vs. San Jose State and New Mexico behind quarterback Logan Fife. Those two wins started a six-game winning streak, which Fresno State will carry into this Friday’s game.
Cowboys Earn Bowl Eligibility for the Sixth Time in Seven Seasons
The Wyoming Cowboys earned their sixth win of the 2022 season on Saturday, Oct. 29 with a 27-20 road victory over the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors, and with that sixth win earned bowl eligibility for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. Wyoming added a seventh win on Nov. 12 at Colorado State by a score of, 14-13.
Under the direction of head coach Craig Bohl, Wyoming has appeared in the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl, the 2017 and 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowls and the 2019 Arizona Bowl. Wyoming was also bowl eligible in 2018 with a 6-6 record but did not receive a bowl bid.
Coach Bohl and his staff are the only coaching staff in school history to win three bowl games (in 2017, ‘19 and ‘21) and are the only coaching staff to take Wyoming to four bowl games in a six-year time span (2016-21).
Next Up
After traveling to Fresno State, Wyoming will await the announcement of 2022 bowl invitations, which will begin being made after completion of conference championship games the weekend of Dec. 2-3.
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