• UW closes season with two home games
The Wyoming Cowboys in conjunction with the Mountain West Conference announced the 2026 football schedule on Monday afternoon. The slate features a season opener against an Old Rival with an exciting home schedule that features the Pokes in Laramie in back-to-back weeks twice, as the slate features trips to a pair of new conference foes.
Season Ticket Renewals
Renewals for your 2026 football season tickets are now available. You may renew online by visiting www.gowyo.com/tickets and logging into your account.
The Cowboys open the season with a trip to Colorado State for the Border War on September 5. The Pokes then open the home slate with a matchup with Front Range foe Northern Colorado on September 12. The Pokes will head to Central Michigan on September 19 for a showdown with the Chippewas.
Wyoming opens conference play on September 26 hosting Hawai’i and then makes back-to-back road trips visiting North Dakota State on October 3 and San Jose State on October 10.
The Pokes welcome Northern Illinois to Laramie on October 17 and the following week face Air Force in War Memorial Stadium on October 24. Wyoming will have an open week on Halloween.
UW opens the month of November with roads trips to UNLV (November 7) and UTEP (November 14) for the first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming wraps up conference play hosting New Mexico on November 21 and closes the regular season with a non-conference game against UCONN on November 28 in Laramie.
Each team will play four home and four away Conference games over a 13-week schedule, culminating in the Mountain West Football Championship Game, featuring the two teams with the highest Conference winning percentages. The MW Championship game date will be announced at a later date.
With the 2026 MW schedule announced, the Conference’s national television partners, CBS Sports, FOX Sports and The CW, will now initiate a selection procedure that will include shifting some games to non-Saturday dates. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times.
Home Schedule
Cowboys Ready to Ride in 2026
Third-year head coach Jay Sawvel brings back a solid and talented nucleus along with a host of talented transfers on both sides of the ball, as Wyoming looks to be a threat in the new look Mountain West Conference.
UW welcomes back 28 lettermen from last season. Wyoming signed 41 players for the 2026 season in December and during the transfer portal window and has 28 returning lettermen. Sawvel added 20 transfers with eight on the offensive side of the ball and 11 on defense along with a special teamer. In total, Wyoming added 21 players on defense, 19 on offense and one specialist.
The Cowboy offense will be led by new offensive coordinator Christian Taylor, who comes to Laramie after serving on staff with the Buffalo Bills. Transfer quarterback Tyler Hughes played for Taylor at William & Mary College. Hughes earned All-CAA honors last season and was the first quarterback in the school’s history to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 600. He will be joined in the backfield by explosive running back Samuel “Tote” Harris, who rushed for 558 yards last season leading the Cowboys. He also added 16 catches for 184 yards. Wide receiver Deion DeBlanc had 17 catches for 90 yards last season and also added a touchdown on the ground with both players contributing as true freshmen. They will be joined by a pair of experienced tackles in Rex Johnsen and Braylon Jenkins.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl welcomes back key starters and contributors along all three levels. Safety Jones Thomas is Wyoming’s leading returning tackler with 57 last season. He also tied for the team lead in interceptions with one being returned for a touchdown. Ethan Stuhlsatz played extended time at linebacker with 41 tackles. Nickel Desman Hearns was solid in his first season with the Pokes with 35 tackles, as he tied for the team lead in interceptions with Thomas and added a team-high five pass breakups. Defensive tackle Jayden Williams is a veteran in the middle of the defense with 24 tackles last season to go along with three tackles for loss.
Wyoming returns one of the nation’s top punters in Bart Edmiston. He averaged 46.1 yards per punt last season with 26 punts of 50 or more yards with 22 inside the 20-yard line. DeBlanc will be back on returns, as he averaged 16.7 yards per punt return last season including a touchdown.
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