Laramie, Wyo. (Feb. 16, 2022) — The Mountain West Conference and its member schools announced their 2022 football schedules on Wednesday.  The Wyoming Cowboys will kick off their 2022 schedule in “Zero” Week on Saturday, Aug. 27 when they will travel to Champaign, Ill., to play the University of Illinois Fighting Illini.  Wyoming will have four of its first six games of the season at home in 2022.

The Cowboys’ 2022 schedule will feature six home games and six road games.  There are seven teams on Wyoming’s 2022 schedule who earned bowl bids last season, including non-conference opponents BYU and Tulsa and Mountain West Conference opponents Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai’i and Utah State.  Four of those postseason teams will play in Laramie — Tulsa, Air Force, Boise State and Utah State.  The Cowboys concluded the 2021 season with a 52-38 win over Kent State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Home Schedule

The home opener is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3 against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.  That will be the first of three consecutive home games in the month of September.  UW will host Northern Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 10, and will open conference play against Air Force in Laramie on Saturday, Sept. 17. 

The fourth home game in the first six games of the season will be on Saturday, Oct. 1 against San Jose State.  Wyoming will also host Utah State on Saturday, Oct. 22.

The final regular-season home game of the 2022 season will be on Saturday, Nov. 19 versus Boise State.

Road Schedule

In addition to its trip to Illinois, Wyoming will renew an old rivalry on Saturday, Sept. 24 when the Cowboys travel to Provo, Utah, to take on the BYU Cougars.

Mountain West Conference road games for the Pokes will include road trips to: New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 8; at Hawai’i on Saturday, Oct. 29; at Colorado State for the “Border War: on Saturday, Nov. 12; and the regular-season finale at Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 26.

Future 2022 Schedule Information

Wednesday’s schedule announcement completed the first phase of the 2022 Mountain West football scheduling process.  Televised games, game times and potential moves of some games to Fridays will be announced by the Mountain West at future dates.

Ticket Information

•Season tickets are currently available for purchase to the 2022 Wyoming Football season.  Season-ticket packages start at $159 for adults and $89 for children ages 3-12 years old.

•More details on season-ticket sales are available online at www.GoWyo.com/tickets.  Fans may also call (307) 766-7220 regarding season-tickets or email tickets@uwyo.edu.  The main athletics ticket office is located on the west side of the Arena-Auditorium on Willett Drive. 

2022 University of Wyoming

Football Schedule

Date                 Opponent (Special Events)                                        Time (M.T.)         Television

Sat., Aug. 27     at Illinois                                                                    TBA                  TBA

Sat., Sept. 3      TULSA                                                                       TBA                  TBA

Sat., Sept. 10    NORTHERN COLORADO                                            TBA                  TBA

Sat., Sept. 17    AIR FORCE*                                                               TBA                  TBA

Sat., Sept. 24     at BYU                                                                       TBA                  TBA

Sat., Oct. 1       SAN JOSE STATE*                                                      TBA                  TBA

Sat., Oct. 8        at New Mexico*                                                         TBA                  TBA

Sat., Oct. 15      BYE

Sat., Oct. 22     UTAH STATE*                                                            TBA                  TBA

Sat., Oct. 29      at Hawai’i*                                                                TBA                  TBA

Sat., Nov. 5       BYE

Sat., Nov. 12     at Colorado State*                                                     TBA                  TBA

Sat., Nov. 19     BOISE STATE*                                                           TBA                  TBA

Sat., Nov. 26     at Fresno STate*                                                        TBA                  TBA

Sat., Dec. 3        Mountain West Championship Game+                        TBA                  TBA

Game dates are tentative and subject to change

Game times and television coverage will be announced at future dates by the Mountain West Conference

BOLD AND CAPS Indicate Home games

*Indicates Mountain West Conference games

+The Mountain West Football Championship Game will be played at the home stadium of one of the divisional champions based on the current MW policy in place to determine the host team.

2022 Wyoming Cowboy Football Team

About the 2022 Cowboy Football Team

Wyoming Cowboy Football is in the midst of one of its most successful periods in its history.  Last year’s appearance and victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl marked Wyoming’s fourth bowl appearance in six seasons, dating back to the 2016 season.  That is the first time that has been accomplished by Wyoming Football in program history.

The Cowboys win over Kent State in last year’s bowl game also marked the third consecutive bowl win by the Pokes, which was the first time that had been accomplished since the 1950s and ‘60s.

UW also had 16 players on NFL rosters during the 2021 season, more than any other program in the Mountain West Conference.

Returning Cowboys Who’ve Earned Honors During Their Careers

The 2022 Wyoming Cowboys will be led by five players who earned All-Conference recognition in 2021.  Running back Titus Swen and nose tackle Cole Godbout both earned Second Team All-MW recognition from Pro Football Focus (PFF).  Offensive tackle Frank Crum, linebacker Easton Gibbs and kick returner Cameron Stone all received Honorable Mention All-MW recognition from PFF.

Other key returnees who have been honored during the Wyoming careers are former Freshman All-Americans Solomon Byrd at defensive end and John Hoyland at place-kicker. 

Experienced Cowboys Returning in 2022

There are 42 lettermen and 26 players with starting experience returning for the Cowboys in 2022. 

On offense the Pokes return experienced players in: running backs Titus Swen and Dawaiian McNeely; offensive linemen Eric Abojei, Latrell Bible, Frank Crum and Zach Watts; wide recievers Joshua Cobbs, Alex Brown and Wyatt Wieland; fullback Caleb Driskill; and tight ends Parker Christensen, Colin O’Brien, Treyton Welch and Jackson Marcotte

On defense, experienced linebackers Easton Gibbs and Shae Suiaunoa return.  Defensive linemen Cole Godbout, Jordan Bertagnole, Solomon Byrd, Teagan Liufau, DeVonne Harris, Gavin Meyer and Caleb Robinson are back.  In the secondary, talented players with starting experience include: Keonte Glinton, Cameron Stone, Isaac White and MIles Williams.

And on special teams, starting place-kicker John Hoyland, starting punter Ralph Fawaz, kicker returner Cameron Stone and punt returner Caleb Cooley are all back.

Other Highlights of the 2022 Football Schedule

Cowboys to Play Four of Their Oldest Rivals With Renewal of BYU Rivalry in 2022 

The 2022 season will see the Wyoming Cowboys play four of their oldest rivals all in the same season.  Of course the oldest rivalry for the Cowboys is the “Border War” rivalry with Colorado State, which will be played for the 114th time in 2022.  The third oldest rivalry for Wyoming is against BYU.  The two teams will be meeting for the 79th time this season.  The two teams last played in the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl.  Wyoming and New Mexico will be playing each other for the 75th time in 2022.  That is UW’s fourth oldest rivalry, and the Cowboys and Utah State will meet for the 72nd time this season and is the fifth longest series for Wyoming.  The only one of its old rivals that UW will not play this season is Utah, who ranks No. 2 in Wyoming’s oldest rivalries with 83 previous meetings.

Cowboys to Play Illinois of the Big Ten for the First Time in History 

UW will open the 2022 season in Champaign, Ill., against the University of Illinois.  The two teams have never played each other in football.  Illinois is coming off a 2021 season that saw them post a 5-7 record, but the Illini finished the season strong defeating two Top 25 ranked teams in the final five weeks of the 2021 campaign.  Illinois won on the road at then No. 7 ranked Penn State by a score of 20-18 in 9 overtimes on Oct. 23.  It was the longest game in terms of number of overtimes in FBS history.  The Illinis also won on the road at then No. 20 ranked Minnesota on Nov. 6 by a score of 14-6.

Playing “Zero” Week Means Two Bye Weeks for the Cowboys in 2020

Wyoming will be one of four MW schools kicking off the season in what is called “Zero” Week on Saturday, Aug. 27.  Because of playing “Zero” Week, Wyoming will have two byes this season.  UW’s first Bye week will be on Saturday, Oct 15 after a road game at New Mexico on Oct. 8 and the second Bye week will come on Saturday, Nov. 5 after returning from a road trip to Hawai’i the previous week.