(Editor's note: UW Athletics release)
LARAMIE, Wyo. - It will be a rare trip to the east coast for the Wyoming Cowboy Football team when they fly to Connecticut to play the UConn Huskies Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Mountain Time (3:30 p.m., Eastern). Wyoming will enter the game 3-0 on the season. UConn is 0-4. The game will be broadcast on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl has been emphasizing to his team all season that they need to focus on going 1-0 each week. The 2021 Wyoming Cowboys were able to do that again last week with a victory over Ball State to improve to 3-0 on the season, matching the best start by a Bohl coached team at Wyoming. Wyoming last began a season 3-0 back in 2019. That 2019 team went on to post an 8-5 season, including a championship in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl.
Longest Trip of the Season on Tap for Cowboys This Week
This week’s trip for the Cowboys will be the longest of the season. The University of Connecticut is located in Storrs, Conn., but they play their home games in East Hartford, about 27 miles west of Storrs. According to Google maps, the distance between Laramie, Wyo., and Storrs, Conn., is 1912 miles. That is 760 miles longer than Wyoming’s second longest trip this season, which will be 1,152 miles to San Jose, Calif., to play the San Jose State Spartans.
Playing an FBS Independent, First Meeting vs. UConn
Wyoming will be playing against one of the few Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent teams this week when they travel to face the UConn Huskies. It will also be the first meeting between the Cowboys and Huskies in football.
There are currently only seven FBS independent teams. Those seven are: Army, BYU, Liberty, Notre Dame, New Mexico State, UMass and UConn. Wyoming has previously only played three of those teams, Army, BYU and New Mexico State.
No Cardiac Finish in Wyoming’s Dominant Performance vs. Ball State
In each of the Wyoming Cowboys first two games this season, Wyoming scored a touchdown in the last two minutes of the game to secure wins.
Against Northern Illinois, Cowboy quarterback Sean Chambers scored on a naked bootleg from nine yards out with 1:35 left in the game to give UW a 50-43 win over the Huskies.
In week one versus Montana State, Chambers found tight end Treyton Welch down the middle of the field for a 21-yard TD completion with only 47 seconds remaining in the game.
In the Cowboys most recent game last Saturday vs. defending Mid-American Conference Champion Ball State, the Pokes left no doubt about the outcome. Wyoming built a 31-0 halftime lead on way to a 45-12 victory.
Putting Up Points, Pokes Score Over 40 Points in Consecutive Games
Over the past two weeks, Wyoming has been putting up big point totals. Wyoming scored 50 in a 50-43 win at Northern Illinois and 45 in a 45-12 win against Ball State.
The last time Wyoming scored 40 or more points in consecutive games was back in 2016 when UW scored 52 in a 52-28 win over Utah State and 66 in a 66-69 loss at UNLV in triple overtime.
Prior to 2016, the last time the Cowboys scored 40 or more points in consecutive games was in 2004. Wyoming scored 53 in a 53-45 win at UNLV in triple overtime and 43 in a 43-26 win at home vs. Air Force.
Before this season’s two consecutive 40-plus point games, the last time a Wyoming team scored 40 or more in two regular length games (not involving overtime) was back to the 1996 season. Joe Tiller’s 1996 squad scored 40 or more in four consecutive games at San Jose State (45-22 win), vs. Western Michigan (42-28 win), vs. Fresno State (42-21 win) and vs. SMU (59-17 win).
Sack Explosion
After recording 2.0 sacks in each of the first two games of the season, Wyoming’s defense exploded with 6.0 sacks against Ball State on Sept. 18.
Leading the way for the Pokes was defensive tackle Ravontae Holt, who was credited with 2.5 of UW’s six sacks versus the Cardinals. Holt also had five tackles on the day to go with his 2.5 sacks. Four other Cowboys contributed to the sack explosion. Defensive ends Solomon Byrd and Victor Jones recorded 1.0 sack each. Linebacker Easton Gibbs contributed 1.0 sack, and nose tackle Cole Godbout was credited with 0.5 sacks, combining with Holt on one of the Pokes 6.0 sacks for the day.
As a team, Wyoming ranks No. 3 in the Mountain West and No. 22 in the nation in sacks this season.
Cowboy Linebacker Chad Muma’s Performance Continues to Shine in 2021
A year ago, Wyoming middle linebacker Chad Muma ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 3 in the nation in total tackles per game at 11.8, and he ranked No. 5 in the MW and No. 16 in the FBS in solo tackles (5.5/game).
In 2021, Muma is averaging 11.0 total tackles per game to rank No. 2 in the Mountain West and No. 7 among all FBS players. He is also averaging 8.7 solo tackles per game to rank No. 2 among all FBS players.
Radio Broadcast Information for the Cowboy Sports Network (CSN):
Every Cowboy Football game is broadcast live on the 26 affiliates of the Cowboy Sports Network. Announcers are Dave Walsh, Play-by-Play (38th year), Kevin McKinney, Color Analyst (24th year) and
Reece Monaco, Sideline Reporter (11th year)
The pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
