Pokes, Falcons to Meet Friday Night for 64th Time in History

LARAMIE -- The last time Air Force waltzed into War Memorial Stadium and won a football game, the final score was the last thing anyone was talking about.

A postgame tirade, courtesy of former Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen, stole the headlines. Those remarks, colorful in nature -- to say the least -- were caught on camera and played for all the world to see. The fallout was so serious that Christensen was docked $50,000 and suspended for one game.

That came all the way back in 2012.

What was at the root of that postgame chew-out session? Christensen claimed Troy Calhoun "faked an injury" to his starting quarterback late in regulation, allowing the back-up, Kale Pearson, to take additional snaps on the sideline on that rain-soaked night in Laramie before leading the visitors into the end zone from five yards out, lifting the Falcons to a 28-27 victory.

Calhoun and Co. haven't tasted victory on the high plains since. That's five straight losses.

"Ultimately, when you think about that, I think that's unacceptable," Air Force running back Owen Allen said. "I think that's a curse, so to speak, that we're hoping to break and we're planning on breaking. I think it's a tribute to them and their fans, just that atmosphere they're able to create there year in and year out. But those are the kind of games you live for."

The Cowboys (4-3, 3-1) and Falcons (5-1, 3-1) will kick it all off at 7 p.m. Friday night. The game will be televised on The CW.

The Cowboys will wear special coal-themed uniforms against the Falcons. Wyoming Athletics partnered with the Wyoming Mining Association for a special jersey that honors the State of Wyoming's rich coal-mining history, as the partnership enters its second season.

Jay Sawvel's team, clad in all black, blanked Border War rival Colorado State 28-0 last October.

The game will also feature pregame and in-game salutes to the coal mining industry.

Fans are encouraged to wear black to the contest against Air Force. The Brown and Gold Outlet has Cowboys & Coal gear at their locations in Laramie and Cheyenne and online on the link here.

Ticket Information for This Season
Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:
• Go to GoWyo.com/tickets
• Email tickets@uwyo.edu
• Call (307) 766-7220
• Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.

Contest on The CW
Friday’s contest will be televised on The CW with Chris Fisher on the call, Isaiah Stanback analyzing the action and Bryan Walters on the sidelines. Fans can also stream the contest on the WatchESPN App.

Listen Live
The game will also be available on the 26 stations of The Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call, Kevin McKinney on color and Erick Pauley on the sidelines.

Back in Black: Wyoming will wear black for the second-straight season in the contest against Air Force as part of the Cowboys and Coal game. The Adizero Electric Jersey, produced by Adidas and designed by Wyoming Athletics, is black and white and will feature script font that spells out Wyoming on the chest. The main feature of the jersey is a coal print on the lower part of the jersey and top of the pants. The coal print represents pieces of coal, as the State of Wyoming leads the nation in coal production. It is joined by the Adidas logo on the left and Mountain West logo on the right. The player’s name will be joined on the back of the jersey along with a Steamboat logo. The stripe on the pants will be both white and dark grey and will be joined by logos. All marks on the jersey have a charcoal gray outline. The helmet by Riddell will feature a white stripe down the middle along with a white Steamboat logo. The color of the helmet is ultra-flat black with a standard black dipped facemask and a black chinstrap. "Yes, we talk about it," said wideout Ke'Lyn Washom, who redshirted in 2025 and didn't get to sport the new look. "We were talking about it all last week, too."

Hughes Named MW Offensive Player of the Week: University of Wyoming quarterback Tyler Hughes was named the Old Trapper Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. It marks back-to-back weeks that a Cowboy player has earned a weekly Mountain West honor, as kicker Erik Sandvik earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors last week. Hughes rushed for 183 yards in the contest against Northern Illinois along with four touchdowns. He was also 16-of-19 passing for 196 yards. Hughes’ career-high 183 yards in the contest was the most by a Cowboy quarterback since Levi Williams rushed for 200 yards against Kent State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2021. His four touchdowns were also the most since Williams had four in that contest. It was the first 150-yard rushing game for the Pokes since Harrison Waylee had 191 against New Mexico on Sept. 30, 2023. It was the 14th best rushing performance by a quarterback in MW history. He helped lead the Wyoming offense to a season-high 41 points along with a season-best 510 yards for the most in a game for the Brown and Gold since 2024. UW is off to a 3-1 start in conference play and hosts Air Force on Friday evening. "He told me, just go play," Hughes said postgame, referring to a conversation with head coach Jay Sawvel, following the 28-0 road loss to North Dakota State. "Like, go play football how you know how to do it. Those words pretty much set in for me and I've been able to put together two pretty solid weeks."

Markell Goes Over 2,000: Wyoming running back rushed 14 times for 80 yards in the contest against Northern Illinois. He went over 2,000 yards in his collegiate career. He now has rushed for 2,043 yards in his collegiate career. He went over 2,000 career yards on the Pokes second drive of the game. He has rushed 72 times this season for 402 yards.

Pokes Over 300 on the Ground: Wyoming had a big day on the ground against Northern Illinois rushing for 314 yards. Wyoming rushed for over 300 yards since rushing for 365 against Hawai’i Oct. 29, 2022. Hughes led the team with 183 yards on the ground with Markell Holman adding 80 and Nico Hamilton adding a career-best 31 yards on eight carries. Wyoming has rushed for 545 yards over the last two games.

Getting to the Quarterback: Wyoming recorded a season-high five sacks in the contest against Northern Illinois. It was a season-high for the Brown and Gold, as five different players recorded a sack in the contest. UW is third in the MW and No. 38 in the nation with 2.4 sacks per game for the season. The Pokes have had 14 sacks over the last four games. "Yes, since I've been the DC," Aaron Bohl said when asked if this is the best pass-rush unit he's had during his tenure in Laramie. "I think they've done a really good job. We have a couple people that have played really well, but they're all rushing really well together, which is important."

Tackles for Loss: Wyoming recorded six tackles for loss in the win over Northern Illinois. The Pokes rank third in the MW this season and No. 58 in the nation with 5.6 tackles for loss per game this season. Wyoming has 25 over the last four games.
Sandvik with Another Big Week: Wyoming kicker Erik Sandvik had another solid week for the Brown and Gold. He hit a pair of field goals in the contest and is a perfect 10-for-10 this season to lead the nation in field goal percentage, as he is one of 12 players in the nation to not miss a field goal this season. He also booted seven touchbacks on seven kickoffs in the contest.

New Faces Earn Sacks: Wyoming recorded five sacks in the win over Northern Illinois on Saturday. What was impressive was that two Cowboys earned their first career sacks in the game. Defensive end Kevin Sjogren added his first along with defensive tackle Tani Maafala-Barabasa. Defensive tackle Ja’Quan Redfern and linebacker Steven Perez recorded their first solo sacks of their career.

Friday Night Lights: Wyoming will play its second of three games on Friday this week with the contest against Air Force. Wyoming won at San Jose State in overtime on Friday, Oct. 16. Wyoming will also face New Mexico in November on a Friday night.

Richardson’s Career Day: Wyoming wide receiver Eric Richardson had a solid day for the Pokes. He hauled in five passes for a career-high in the Brown and Gold and also had 77 yards receiving for a career-high for the Cowboys. He grabbed a 40-yard reception in the second half for a season-high reception for the wide receiver room. "Shoot, the receivers we got, man, are just hard-nosed guys," Richardson said. "So, we just keep our nose in, keep our head in it, keep our heads down and just keep working. You know, whenever ball comes to us, try to capitalize on every opportunity. Shoot, I feel like that's what happened today."

Thomas and Deflections: Wyoming safety Jones Thomas recorded a career-high three pass breakups in the contest against Northern Illinois. He has broken up a career-high nine passes this season and also has two interceptions. He ranks first in the Mountain West and third in the nation in 1.57 passes defended per contest this season. He also leads the Pokes with 50 tackles on the season.

Big Day for the Offense: Wyoming’s offense had a big day against Northern Illinois scoring a season-high 41 points to go along with a season-high 510 yards of total offense. UW rushed for over 300 yards in the contest and had 10 plays of 10 or more rushing yards. The Wyoming offense recorded 500 yards of offense for the first time since recording 604 yards at New Mexico on Nov. 2, 2024. "It felt great," Hughes said. "We've had a very tough past six weeks, and I think the guys did a really good job of just coming in and preparing, and not letting the outside noise affect what we have inside these buildings. We put together a great week of practice, and we came out and executed the best we have all year."

Red Hot in Red Zone: "It was awesome," starting left tackle Rex Johnsen said of the Cowboys' 5-for-5 day inside the Huskies' 20-yard line. "I mean, obviously, the last couple games we've been struggling with that, so we weren't going to get denied today. That was our main goal. Once we get in the red zone, we're scoring that b----." Hughes scored two red-zone touchdowns and his backup Landon Sims added one. Erik Sandvik was also 2-for-2 on short field goals.

Coenen on Offense and Special Teams: Wyoming wide receiver and punt returner Charlie Coenen had a strong day in both departments. He recorded a season-high 24-yard punt return to set up a score to close the half and added two catches for 20 yards. He ranks third in the MW and top-40 in the nation with 9.4 yards per punt return this season.

Injuries: Sawvel said Monday that starting safety Brooklyn Cheek would be sidelined for the foreseeable future with a right knee injury. On the initial availability report, though, Cheek is now listed as "questionable." So is defensive tackle Dante Drake and tight end Gage Brook. Cornerback Ian Bell (foot) remains out of action.

Pokes in Conference Play: Wyoming is off to a 3-1 start in conference play for the best start in the Mountain West since the 2022 season, which the Pokes opened conference play with a recorded of 5-1.

Chunk Plays on the Ground: Wyoming recorded 10 rushes of 10 or more yards in the contest against Northern Illinois. Those 10 plays came up for 215 yards of total offense. Wyoming headed into the game with 39 rushes of 10 or more yards this season and now have 49 on the season with ranks in the top-10 in FBS this season.

Give Me a Gift: Air Force, along with Boise State, lead the nation in time of possession, holding onto the ball for more than 36 minutes per game. The Falcons are also atop the stat sheet when it comes to fourth-down conversions. They are 13-of-15 in that all-important category. Ball carriers in Colorado Springs have yet to put the ball on the turf through six games. That's zero fumbles on 380 rushing plays.

Bulletin-Board Material?: These cadets are pretty confident heading into this matchup, considering the Air Force program is riding a 5-game losing skid in Laramie. Running back Owen Allen Tuesday said he is embracing the villain role and likes being "hated." He can't wait to play on a Friday night, too. Why? "(There will be) plenty of time to celebrate the weekend after the victory." Roger Jones Jr., the safety who picked off Evan Svoboda in the end zone last October in Colorado Springs, is also expecting to leave Wyoming with a victory. "At the end of the day, it's just a 100-yard field there," he told the local press. "I don't know what they have in that air over there that we have not won there, but that's going to change this week. That's all I can say about that. I'm excited for it."

About Air Force
The Falcons, coming off an impressive 41-31 home victory over UNLV, are off to the program’s best start since opening the 2023 campaign 8-0.

Quarterback Evan Medders, who has taken over the triple-option attack for injured starter Liam Szarka, ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way.

"Honestly, I think Medders can throw the ball really well," Bohl, the Cowboys' third-year defensive coordinator said. "I think that (lack of throwing) has more to do with the nature of these games they've been in with teams having to be able to stop throws. They don't have to pass. I think you're seeing a guy that's not as big, but he's a very explosive athlete.

"Medders is the most dangerous guy on the field, and he gets the ball every snap. That's obviously nerve-wracking."

Air Force finished with 430 rushing yards against the Rebels after racking up 439 yards in a 28-7 win at Northern Illinois the week before. The Falcons rank second in the FBS in rushing (343.0 ypg) behind rival Army (357.5 ypg).
Szarka passed for 296 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions before suffering a season-ending injury. Medders is 5-for-10 passing for 65 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions this season.

Air Force has run 431 offensive plays this season without losing a fumble. The Falcons have not fumbled since the second quarter against New Mexico in 2025, a streak of 549 total plays.

Defensively, Air Force has allowed 19.7 points (38th) and 295.7 yards (23rd) per game. Senior linebacker Blake Fletcher is second in the MW in tackles per game (10.67).

"Blake Fletcher is a very good linebacker that does not get himself out of position and makes a number of plays," Sawvel said.

* A UW press release contributed to this article

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