Gear Up For Game Day: UNC Bears

LARAMIE -- All of those familiar emotions came flooding back.

He was supposed to be walking into the home locker room. "Wanted Dead or Alive," blaring from the War Memorial Stadium speakers signaled his time to run out of the tunnel with his teammates.

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"You start to almost tear up a little bit, and then you remember: 'Oh, I'm wearing blue and gold,'" said Cameron Murray, who played in Laramie from 2018-21 before capping his career at Northern Colorado.

Now, back on the high plains for his second year as a UW graduate assistant, Murray recalled that September day in 2022 and his return to his former stomping grounds. He left via the NCAA Transfer Portal for one simple reason: Playing time. There was zero animosity toward the program or then-head coach Craig Bohl, he said.

That's what made the afternoon even more surreal.

Mainly lining up across from Wyoming wideouts Josh Cobbs, Alex Brown, Wyatt Wieland and Ryan Marquez, Murray had a career day, tallying, at the time, a career-best seven tackles. They were all solo stops, too. He also broke up a pass as the Bears limited the home team to just nine points in the first half.

Admittedly, that was one of Murray's better individual performances, but that's not what he remembers most from that outing.

Then UNC head coach Ed McCaffrey surprised him by sending the junior out to midfield for the coin toss -- by himself. There was also a little trash talk. It wasn't with a receiver, either, but offensive lineman Zach Watts.

"I'm like, 'Hey, I'm your buddy,'" Murray said with a smile. "'Don't do me like that. You don't have to put me in the dirt.'"

After the final cannon blast and a 33-10 loss, Murray said his fondest memory is Bohl taking off his hat and tipping it in his direction for a job well done.

"I'll never forget that," he said. "That was a cool moment. I have a lot of love and respect for coach Bohl. For him to do that, it just showed the love and respect he has for me. So, I was very fortunate."

Murray racked up 62 tackles during his two-year stint in Greeley. He added two interceptions. Those came in home losses to Weber State and Portland State. The Aurora, Colo., native also forced a fumble against Incarnate Word.

Will it be a sentimental moment seeing the Bears and his former head coach Ed Lamb on the opposing sideline Saturday in Laramie?

Though that staff helped develop him and make him the man he is today, Murray said, he has a job to do: Making sure Cowboy safeties are always in the right place at the right time against a potent UNC offense.

"I'm very blessed to compete against them," he added. "You know you're maturing and getting older because I was a player, once playing with them, and now I'm a coach, going against them."

EXTRA POINTS:

* UNC has some local flavor on its roster. Trey Olsen, the team's leading receiver, was first a Wyoming Cowboy. Sophomore linebacker Colby Olson graduated from Cheyenne East.

* JB Hall, Wyoming's cornerbacks coach, served in that same role in Greeley from 2024-25.

* The most-lopsided victory in Wyoming history came against these Bears. That was a 103-0 blanking back in 1949. It included a school record 871 yards of total offense and an eye-popping average of nearly 15 yards per play. Make sure to check out Mason Riding's story on that win right HERE.

Here is all you need to know -- and the links -- for Saturday's tilt vs. UNC:

WHO: Northern Colorado (0-2, 0-1) at Wyoming (0-1, 0-0)
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. MST
WEATHER: High of 79, Low 51, Partly cloudy, Wind 10-20 mph
WHERE: War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyo. (25,000-plus capacity)
TRAVEL: WyoRoad.info
STREAMING: MW+
TV: None
RADIO: Cowboy Sports Network
TICKETS: Wyoming Ticket office
BOX SCORE: ESPN
ROSTERS: Wyoming / UNC
HISTORY: Wyoming leads the all-time series tied, 19-5-3
BETTING ODDS: UW -22.5, O/U: 47.5
HEAD COACHES: Jay Sawvel / Ed Lamb

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS VIA 7220SPORTS.COM:

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* Know Wyoming's Foe: UNC Bears

* Bohl Says He Got 'Overzealous' With Fourth-Quarter Blitz

* Wyoming Takes on UNC in Home-Opening 'Stripe Out'

* UNC Notebook: Pokes Still Grumbling Over Self-Inflicted Miscues