WYOMING FOOTBALL TV-Radio Coverage

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1 TV-Radio Coverage This Week s Television Information Network Televised By VERSUS Play-by-Play Announcer Paul Burmeister Color Analyst Shaun King Sideline Reporter Anthony Herron Where to Find Wyoming Games in 2011 The Mtn. 1. To Find The Mtn. on your local Cable System Go to Under Menu Item Network, click on How to Get The Mtn. and scroll down the page 2. Direct TV Channel 616 VERSUS 1. To Find VERSUS on your local Cable System Contact your local cable provider 2. Direct TV Channel 603 Radio Broadcast Information The Cowboy Sports Network (CSN) 1. Every Cowboy Football game is broadcast Live on the 25 Affiliates of the Cowboy Sports Network 2. Flagship Station, KFBC 1240 AM, Cheyenne, Wyo. 3. Announcers Dave Walsh, Play-by-Play (27th year) Kevin McKinney, Color Analyst (14th year) Reece Monaco, Sideline Reporter (1st year) 4. Pregame Show Begins one hour prior to kickoff. 5. Postgame Show Begins immediately after the game Dave Christensen Radio Show Presented by American National Bank 1. Location and Show Time Altitude Chophouse and Brewery Mondays from 6:00-7:00 p.m., Beginning Monday, Aug Carried on Cowboy Sports Network Affiliates Inside Cowboy Football Delivered by Union Wireless 1. Where and When You Can Watch the Show Wyoming Athletics.com Posted every Tuesday afternoon Beginning the Week of Sept. 6, 2011 Weekly Media Events Monday Wyoming Football Press Conference Rochelle Athletics Center, WAR Room 3:00 p.m., Dave Christensen 3:30-5:00 p.m., Requested Players and Asst. Coaches Tuesday Phone Interviews with Dave Christensen 10:00-10:45 a.m. Arrange 24 hours in advance with Tim Harkins of UW Media Relations Mountain West Conference Media Teleconference 10:52-11:02 a.m. is the time for Dave Christensen\ Interviews with Players and Coaches After Practice At approximately 6:20 p.m. Dave Christensen and those players and assistant coaches who were requested but weren t available on Monday Wednesday Phone Interviews with Dave Christensen 9:30-10:30 a.m. Arrange 24 hours in advance with Tim Harkins of UW Media Relations Interviews Dave Christensen After Practice At approximately 6:20 p.m. Date: Sept. 19, 2011 Wyoming Football Contacts: Tim Harkins, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations Andy Chapman, Assistant Media Relations Director Game 4: Sat., Sept. 24, 2011, 5:38 p.m., M.T. Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium (29,181) Laramie, Wyo. The Wyoming Cowboys (3-0, 0-0 in the Mountain West Conference) Head Coach: Dave Christensen (Western Washington 85) Overall Record: (.464), 3rd season Record at Wyoming: (.464), 3rd season Conference Record: 5-11 (.313), 3rd season vs. The Cornhuskers (No. 9 AP/No. 9 USA Today) (3-0, 0-0 in the Big Ten Conference) Head Coach: Bo Pelini Overall Record: (.733), 4th season Record at Current School: (.733), 4th season Conference Record: 17-7 (.708), 4th season This Week s Wyoming Game Captains #52 Gabe Knapton, Sr., DT/DE, Mead Colo. #69 John Hutchins, Sr., OT, Inver Grove Heights, Minn University of Wyoming Football Schedule Date Opponent (Special Events) Time (M.T.)/Result TV Sat.,Sept. 3 WEBER ST. (Hall of Fame/Fireworks) W / 7:06 p.m. No TV Sat., Sept. 10 TEXAS STATE (Military Day/Ag Day) W / 4:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Sept. 17 at Bowling Green W / 10:00 a.m. BCSN Sat., Sept. 24 NEBRASKA 5:38 p.m. VERSUS HD Sat., Oct. 1 OPEN Sat., Oct. 8 6:00 p.m. TBA Sat., Oct. 15 * (Homecoming) 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Oct. 22 OPEN Sat., Oct. 29 * 8:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Nov. 5 * (Band Day) 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Nov. 12 * 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Nov. 19 NEW MEXICO* (Senior Day) 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Nov. 26 * 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD Sat., Dec. 3 * 12:06 p.m. The Mtn. HD All games times listed are Mountain Time *Indicates Mountain West Conference games A Preview of This Week Wyoming s 3-0 start this season is the first 3-0 start in the three years of the Dave Christensen era, and is Wyoming s first 3-0 start since UW is also 4-0 in its last four games dating back to the 2010 season. The Wyoming Cowboys host the Cornhuskers for the first time in history this week. Wyoming and have played five previous times, beginning with the first meeting on Sept. 29, All previous five meetings have been played in Lincoln, Neb., and have been won by the Huskers. The last time Wyoming and played was Oct. 1, Wyoming led that game at halftime by a score of The Cowboys eventually lost the game 32-42, and went on to win the 1994 National Championship. will be only the second Big Ten team to play in Wyoming s War Memorial Stadium. The only other Big Ten team to play in Laramie was Wisconsin. The Badgers played Wyoming in Laramie on Sept. 28, 1985, defeating the Cowboys Page 1

2 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football University of Wyoming General Information Location: Laramie, Wyo. Founded: 1886 Enrollment: 13,476 President: Dr. Tom Buchanan Athletics Director: Tom Burman Colors: Brown & Gold Nickname: Cowboys, Pokes Conference: Mountain West Stadium: Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium Capacity: 29,181 Surface: Desso Challenge Pro Team Information Offensive Scheme: Defensive Scheme: Spread 4/3 / Multiple Starters Returning: 16 Total (7 Offense, 8 Defense, 1 Special Teams) Starters Lost: 8 Total (4 Offense, 3 Defense, 1 Special Teams Lettermen Returning: 36 Total (17 Offense, 18 Defense, 1 Special Teams) Lettermen Lost: 18 Total (9 Offense, 7 Defense, 2 Special Teams) Other Returners: 33 Total (16 Offense, 16 Defense, 1 Special Teams) 2011 Signings: 24 Total (12 Offense, 10 Defense, 2 Special Teams) 2011 Coaching Staff Head Coach: Dave Christensen (Western Washington 85) Offensive Coaching Staff Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Gregg Brandon (Northern Colorado 78) Offensive Line: Jim Harding (Toledo 01) Offensive Line: Pete Kaligis (Washington 94) Running Backs: Jason Ray (Missouri 07) Receivers: Derek Sage (Cal State Northridge 02) Defensive Coaching Staff Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Marty English (Northern Colorado 86) Defensive Secondary/Recruiting Coordinator: Alex Grinch (Mount Union College 02) Defensive Line: Matt Rahl (Missouri Southern 03) Defensive Line: Danilo Robinson (Utah State 97) Administrative Staff Director of Recruiting Brent Vernon (Missouri 08) Director of Football Operations Brian Wilkinson (Belford 09) Graduate Assistants Nick Fulton (Sioux Falls 03) Weston Johnson (Wyoming 09) Jared Woodruff (UTEP 07) This Week s Wyoming- Game is the Most Anticipated Event in University of Wyoming Football History -- Saturday s Game is a Sellout: This Saturday when the Wyoming Cowboys host the No. 9 ranked Huskers, it will bring to an end months of anticipation for a game that Wyoming fans have looked forward to since it was first announced on Dec. 2, Saturday will mark the first time that will play in Laramie. The two schools from bordering states have played five previous times, beginning back in But each of those previous five games were played in Lincoln, Neb. The two schools have not played each other since This first meeting in Laramie is a sellout. Months ago, it was decided by the UW Athletics Department to add seating to both the north and south ends of Wyoming s War Memorial Stadium for the Wyoming- game to accommodate as many fans as possible. With the added seating, the stadium s capacity will be increased from its normal 29,181 to over 32,000. Last Meeting in 1994 Saw Pokes Nearly Upset Eventual National Champion : The last time that Wyoming and met on the gridiron was Oct. 1, 1994 in Lincoln, Neb. The Cowboys came into that game with a 2-2 record under fourth-year head coach Joe Tiller. was 4-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation in the Associated Press poll under head coach Tom Osborne, who was in his 22nd season as head coach of the Huskers. The first quarter began with taking the opening kickoff. Wyoming held the Huskers to a three-and-out on its first possession forcing a punt. That was followed by a three-and-out by the Wyoming offense and another three-and-out by the Cornhuskers. On Wyoming s second offensive series, redshirt freshman quarterback Jeremy Dombek, making his first career start, led the Cowboys on a three-play, 69-yard drive. Dombek hit sophomore wide receiver Marcus Harris on a pass of 35 yards on first down. That was followed by an incompletion and a five-yard, false-start penalty against Wyoming. Then on second down and 15 from the 39-yard line, Dombek hit Harris for the touchdown strike and took a 7-0 lead. After each team punted on consecutive possessions, reached the UW 38-yard line on its next possession but fumbled the ball and Wyoming s Brent Schieffer, a senior defensive end from Omaha, Neb., recovered. Dombek threw the ball deep on first down, completing a 56-yard pass to senior wide receiver Eddie Pratt, taking the ball down to the NU six-yard line. Dombek then hit junior tight end Jeremy Gilstrap on a six-yard TD pass, and Wyoming took a 14-0 lead before a stunned crowd. The second quarter didn t see its first score until the 5:25 mark, when capped off a four-play, 34-yard drive with a one-yard Lawrence Phillips touchdown run, which began with a interception of Dombek. Following a Wyoming punt, Wyoming sophomore Lee Vaughn, from Cheyenne, intercepted quarterback Brook Berringer at the NU 32 and returned it to the 11-yard line. After a pass interference penalty on first down put the ball at the NU twoyard line, Wyoming senior running back Terry Hendricks carried the ball in from one-yard out two plays later for a 21-7 Wyoming lead. That score seemed to wake the Huskers up. They proceeded to drive 64 yards on eight plays in exactly two minutes to score on a five-yard TD run by Berringer with only 12 seconds remaining in the half and narrowed the Wyoming lead to at half. Dombek came out on the first possession of the second half to drive the Pokes down to the 38-yard line before he was intercepted. The Huskers turned that interception into a fourplay, 57-yard drive and the game was knotted at Dombek was intercepted again on the next possession at Wyoming s own 40-yard line. s Phillips then broke a 40-yard TD run on first down, and in less than a minute the Cowboys had gone from a lead to a deficit. scored on its third consecutive possesion of the third quarter to take a lead. It appeared that Wyoming s dream of the upset was gone. The Cowboys fought back to put together a nice seven-play, 52-yard drive resulting in a 40-yard field goal by Taylor Sorenson to end the third quarter, with the Huskers holding a advantage. Wyoming entered the fourth quarter having re-gained a little momentum, and it built on that momentum by holding to three-and-out on its first series of the fourth quarter. But then on second down of UW s first fourth-quarter possession, Wyoming s hopes seemed to die when Dombek was knocked unconscious by linebacker Troy Dumas, a native of Cheyenne, Wyo. Dombek was done for the day. Enter senior QB John Gustin, who had started the first four games of the season. Gustin gave the Pokes new life as he led Wyoming on an impressive 13-play, 86-yard drive that resulted in a two-yard TD pass to Gilstrap. Wyoming went for two on the extra point, and Gustin again hit Gilstrap to pull the Cowboys to within three points at with 9:09 remaining. The crowd tried to re-energize their Huskers, and moved the ball from its own 20-yard line to its 48, but Wyoming s defense stiffened and forced a punt, as the crowd grew quiet. There was still over five and one half minutes to play in the game, and it looked like the Cowboys offense would get one more chance to pull off the upset. s punter and future major-league baseball player Darin Erstad punted the ball 41 yards to the UW 11-yard line where Wyoming s redshirt freshman Je Ney Jackson was back to receive. But it wasn t to be Wyoming s day as Jackson fumbled at the eight-yard line, recovered and one play later Phillips would dash into the end zone to give a win. Wyoming s 32 points would prove to be the most scored on all season, as the Huskers went on to a perfect 13-0 season and defeat Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bowl for the National Championship. Wyoming would post a 6-6 record in 1994, but two years later, the Cowboys would rise to a No. 22 final ranking, hold the nation s longest winning streak and play in the Inaugural Page WAC 2 Championship game behind All-America receiver Harris and head coach Tiller.

3 Wyoming Brings Four-Game Winning Streak Into Saturday s Game, Posts First 3-0 Start Since 1996: The Wyoming Cowboys bring a fourgame winning streak into this week. That streak dates back to the final game of the 2010 season -- a 44-0 shutout win over Colorado State. Wyoming also has begun the 2011 season with a perfect 3-0 start, marking the first time since 1996 that a Cowboy football team has begun a season 3-0. The four-game winning streak is the longest in the three years of the Dave Christensen era. It is also the longest since the 2005 season. Cowboy Offense Features Balanced Attack Under New Offensive Coordinator Gregg Brandon: Wyoming s first-year offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon has utilized a very balanced offense through the first three weeks of the season. Wyoming has run 122 rushing plays and thrown 112 passes on the season. The rushing attack has generated 680 net rushing yards, while the passing game has accounted for 797 yards. Individually, four players have 100 or more yards rushing -- running backs Ghalli Muhammad and Brandon Miller have 198 and 169 rushing yards, respectively. Quarterback Brett Smith has run for 154 and and running back Alvester Alexander has a total of 137 rushing yards this season. Five different receivers have eight or more catches led by Robert Herron with 17, and five have 100 or more yards receiving through three games. Those five receivers are: Herron (176 yards), Chris McNeill (139), Mazi Ogbonna and Dominic Rufran (both with 127) and Alexander (115). Freshman Cornerback Blair Burns Earns Honorable Mention Defensive Back of the Week Honors From College Football Performance.com: College Football Performance.com recognized Wyoming true freshman cornerback Blair Burns as one of its top defensive backs of the week. He was one of 11 defensive backs nationally to earn Honorable Mention honors. Trey Wilson of Vanderbilt was named the Defensive Back of the Week. Burns intercepted two passes and recovered one fumble against Bowling Green on Sept. 17. He also recorded six total tackles. Burns intercepted a pass in the second quarter and returned it 65 yards to set up Wyoming s first touchdown of the day. He also recovered a fumble on a kickoff in the third quarter and intercepted his second career pass in the fourth quarter. The completed listing of this week s award winners can be found at collegefootballperformance.com/performersof-the-week/2011-2/ 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Saturday s Wyoming- Game to be Televised Live on VERSUS: Saturday s game between the Wyoming Cowboys and Huskers will be televised nationally on VERSUS. Check your local cable listings for VERSUS in your area or on DIRECTV turn to Channel 603. The broadcast crew for Saturday s Wyoming- game will include: Paul Burmeister, Play-by-Play Announder Shaun King, Color Analyst Anthony Herron, Sideline Reporter Josh Biezuns Named Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Week: Cowboy senior defensive lineman Josh Biezuns was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week by the Mountain West on Monday, Sept. 19 for his performance in a win at Bowling Green on Sept. 17. Biezuns forced one fumble, recovered one fumble, had 2.0 sacks for 15 yards and five total tackles against Bowling Green, but Biezuns biggest play of the day came with only three seconds remaining in the game. Bowling Green had just scored a touchdown to pull within one point at On the point-after-touchdown attempt, Biezuns combined with fellow senior defensive lineman Gabe Knapton to break through the middle of the BGSU line and block the PAT and preserve Wyoming s road victory. Biezuns forced fumble and fumble recovery came on the same play, as he was sacking Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz in the fourth quarter. He tore the ball out of Schilz s hands and then recovered the fumble. That turnover set up Wyoming s final touchdown of the game to put the Cowboys up on way to its road win. He shares this week s award with San Diego State defensive back Larry Parker. For Biezuns, it was the second Mountain West Player of the Week honor of his career and the second in his last four games. He was also named MW Player of the Week in Wyoming s 2010 season finale win over Colorado State. Josh Biezuns Also Named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week by College Sports Madness: College Sports Madness named Wyoming defensive end Josh Biezuns its Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for his performance versus Bowling Green on Sept. 17. The Madness identifies the highest impact player nationally and one from each conference in their weekly feature. You can look at the complete list at: collegesportsmadness.com/football/weekly-awards Wyoming Records Six Takeways in Road Win at Bowling Green: It had been 14 seasons since the Wyoming Cowboys had forced six opponent turnovers in a single game, but the Pokes did just that in its road win at Bowling Green on Saturday, Sept. 17. Wyoming recovered four fumbles and intercepted two passes to key its victory over the Bowling Green Falcons. The last time Wyoming had forced six opponent turnovers in a single game was Nov. 8, 1997, in a home win over. Description of Takeaway Result After Takeaway 3:15 of 1st Quarter, Luke Ruff fumble recovery Wyoming punt 13:12 of 2nd Quarter, Blair Burns 65-yard interception return Wyoming TD 3 plays later 10:16 of 3rd Quarter, Blair Burns fumble recovery on kickoff UW gives ball up on downs 5:42 of 3rd Quarter, Marqueston Huff 8-yard fumble return Huff returns 8 yards for TD 14:17 of 4th Quarter, Josh Biezuns forces fumble and recovers it Wyoming TD 4 plays later 12:47 of 4th Quarter, Blair Burns interception UW gives ball up on downs Blocking Kicks Becoming a Specialty of Cowboy Defensive Line: The Wyoming defensive line was expected to be one of the team s strengths entering this season, but it wasn t expected that one of their specialties early in the 2011 season would be blocking kicks. In the first three games of the 2011 season, Wyoming s defensive line has blocked three kicks, with the final block sealing a win at Bowling Green on Sept. 17. Game and Time of Blocked Kick Description of Blocked Kick vs. Weber State, 1:22 of 2nd Quarter Mike Purcell blocks PAT, Wyoming wins, at Bowling Green, 1:44 of 3rd Quarter Ben Durbin blocks 44-yard FG, UW wins, at Bowling Green, 0:03 of 4th Quarter Josh Biezuns and Gabe Knapton combine to block PAT with 3 seconds remaining to preserve a one-point Wyoming win, Page 3

4 Wyoming One of the Nation s Top Teams in Turnover Margin: One of the keys to Wyoming s success thus far this season has been the ability of the Cowboy defense to force opponent turnovers, while the Poke offense has done an excellent job of protecting the ball. The Cowboys enter this week ranked No. 5 in the nation in turnover margin, averaging a turnover margin per game. Here is how the Cowboys have fared in the turnover battle in Wyoming Turnover Margin MW NCAA Turnover Category Rank Rank Turnover Margin (+2.00) No. 1 No. 5 Most TOs Gained (10) No. 1 No. 5 Most Fumbles Recovered (6) No. 1 No. 3 Most Interceptions (4) No. 1 No. 18 Fewest TOs Lost (4) No. 4 No. 44 Fewest Fumbles Lost (1) No. 2 No. 15 Fewest Interceptions (3) No. 7 No Wyoming Turnover Margin (Game-by-Game) WYO Opp. TO Game TOs TOs Margin vs. Weber State 1 1 Even vs. Texas State at Bowling Green Total TO Margin Per Game TO Margin Wyoming vs. the Big Ten Conference: The Wyoming Cowboys have played seven of the current 12 members of the Big Ten Conference. The last time Wyoming played a Big Ten team was Aug. 28, 1997, at Ohio State. Wyoming s one win over a Big Ten team came on Sept. 27, 1986, at Wisconsin by a score of Big Ten Conference Legends Division Wyoming vs. Iowa 0-2 (1953, 1987) Michigan 0-0 Michigan State 0-2 (1976, 1977) Minnesota 0-1 (1946) 0-5 (1934, 68, 83, 84, 94) Northwestern 0-1 (1979) Leaders Division Wyoming vs. Illinois 0-0 Indiana 0-0 Ohio State 0-1 (1997) Penn State 0-0 Purdue 0-0 Wisconsin 1-2 (1973, 85, 86) Totals Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Wyoming and Both Enter Saturday s Game With Nationally- Ranked Offenses: Wyoming and will both enter this week s meeting with two of the nation s top offenses. Wyoming enters this fourth week of the 2011 season No. 16 in the nation in total offense (492.3 yards per game), No. 20 in the NCAA in rushing offense (226.7 ypg) and No. 36 in passing offense (265.6 ypg). comes into this week as one of the nation s top rushing offenses, ranking No. 11 in the country in rushing, averaging yards per game. Both schools are also among the nation s leaders in scoring offense. is averaging 44.3 points per game to rank No. 13 in the NCAA. Wyoming is averaging 36.0 points per game to rank No. 35 in the NCAA in scoring offense. The two starting quarterbacks, Brett Smith for Wyoming and Taylor Martinez for are also among the nation s leaders. Below is a comparison of the two teams and two quarterbacks rankings NCAA Offensive Rankings Statistical Category Wyoming s Rankings s Rankings Total Offense No. 16 (492.3 yards per game) No. 51 (422.0 yards per game) Rushing Offense No. 20 (226.7 yards per game) No. 11 (252.3 yards per game) Passing Offense No. 36 (265.6 yards per game) No. 97 (169.7 yards per game) Scoring Offense No. 35 (36.0 points per game) No. 13 (44.3 points per game) Individual Category Wyoming s Rankings s Rankings Total Offense Brett Smith, No. 16 (310.7 ypg) Taylor Martinez, No. 21 (291.3 ypg) Passing Yards Brett Smith, No. 27 (265.7 ypg) Taylor Martinez, No. 88 (163.3 ypg) Rushing Yards Brett Smith, Not ranked (51.3 ypg) Taylor Martinez, No. 8 (128.0 ypg) Cowboys Attack Running Game by Committee, Relies on Two Primary Ball Carriers: Both the Wyoming Cowboys and Huskers have been very effective at running the football this season. Wyoming is averaging yards per game on the ground (No. 20 in the nation), and is averaging yards rushing to rank No. 11. But how the two teams go about getting their rushing yards are very different. Wyoming has four players who key its running game. Junior Ghaali Muhammad leads the Cowboys averaging 66.0 yards per game to rank No. 91 in the nation. Sophomore Brandon Miller has averaged 56.3 yards per game. Freshman quarterback Brett Smith has a 51.3 average for the season, and Wyoming s leading rusher the past two seasons, junior Alvester Alexander has averaged 45.7 rushing yards per game. For, sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez leads the Huskers and ranks No. 8 in the nation, averaging yards per game this season. Junior I-Back Rex Burkhead holds an yard average, tying him for No. 55 in the country NCAA Rushing Rankings Statistical Category Wyoming s Rankings s Rankings Rushing Offense No. 20 (226.7 yards per game) No. 11 (252.3 yards per game) Wyoming s Individual NCAA Rankings s NCAA Individual Rankings Ghaali Muhammad, No. 91 (66.0 yards per game) Taylor Martinez, No. 8 (128.0 yards per game) Brandon Miller, Not ranked (56.3 yards per game) Rex Burkhead, No. 55 (83.3 yards per game) Brett Smith, Not ranked (51.3 yards per game) Alvester Alexander, Not ranked (45.7 yards per game) Freshman Quarterback Brett Smith s Consistent Play Continues to Rank Him Among Mountain West and NCAA Leaders: Freshman Brett Smith has accounted for over 300 yards of total offense in each of his first three collegiate games. That consistent play continues to rank him among the top quarterbacks in the Mountain West and the NCAA. Smith is No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference in passing yards and No. 2 in total offense. Below are Smith s rankings entering this week. Brett Smith s 2011 Statistical Rankings Statistical Category MW Rank NCAA Rank Total Offense (317.0 yards per game) No. 2 No. 16 Passing Yards (265.7 yards per game) No. 2 No. 27 Passing Efficiency (132.6 rating) No. 4 No. 58 Scoring (6.00 points per game) Tie No. 6 NA Rushing (51.3 yards per game) No. 13 NA Brett Smith Game-by-Game Rushing Passing Total Offense vs. Weber State vs. Texas State at Bowling Green Page 4

5 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Coach to Cure MD Weekend, Fans May Donate to Help Cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) will hold its fourth annual Coach to Cure MD effort with the games of September 24. The Wyoming Cowboy coaching staff will be one of more than 100 FBS schools whose coaches will be wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at or donate $5 by texting CURE to Cardiac Cowboys: Wyoming s 3-0 start this season has featured some last minute heroics. In two of the Cowboys victories to date, the game went down to the final possession and the final minute of the game. Against Weber State in the season opener, Wyoming was led on a 13-play, 73-yard drive by freshman quarterback Brett Smith to score the winning touchdown with 22 seconds left on the clock. Smith hit sophomore wide receiver Robert Herron for that winning score and a home victory. In Week 3 at Bowling Green, Wyoming held a 14-point lead at with 13:20 left in the game. Bowling Green game back to score two TDs in the final 13 minutes, but Cowboy senior defensive linemen Josh Biezuns and Gabe Knapton combined to block the Bowling Green PAT with only three seconds remaining to secure Wyoming s second last-minute win of the season. Trending on Twitter: On Saturday, Sept. 10 the Wyoming Cowboys unveiled their new brown helmets for the first time in a game and included a special 9/11 and Military Day tribute by donning a red, white and blue Bucking Horse decal on the helmets. Nationally-known CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell tweeted on Saturday: No team will top Wyoming s 9/11 tribute helmets Here is the link to Rovell s tweet: status/ Wyoming- is One of Two Mountain West-Big Ten Matchups of Undefeated Teams This Weekend: The Wyoming Cowboys (3-0) will host the Cornhuskers (3-0) this Saturday in one of two Mountain West-Big Ten matchups of undefeated teams this week. The second will pit the San Diego State Aztecs (3-0) against the Michigan Wolverines (3-0) in the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich. While Wyoming and share a legendary head coach in former Cowboy and Cornhusker head man Bob Devaney, the Wolverines are coached by first-year head coach Brady Hoke, who was the head coach at SDSU the past two seasons. The Legacy of Bob Devaney Looms Large Over Both the Wyoming and Football Programs: The common thread that binds the history of Wyoming Cowboy Football and Cornhusker Football together is Bob Devaney. Devaney was head coach at Wyoming from He is still the winningest coach in Wyoming history in terms of winning percentage. Devaney won 75.0 percent of his games at Wyoming, posting a record in five seasons. He led Wyoming to four conference titles (two Skyline Conference outright championships in 1958 and 59, and two co-championships in 1960 and 61). His 1958 squad went 8-3 and captured the Sun Bowl Championship. In 1959, the Cowboys compiled a 9-1 record and ended the season ranked No. 16 in the final Associated Press poll. The 1960 Cowboy team posted an 8-2 record, and in 1961 the Pokes were and concluded the year ranked No. 17 in the final United Press International poll. Devaney took over as head coach at in For the next 11 years, Devaney led the Cornhuskers to eight Big Eight Conference titles, a (.829) record and back-to-back National Championships in 1970 and 71. After the 1972 season, Devaney retired with a (.806) record as a head coach, making him the winningest active coach in the nation at the time he retired. Korey Jones Credited for Fourth Sack Versus Texas State, Ranks Third in the Nation in Sacks: Junior-college transfer Korey Jones has had an immediate impact on the Wyoming defense in his first year with the Cowboys. Jones currently leads Wyoming in sacks (4.0) and tackles for loss (5.5), and he ranks fourth on the team in total tackles (18). He is tied for No. 3 in the NCAA in sacks, and is tied for No. 15 in the nation in tackles for loss. Against Texas State on Sept. 10, Jones was originally credited with 3.0 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss. But after review of the tape, one of his tackles for loss was determined to also be a sack, increasing his total to 4.0 sacks. Of those 4.0 sacks, three came on three consecutive plays at a critical time for the Cowboys. On a Texas State series that began at Wyoming s own 39-yard line and the Cowboys holding on to a lead in the second quarter, Jones sacked Texas State s quarterback for five yards on first down, five more yards on second down and 14 yards on third down to drive the Bobcats back to the Wyoming 49-yard line and forced the Bobcats to punt. Jones 3.0 sacks ties him for fourth on the UW single-game sack list. He concluded the day with four total tackles. Korey Jones 2011 Statistical Rankings Statistical Category MW Rank NCAA Rank Tackles for Loss (1.83 per game) No. 2 Tie No. 15 Sacks (1.33 sacks per game) No. 2 Tie No. 3 Tackles (6.00 per game) Tie No. 15 NA Individual Cowboys in the National Rankings: There are a number of Wyoming Cowboys in the national rankings this week. Below is a listing of those Cowboys ranked this week. For a complete listing of all Mountain West Conference and NCAA team and individual statistical rankings for the Pokes, see Page 19 of this release Wyoming Players in the NCAA Rankings (Listed Alphabetically by Player) Individual Category Average MWC Rank NCAA Rank Josh Biezuns, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Josh Biezuns, Sacks 0.67 per game Tie No. 9 Tie No. 59 Josh Biezuns, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Blair Burns, Interceptions 0.67 per game Tie No. 1 Tie No. 8 Blair Burns, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Ben Durbin, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Brian Hendricks, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Robert Herron, Receptions 5.7 per game No. 2 Tie No. 40 Marqueston Huff, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Marqueston Huff, Interceptions 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 79 Korey Jones, Sacks 1.33 per game No. 2 Tie No. 3 Korey Jones, Tackles for Losses 1.83 per game No. 2 Tie No. 15 Gabe Knapton, Sacks 0.67 per game Tie No. 9 Tie No. 59 Austin McCoy, Punting 38.9 yards per punt No. 4 No. 57 Ghaali Muhammad, Rushing 66.0 yards per game No. 6 No. 91 Mark Nzeocha, Interceptions 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 79 Mazi Ogbonna, Receptions 4.7 per game Tie No. 6 Tie No. 85 Sonny Puletasi, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Luke Ruff, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Dominic Rufran, Kickoff Returns 24.4 yards per return No. 5 No. 49 Brett Smith, Total Offense yards per game No. 2 No. 16 Brett Smith, Passing Yards yards per game No. 2 No. 27 Brett Smith,Passing Efficiency rating No. 4 No. 58 Daniel Sullivan, Field Goals 0.33 field goals per game Tie No. 5 Tie No. 97 Darrenn White, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No Page 5

6 2011 Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll: The 2011 Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll was released at the conference s media days in Las Vegas in July. Here are the 2011 preseason picks by MWC media members. Rank, Team (First-Place Votes) Points 1. Boise State (28) (3) Air Force San Diego State Colorado State Wyoming Wyoming s Josh Biezuns Selected by Conference Media to 2011 Preseason All-Mountain West Team: The 2011 Preseason All-Mountain West Conference football team was selected in voting by conference media members this summer. Senior defensive end Josh Biezuns was named to the First Team Defensive unit. Biezuns was a Second Team All-MW selection as a junior in Below is the complete 2011 Mountain West Conference preseason team. Defense DL Josh Biezuns Sr. Wyoming DL Billy Winn Sr. Boise State DL Shea McClellin Sr. Boise State DL Stansly Maponga So. LB Tank Carder Sr. LB Mychal Sisson Sr. Colorado State LB Miles Burris Sr. San Diego State DB George Iloka Sr. Boise State DB Leon McFadden Jr. San Diego State DB Anthony Wright Sr. Air Force DB Jon Davis Sr. Air Force Offense QB Kellen Moore Sr. Boise State RB Ronnie Hillman So. San Diego State RB Doug Martin Sr. Boise State WR Phillip Payne Sr. WR Josh Boyce So. TE Lucas Reed Jr. OL Nate Porter Sr. Boise State OL A.J. Wallerstein Sr. Air Force OL Kyle Dooley Sr. OL Thomas Byrd Sr. Boise State OL Paul Madsen Sr. Colorado State Specialists P Brian Stahovich Sr. San Diego State PK James Aho Sr. Ret. Jonathan Warzeka Sr. Air Force Offensive Player of the Year: Kellen Moore, Sr., QB, Boise State Defensive Player of the Year: Tank Carder, Sr., LB, Special Teams Player of the Year: Jonathan Warzeka, Sr., KR, Air Force 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football The Veterans -- Wyoming Returns Strong Core of Starters: As Wyoming begins this season, it returns a strong core of starters on both sides of the ball and also returns a key specialist in senior punter Austin McCoy. Below are the top returners who have played at least 20 career games and started at least half of their games played. Career Games Played/ Current Streak of Consecutive Player Career Games Started Games Started Tashaun Gipson, Sr., CB 40/40 40 Gabe Knapton, Sr., DT/DE 40/39 18 Austin McCoy, Sr., P 40/38 38 Clayton Kirven, Sr., OT 39/35 1 Josh Biezuns, Sr., DE 36/30 19 Brian Hendricks, Sr., LB 35/25 10 Chris McNeill, Jr., WR 28/22 17 Alvester Alexander, Jr., RB 28/19 17 John Hutchins, Sr., OT 25/16 10 Nick Carlson, Jr., C 24/23 15 Cowboys Face Ninth Nationally-Ranked Team in the Dave Christensen Era: In the first three seasons that Dave Christensen has been head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys, his teams have faced a number of nationally-ranked teams. This week s meeting with No. 9 ranked will be Wyoming s ninth game versus a Top 25 team. Below is a breakdown of those games. Wyoming vs. Top 25 Ranked Opponents in the Dave Christensen Era (Rankings at the Time UW Played Opponent) Date AP USA Today Played Opponent Ranking Ranking Sept. 12, 2009 Texas No. 2 No. 2 Oct. 31, 2009 at Utah No. 19 No. 19 Nov. 7, 2009 BYU No. 25 No. 25 Nov. 21, 2009 No. 4 No. 4 Sept. 11, 2010 at Texas No. 5 No. 4 Sept. 18, 2010 Boise State No. 3 No. 3 Oct. 9, 2010 at No. 5 No. 5 Oct. 16, 2010 Utah No. 11 No. 10 Sept. 24, 2011 No. 9 No. 9 Will be the Fourth Top 10 Ranked Team Hosted by Wyoming in the Last Three Seasons: When the No. 9 ranked Huskers visit War Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, they will become the fourth Top 10 ranked team that Wyoming has hosted in the past three seasons. Below are the Top 25 ranked teams to play in War Memorial Stadium through the years. AP Ranking When Wyoming s Highest-Ranked They Played Opponents in Laramie Date in Laramie Final Score 1. Texas Sept. 12, 2009 No. 2 Texas won Boise State Sept. 18, 2010 No. 3 Boise State won Nov. 21, 2009 No. 4 won Utah Nov. 13, 2004 No. 7 Utah won BYU Nov. 10, 1990 No. 8 BYU won Sept. 24, 2011 No. 9 BYU Nov. 10, 2001 No. 9 BYU won Utah Oct. 16, 2010 No. 11 Utah won 30-6 Arizona State Sept. 30, 1972 No. 11 Wyoming won Baylor Sept. 6, 1986 No. 12 Baylor won Utah Oct. 11, 2008 No. 14 Utah won BYU Nov. 13, 1999 No. 15 Wyoming won Washington State Sept. 23, 1989 No. 19 Washington St. won BYU Oct. 8, 1983 No. 20 BYU won Air Force Oct. 26, 2002 No. 22 Wyoming won Air Force Nov. 14, 1998 No. 23 Air Force won BYU Nov. 7, 2009 No. 25 BYU won Page 6

7 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Brett Smith s First Career Start at Quarterback Made Him Only the Third True Freshman to Start at QB for Cowboys Since 1974: Wyoming true freshman quarterack Brett Smith made his first career start in Wyoming s 2011 season opener vs. Weber State. Smith became only the third true freshman quarterback to start at QB for the Cowboys since The other two true freshmen quarterbacks to start for the Cowboys since 1974 were Rick Costello in 74 and Austyn Carta-Samuels in There have been a number of redshirt freshmen to start at quarterback for the Cowboys since Among them were: Scott Runyan in 1984, Jeremy Dombek in 1994, Jay Stoner in 1997 and Casey Bramlet in Cornhuskers 2011 Schedule/Results Date Opponent Time Sat., Sept. 3 Chattanooga W 40-7 Sat., Sept. 10 Fresno State W Sat., Sept. 17 Washington W Sat., Sept. 24 at Wyoming 5:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1 at Wisconsin* 6 p.m. Sat. Oct. 8 Ohio State* 6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 22 at Minnesota* 1:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 29 Michigan State* TBA Sat., Nov. 5 Northwestern* TBA Sat., Nov. 12 at Penn State* TBA Sat., Nov. 19 at Michigan* TBA Fri., Nov. 25 Iowa* 10 a.m. Sat., Dec. 3 Big Ten Championship Game TBA All times listed are Mountain Time *Indicates Big Ten Conference games Wyoming Series Record vs. The 2011 Meeting Will be the: Sixth Overall Series Record: 0-5 MW Series Record: NA Series Began: Sept. 29, 1934 Wyoming Record in Laramie: Wyoming Record on the Road: Wyoming Record at Neutral Sites: UW Coach Dave Christensen vs.: Opponent Head Coach vs. UW: Longest Wyoming Win Streak: NA Longest Opponent Win Streak: 5 Largest UW Margin of Victory: NA Largest Opp. Margin of Victory: 50 (1934) Most Points Scored by UW: 32 (1994) Most Points Scored by Opp.: 56 (1983) About : The Cornhuskers enter this week s game versus Wyoming ranked No. 9 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls is entering its first year in the Big Ten Conference this season. The Huskers have begun this season with three home wins. This week will be their first road trip of 2011, and they will make their first road trip in Big Ten play next week, traveling to Wisconsin. NU has been one of the top scoring teams in the country in 2011, averaging 44.3 points per game to rank No. 13 in the NCAA. Three Husker players rank in the Top 40 in the nation in scoring. Sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez is averaging 12.0 points per game to rank No. 14 in the NCAA. Junior place-kicker Brett Maher is scoring on average 12.3 points per game to rank No. 12, and junior I-Back Rex Burkhead ranks No. 37 in the country, scoring 10.0 points per game. The Husker offense keys off its rushing attack, accounting for yards per game on the ground, which is 11th best in the nation. Quarterback Martinez leads the team in rushing and ranks No. 8 nationally, averaging yards per game. He ranks No. 21 in the nation in total offense (291.3 yards per game). Burkhead also is ranked nationally in rushing at 55th. He averages 83.3 yards per game on the ground. Maher is not only an outstanding place-kicker, but he is one of the best punters in the NCAA this season. Maher averages 48.1 yards per punt, and is ranked No. 6 in the country. The Huskers feature a dynamic return man in freshman I-Back Ameer Abdullah. Abdullah is among the nation s leaders in both kickoff returns and punt returns. He has averaged 42.5 yards per kickoff return this season to rank No. 2 nationally, and he has averaged 13.1 yards per punt return, which is 14th best in the nation. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown versus Fresno State earlier this season. The defense is led by senior defensive tackle Jared Crick. A native of Cozad, Neb., Crick was a 2010 First Team All-America choice of Rivals.com and a Second Team All-America selection by Associated Press. Entering this season, he was a Preseason First Team All-America selection by Athlon, Lindy s, Playboy, Phil Steele and Sporting News. Crick has had 9.5 sacks each of the past two seasons. This year, he has 1.0 sack and 14 tackles for the Huskers. s leading tackler in 2011 is senior outside linebacker Lavonte David. David is averaging 10.7 tackles per game to rank 15th in the country. The defense has allowed an average of 24.7 points per game to rank 67th nationally. The Huskers allowed only seven points to Chattanooga in their season opener. In their last two games, they have allowed 29 and 38 points to Fresno State and Washington, respectively. Head Coach Bo Pelini: Bo Pelini is in his fourth season as head coach of and has an overall coaching record of (.733) entering this week. His first three seasons his Husker teams posted records of 9-4 (2008), 10-4 (2009) and 10-4 (2010). His 2008 squad defeated Clemson, 26-21, in the Gator Bowl. In 2009, the Huskers defeated Arizona, 33-0, in the Holiday Bowl, and last year NU lost to Washington, 7-19, in the Holiday Bowl. He came to from LSU, where he was the defensive coordinator from Prior to that he was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma for one season (2004). His ties to the program began in 2003, when he served as the defensive coordinator for the Huskers for that one season, and concluded the season as the interim head coach after the dismissal of Frank Solich. As interim head coach, Pelini led to a 17-3 win over Michigan State in the 2003 Alamo Bowl. From , Pelini was an NFL assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. He played his college football at Ohio State from Wyoming- Series Dates Back to 1934, But the Will Mark the First Visit to Laramie by the Huskers: The University of Wyoming and University of first played each other in football back in 1934, and have played five previous times in the two schools histories but this coming season will be the first time that Wyoming will host. One of the five previous meetings between the Cowboy and Huskers featured head coach Bob Devaney coaching against his former team, Wyoming, in Devaney was Wyoming s head coach for five seasons from He left Wyoming to take the head-coaching position at where he coached for 11 seasons from He won two National Championships in 1970 and 71. The last time Wyoming faced was in Wyoming, coached by Joe Tiller, gave the Huskers, coached by Tom Osborne, all they could handle before falling by 10 points, 42-32, to the eventual National Champions. UW was the only team that 94 season to score more than 21 points against. Wyoming and Oklahoma were the only two teams to come within 10 points of NU that National Championship season. Oklahoma also lost by 10 points, Date Site of Game Final Score Sept. 29, 1934 at L 0-50 Sept. 14, 1968 at L Sept. 10, 1983 at L Sept. 8, 1984 at L 7-42 Oct. 1, 1994 at L ( went on to win National Championship) Sept. 24, 2011 NEBRASKA Page 7

8 2011 Honors Candidates University of Wyoming Football 2011 Defensive Honors Candidates Josh Biezuns, Sr., DE, 6-2, 260, Prior Lake, Minn. (Prior Lake) 2011 Preseason First Team All-Mountain West Conference as selected by MW media. Selected MW Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Bowling Green on Sept. 17, 2011, recording 2.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and one blocked kick Second Team All-Mountain West Conference as selected by MW coaches and media tied for No. 2 in the MWC in sacks and ranked No. 59 nationally, averaging 0.54/game ranked No. 5 in the conference in tackles for losses, averaging 0.88 per game. His 61 total tackles from his defensive end position ranked him No. 6 on the Cowboy squad and No. 32 in the MW in He was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Colorado State in the 2010 season finale. Biezuns recorded seven total tackles, 4.0 tackles for losses, 3.5 sacks, forced one fumble and broke up a pass in a 44-0 win over archrival CSU. Tashaun Gipson, Sr., CB, 6-0, 208, Dallas, Texas (Kimball) 2010 Honorable Mention All-Mountain West as selected by MWC Coaches and Media. As a junior, Gipson tied for No. 2 in the league in No. 26 in the nation in passes defended, averaging 1.00 per game. He also ranked No. 4 in the MWC and tied for No. 87 in the NCAA in interceptions as a junior, with three interceptions on the season. As a sophomore, he led UW and ranked No. 9 in MWC in passes defended with nine in Tied for team lead and tied for No. 10 in MWC in interceptions with three in Has started every game of his career at Wyoming, 40 straight, at cornerback. Brian Hendricks, Sr., LB, 6-1, 228, Burlington, Colo. (Burlington) 2011 Currently ranks No. 5 in MW in tackles, averaging 7.7 per game Honorable Mention All-Mountain West as selected by MWC Coaches and Media Preseason First Team All-MWC as selected by MWC Media Second Team All-MWC as selected by MWC Coaches and Media. Hendricks enters this week with 227 career tackles. He needs 76 more tackles to reach the Top 10 in school history. Hendricks had 80 tackles in 11 games in 2010 and 116 in 11 games in He averaged 7.3 tackles per game in 2010 to rank No. 11 in MWC. Averaged 10.5 tackles per game in 2009 to rank No. 3 in MWC and No. 12 in NCAA. His 23 tackles vs. Air Force was the best single-game performance in the NCAA in 2009 and set the Wyoming school record. He also had 18 tackles vs. Colorado in With 14 tackles against Southern Utah, 13 versus Air Force, 12 vs. Boise State and 10 at New Mexico in 2010, he recorded his sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth career double-figure tackle games. Gabe Knapton, Sr., DT/DE, 6-3, 263, Mead, Colo. (Skyline) 2010 Honorable Mention All-Mountain West as selected by MWC Coaches and Media. Knapton will enter this week with 300 career tackles to rank No. 11 on UW s career list. He needs only three more tackles to tie Brian Brown (303 career tackles) for 10th place Knapton led all Mountain West defensive linemen and all Wyoming defensive linemen in tackles in with 67. He ranked fifth on the team and 25th in the MWC overall. Recorded 10 tackles vs. on Nov. 6 for his 13th career double-figure tackle game. As Wyoming shifted from a 3-4 to 4-3 base defense in 2010, Knapton moved from LB to DE. Averaged 9.8 tackles per game in 2009 to rank No. 4 in MWC and No. 19 in the NCAA. Had nine double-figure tackle games in 2009, including a string of seven straight. Best games in 2009 were 17 tackles vs. and 12 each vs. Texas and Utah. His 128 tackles in 2009 ranked as the ninth best single-season total in school history. Knapton has started 39 of the 40 games he has played at Wyoming. Page 8

9 2011 Honors Candidates University of Wyoming Football 2011 Offensive Honors Candidates Alvester Alexander, Jr., RB, 5-11, 204, Houston, Texas (C.E. King) Named to the 2011 Doak Walker Award Watch List, honoring the nation s top running back Honorable Mention All-Mountain West as selected by MWC Coaches and Media. Alexander ranked No. 5 in the MW and No. 80 in the nation in rushing, averaging 66.0 yards per game as a sophomore. He also ranked No. 14 in the MWC in total offense (66.0 ypg). He also ranked No. 5 in the conference and No. 74 in the NCAA in scoring in 2010, scoring 14 touchdowns for an average of 7.0 points per game. He will enter this week with 24 career rushing TDs to rank No. 6 in school history. He has scored at least one rushing touchdown in his last seven consecutive games. Alexander has accumulated 1,569 rushing yards in his career, and needs 448 to reach the Top 10 in school history. He has 137 rushing yards this season, had 792 as a sophomore in 2010 and 640 as a true freshman in During his sophomore season, Alexander set new UW school records for rushing touchdowns in a single season, with 14, and rushing touchdowns in a single game with five. He set the single-game record of five rushing TDs in a 44-0 victory over Colorado State in the 2010 season finale. The previous single-season UW record was 13 rushing touchdowns set by Gerald Abraham in 1987 and Jim Crawford in The previous single-game record was four rushing TDs, and was held by Dabby Dawson (4 vs. San Diego State in 1988) and Myron Hardeman (4 vs. Utah State in 1977). Named MW Offensive Player of the Week for his 147-yard, five-td performance vs. Colorado State in Alexander has four 100-yard rushing games to his credit through his first two seasons, including 137 vs. Fresno State in the 2009 Bowl, 123 vs. Air Force in 2010, 151 at in 10 and 147 vs. Colorado State to end the 2010 season. His 94-yard run at in 2010 was the second longest run from scrimmage in the NCAA, and ranked as the second longest in Wyoming history to Nate Scott s 95-yard gallop vs. Central Michigan in Nick Carlson, Jr., Center, 6-4, 292, Arlington Heights, Ill. (Prospect) Named to 2011 Rimington Trophy Watch List, honoring the nation s top center Honorable Mention All-MW as selected by MW Coaches and Media. Carlson enters this week having started 23 of the 24 career games that he has played, and he has started the last 15 consecutive games for the Cowboys. He started all 12 games at center for the Cowboys in Carlson started eight of nine games at offensive guard his true freshman season of An extremely intelligent player, Carlson earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors as a freshman in Special Teams Honors Candidates Austin McCoy, Sr., P, 6-3, 208, Winter Haven, Fla. (Winter Haven) Earned Honorable Mention All-Mountain West for the second consecutive year in In 2010, McCoy ranked No. 3 in the Mountain West and No. 32 in the country in punting, averaging 42.8 yards per punt. Named MW Special Teams Player of the Week for performance vs. Toledo on Oct. 2, Honorable Mention All-MW as selected by MW Coaches and Media. Averaged 43.3 yards per punt in 2009 to rank No. 3 in MWC and No. 20 in NCAA. Named MW Special Teams Player of the Week once in 2009 for his performance versus Weber State. Has started 38 of 40 career games he has played at Wyoming, including the last 38 straight. Page 9

10 Will Become Only the Second Big Ten Team to Play in Laramie: Not only is making its first-ever appearance in Wyoming s War Memorial Stadium in 2011, but as the newest member of the Big Ten Conference the Huskers become only the second Big Ten team of alltime to appear in Laramie. The only previous Big Ten opponent to play at Wyoming was Wisconsin. The Badgers played Wyoming in Laramie on Sept. 28, 1985, defeating the Cowboys The following season, Wyoming traveled to Madison, Wis., on Sept. 27, 1986, and recorded UW s only victory over a Big Ten opponent -- a win over Wisconsin. Wyoming Returns Seven of Eight Cowboys Who Earned Mountain West All-Conference Honors in 2010: A total of eight Wyoming Cowboys were honored by being selected to the 2010 Mountain West Conference All-Conference Football Team. Of those eight individual players, seven return to the Cowboys in Leading the way is junior defensive end Josh Biezuns, who was named Second Team All-Mountain West Conference for the first time in his career. Biezuns tied for second in the MWC in sacks and tied for fifth in tackles for losses. Wyoming Cowboys earning Honorable Mention All-MWC recognition were led by juniors Tashaun Gipson at cornerback, Brian Hendricks at linebacker, Gabe Knapton at defensive end and Austin McCoy at punter. Two sophomores on offense also earned Honorable Mention MWC honors. Those two sophomores were running back Alvester Alexander and center Nick Carlson. The only Cowboy who earned 2010 All-Conference honors who is not returning is senior free safety Chris Prosinski, who concluded his college playing career in 2010 as Wyoming s No. 4 all-time tackler with 373 career tackles. Prosinski was named Second Team All-MWC in Wyoming All-Mountain West Conference Selections Second Team All-MWC Josh Biezuns, Jr., DE, Prior Lake, Minn. Chris Prosinski, Sr., FS, Buffalo, Wyo. Honorable Mention All-MWC Alvester Alexander, So., RB, Houston, Texas Nick Carlson, So., C, Arlington Heights, Ill. Tashaun Gipson, Jr., CB, Dallas, Texas Brian Hendricks, Jr., LB, Burlington, Colo. Gabe Knapton, Jr., DE, Mead Colo. Austin McCoy, So., P, Winter Haven, Fla Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Junior Running Back Alvester Alexander Named to Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List: The Doak Walker Award, which annually honors the nation s top collegiate running back, named Wyoming junior Alvester Alexander to its 2011 Preseason Watch List. A total of 51 student-athletes were named to the preseason list. A native of Houston, Texas, Alexander is one of the top returning running backs in the Mountain West this season. Alexander enjoyed a productive sophomore campaign in which he earned Honorable Mention All-Mountain West honors. He led the Cowboys with 792 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 189 carries while starting all 12 games. His 66.0 yards per game average ranked fifth in the MW and No. 80 in the nation, while his 7.0 points per game was also fifth in the conference and No. 74 nationally. During the 2010 season, Alexander set new UW school records for rushing touchdowns in a season (14) and in a game (5). He saved his best performance for last, when he notched a schoolrecord five rushing touchdowns against Colorado State in the 2010 season finale. Alexander rushed for 147 yards on 23 carries in UW s 44-0 victory over Colorado State. The effort earned him MW Offensive Player of the Week. Alexander enters the fall ready to write his name in the Cowboy record book. He s amassed 21 rushing touchdowns to rank No. 7 in school history and 1,432 career rushing yards to sit 585 yards short of UW s career Top 10. The Doak Walker Award is in its 22nd year and is named for SMU s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name the 2011 semifinalists on Nov. 11, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on Nov. 21. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on Nov. 28 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives. The recipient of the 2011 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 8 on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, in February More information may be found on the Doak Walker Award website at: doakwalker. Nick Carlson Selected to the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List: The Rimington Trophy, which honors the nation s top collegiate center each season, announced its 2011 Watch List and Wyoming junior center Nick Carlson is among the 43 players named to this year s list. Carlson will be one of the top centers in the Mountain West Conference in As a sophomore, he was an Honorable Mention All-MWC selection. He enters his junior season having started 20 of 21 career games, and he started all 12 games at center for the Cowboys in At Wyoming s 2010 year-end banquet, Carlson was named UW s Offensive Lineman of the Year. He also started eight games as a freshman on Wyoming s 2009 Bowl Championship team. The Rimington Trophy is named for former University of center Dave Rimington, who was a First Team Consensus All-American in 1981 and 82 and became the first and only player in college football history to win the Outland Trophy, as the nation s top interior linemen, in backto-back seasons. The Rimington Trophy was first established in The 2011 Rimington Trophy will be awarded to the individual, who at the end of the season is determined to have received the most First Team All-America votes among the following four All-America teams: the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Foundation, the Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by the Rimington Trophy committee. The winner will be honored at the Rimington Trophy Presentation Banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Neb., on January 14, Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2 million. The twelve-year old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $86 million for CF Research. Additional information on the Rimington Trophy and a complete list of the 2011 Watch List may be found at Bold indicates players returning in Page 10

11 Wyoming Cowboys Head Coach: Dave Christensen (Western Washington 85) Overall Record: (.464), 3rd season Record at Wyoming: (.464), 3rd season Conference Record: 5-11 (.313), 3rd season Record Against Opponent: 0-0 (-----) Game Captains: #52 Gabe Knapton, Sr., DT/DE and #69 John Hutchins, Sr., OT 2011 Team Statistics 2011 Offensive Team Statistics UW Opp. Points Scored Per Game Yards Rushing Per Game Yards Passing Per Game Yards Total Offense Per Game First Downs Per Game Third Down Conversions/Attempts 19/46 15/44 Third Down Conversion Percentage Average Time of Possession 28:43 31: Defensive Team Statistics UW Opp. Total Sacks By 9 2 Sack yardage Interceptions 4 3 Interception Yardage Special Team Statistics UW Opp. Net Punting Average Punt Return Average Kickoff Return Average Field Goals Made/Attempted 1/2 3/6 Field Goal Percentage Miscellaneous Statistics UW Opp. Avg. No. of Penalties Per Game Yards Penalties Per Game Fumbles/Lost 3/1 7/ Individual Statistical Leaders Total Avg./ Avg./ 2011 Rushing Leaders Att. Net Gain Rush Game TD #23 G. Muhammad, rb #18 Brandon Miller, rb Comp. Total Avg./ Int./ 2011 Passing Leaders -Att. Pct. Yards Game TD # 8 Brett Smith, qb /5 Total Avg./ Avg./ 2011 Receiving Leaders Rec. Yards Rec. Game TD # 6 Robert Herron, wr # 2 Mazi Ogbonna, wr #80 Chris McNeill, wr Solo Assisted Total 2011 Leading Tacklers Tackles Tackles Tackles Avg # 8 Brian Hendricks, lb #43 Devyn Harris, lb #29 Luke Ruff, ss Wyoming Schedule/Results (3-0, 0-0 in the Mountain West) Date Opponents Results/Time-M.T. (TV) Sat., Sept. 3 WEBER STATE W (No TV) Sat., Sept. 10 TEXAS STATE W (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Sept. 17 at Bowling Green W (BCSN) Sat., Sept. 24 NEBRASKA 5:30 p.m. (VERSUS HD) Sat., Oct. 8 6 p.m. (TBA) Sat., Oct. 15 * Noon (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Oct. 29 at San Diego St.* 8 p.m. (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Nov. 5 * Noon (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Nov. 12 * Noon (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Nov. 19 NEW MEXICO* Noon (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Nov. 26 * Noon (The Mtn. HD) Sat., Dec. 3 * Noon (The Mtn. HD) *Indicates Mountain West Conference games 2011 Wyoming and Opponent Statistics University of Wyoming Football Cornhuskers Head Coach: Bo Pelini (Ohio State 90) Overall Record: (.733), 4th season Record at Current School: (.733), 4th season Conference Record: 17-7 (.708), 4th season Record Against Wyoming: 0-0 (-----) Captains: Game Captains to be announced 2011 Team Statistics 2011 Offensive Team Statistics BGSU Opp. Points Scored Per Game Yards Rushing Per Game Yards Passing Per Game Yards Total Offense Per Game First Downs Per Game Third Down Conversions/Attempts 16/42 22/52 Third Down Conversion Percentage Average Time of Possession 26:59 33: Defensive Team Statistics BGSU Opp. Total Sacks By 5 4 Sack yardage Interceptions 3 2 Interception Yardage Special Team Statistics BGSU Opp. Net Punting Average Punt Return Average Kickoff Return Average Field Goals Made/Attempted 7/7 4/5 Field Goal Percentage Miscellaneous Statistics BGSU Opp. Avg. No. of Penalties Per Game Yards Penalties Per Game Fumbles/Lost 9/3 6/ Individual Statistical Leaders Total Avg./ Avg./ 2011 Rushing Leaders Att. Net Gain Rush Game TD # 3 Taylor Martinez, qb #22 Rex Burkhead, rb Comp. Total Avg./ Int./ 2011 Passing Leaders -Att. Pct. Yards Game TD # 3 Taylor Martinez, qb /3 Total Avg./ Avg./ 2011 Receiving Leaders Rec. Yards Rec. Game TD #18 Quincy Enunwa, wr #10 Jamal Turner, wr #25 Kyler Reed, te Solo Assisted Total 2011 Leading Tacklers Tackles Tackles Tackles Avg # 4 Lavonte David, lb # 3 Daimion Stafford, s #51 Will Compton, lb Schedule/Results (3-0, 0-0 in the Big Ten) Date Opponents Results/Time (M.T.) Sat., Sept. 3 Chattanooga W 40-7 Sat., Sept. 10 Fresno State W Sat., Sept. 17 Washington W Sat., Sept. 24 at Wyoming 5:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 1 at Wisconsin* 6 p.m. Sat. Oct. 8 Ohio State* 6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 22 at Minnesota* 1:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 29 Michigan State* TBA Sat., Nov. 5 Northwestern* TBA Sat., Nov. 12 at Penn State* TBA Sat., Nov. 19 at Michigan* TBA Fri., Nov. 25 Iowa* 10 a.m. *Indicates Big Ten games Page 11

12 Seniors Josh Biezuns and Gabe Knapton Return on the Defensive Line Along with Junior Mike Purcell After Outstanding 2010 Seasons: When the 2010 season began, then juniors Josh Biezuns and Gabe Knapton were about to embark on a big change for both of them -- a switch from being starting linebackers to being the starting defensive ends for the Cowboys. Neither had ever played defensive end before in their careers. For Biezuns, it was his third different position in as many years. He played fullback for the Cowboys in 2008, starting three games and appearing in eight. Then in 2009, Biezuns was moved to outside linebacker where he started 12 of 13 games. All he did in 2010 as a defensive end was earn Second Team All- Mountain West Conference honors. Knapton entered the 2010 season having played linebacker at every level of his football career. He was coming off a 2009 season that saw him record 128 career tackles, the ninth best single season in University of Wyoming history. He averaged 9.8 tackles per game in 09, ranking him No. 4 in the MWC and No. 19 in the NCAA. But with Wyoming switching from a 3-4 defensive scheme to a 4-3, Knapton was asked to move to defensive end. He made the most of it, averaging 5.6 tackles per game to lead all Mountain West defensive linemen in tackles and earn Honorable Mention All- MWC honors. Now the two return as seniors in 2011 along with junior defensive tackle Mike Purcell, who started all 12 games beside them in The three join with newcomer Korey Jones to form an athletic defensive front for the Cowboys 2011 Statistical Highlights for the Defensive Line Individual Totals Josh Biezuns 11 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3.0 TFLs Korey Jones 18 tackles, 4.0 sacks, 5.5 TFLs Gabe Knapton 13 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 2.0 TFLs Mike Purcell 10 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1.5 TFLs Young Standouts: When the 2010 season came to an end, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Patrick Mertens and redshirt freshman linebacker Devyn Harris were both named to the Phil Steele s 2010 Postseason All-Freshman Team. Mertens was named to the Second Team, and Harris was a member of the Fourth Team All-Freshman squad. Mertens started all 12 games at defensive tackle in Unfortunately, he will miss the entire 2011 season due to an illness. Harris started eight games during his redshirt freshman season, and has started all of Wyoming s 2011 games at middle linebacker, making 23 tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Defensive Highlights University of Wyoming Football Gabe Knapton and Brian Hendricks Both Looking to Move Up on the UW Career Tackle Chart in 2011: Two current Wyoming Cowboys, senior defensive end Gabe Knapton and senior linebacker Brian Hendricks, will be looking to make their marks on the University of Wyoming Career Tackle Chart before they conclude their college careers in Knapton already ranks among the top tacklers in Wyoming school history. He made 10 tackles on Nov. 6, 2010, at to move into 11th place on the UW career tackle list, passing former Cowboy great Aaron Kyle, who had 275 tackles from Knapton currently has 300 career tackles, and needs only three more tackles to tie Brian Brown (303 career tackles) for 10th place in school history. In 2010, Knapton recorded 67 tackles. A similar season in 2011 would place him among the Top Five in school history. Hendricks currently has 227 career tackles. Hendricks recorded 80 tackles in the 11 games he played in He made those 80 tackles in spite of dealing with some chronic injuries throughout the season. In 2009, Hendricks was credited with 116 total tackles. He has a legitimate chance to move into the Top 10 on the UW career list by the end of the 2011 season. University of Wyoming Career Tackle Leaders Knapton Hendricks Wyoming Player Seasons Tackle Total Trails By Trails By 1. Galand Thaxton (167) (240) 2. Jim Talich (140) (213) 3. John Salley (79) (152) 4. Chris Prosinski (73) (146) 5. Ken Fantetti (52) (125) 6. Ward Dobbs (43) (116) 7. Tyler Gottschalk (34) (107) 8. Mike Schenbeck (24) (97) 9. Bruce Mowry (11) (84) 10. Brian Brown ( 3) (76) 11. Gabe Knapton 2008-Present 300 (69) 12. Aaron Kyle (48) Brian Hendricks 2008-Present Statistical Rankings for Gabe Knapton and Brian Hendricks MWC NCAA Individual Category Rank Rank Brian Hendricks, Fumbles Recovered (0.33/game) Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Brian Hendricks, Tackles (7.67 per game) Tie No. 5 NA Gabe Knapton, Sacks (0.67 per game) Tie No. 8 NA Tashaun Gipson Enters His Senior Season Among the Best in School History in Career Interceptions: Cowboy senior cornerback Tashaun Gipson has been one of the top defensive backs in Wyoming school history throughout his career. He enters this week having started the last 39 consecutive games for the Pokes, which is every game of his college career. Gipson is already among the all-time career interception leaders in school history, with six career picks. He needs only one more to break into a tie for ninth place in Wyoming history. The Dallas, Texas, native has had three interceptions in each of the past two seasons. He was also one of the top defensive backs in the Mountain West Conference last season, earning Honorable Mention All- Conference honors. University of Wyoming Career Interception Leaders Interception Gipson Wyoming Player Seasons Total Trails By 1. Brian Lee (11) 2. Paul Wallace (8) 3. Mark Thomas (4) 4. Julius Stinson (3) Steve McMillon (3) Michael Davis (3) Kevin McClain (3) 8. Jacque Finn (2) Tied (Most recently John Wendling 03-06) 7 (1) Tashaun Gipson 2008-Present Statistical Rankings for Tashaun Gipson MWC NCAA Individual Category Rank Rank Tackles (5.33 per game) Tie No. 20 NA Page 12

13 Alvester Alexander Climbs Into Sixth Place in Rushing Touchdowns in UW History, Scores a Rushing TD in His Last Seven Consecutive Games: Wyoming running back Alvester Alexander has scored a rushing touchdown in each of Wyoming s three games this season, and has climbed into sixth place on the Wyoming career rushing touchdown list with 24 career rushing TDs. Entering this week, Alexander has scored at least one rushing TD in each of his last seven games. Alexander couldn t have concluded his sophomore season in 2010 on a higher note that he did in Wyoming s 44-0 win over archrival Colorado State. Alexander set a new University of Wyoming single-game record by scoring five rushing touchdowns in that game, breaking the former UW record of four. With those five rushing touchdowns versus CSU, Alexander also set a new UW single-season record with 14 rushing TDs. That eclipsed the previous Cowboy record of 13. University of Wyoming Career Rushing Touchdown Leaders Player and Years TDS 1. Eddie Talboom, Phil Davis, Kevin Lowe, Walt Goffigan, Marques Brigham, Alvester Alexander, 2009-Present Wynel Seldon, Ryan Christopherson, Robbie Wright, Dwight Driver, Randy Welniak, Gerald Abraham, Statistical Rankings for Alvester Alexander MWC NCAA Individual Category Rank Rank Receiving Yards (38.3 per game) No. 15 NA All-Purpose Yards (92.7 ypg) No. 10 NA Scoring (6.00 points per game) No. 6 NA Receptions (2.67 per game) No. 21 NA Rushing (45.7 yards per game) No. 15 NA Offensive Highlights University of Wyoming Football Alvester Alexander Chasing Top Rushers in Wyoming History: Now in his junior season, running back Alvester Alexander is chasing the greatest rushers in Wyoming school history. Alexander led Wyoming in rushing in each of his first two seasons. As a freshman, he rushed for 640 yards. His sophomore season he added 792 yards. He has rushed for a total of 1,569 yards to date, and needs 448 yards rushing to move into the Top 10 in UW history. University of Wyoming Career Rushing Yardage Leaders Player and Years Yards Alexander Trails By 1. Devin Moore, ,963 (1,394) 2. Ryan Christopherson, ,906 (1,337) 3. Wynel Seldon, ,672 (1,103) 4. Marques Brigham, ,605 (1,036) 5. Gerald Abraham, ,278 ( 709) 6. Derek Armah, ,190 ( 621) 7. Kevin Lowe, ,188 ( 619) 8. Walt Goffigan, ,167 ( 598) 9. Dabby Dawson, ,124 ( 555) 10. Latraia Jones, ,017 ( 448) Alvester Alexander, 2009-Present 1,569 Alexander s 94-Yard Touchdown Run Versus Was the Second Longest Run in the NCAA in 2010 and the Second Longest in Wyoming School History: Only once in University of Wyoming history had a Cowboy posted a longer run from scrimmage than Alvester Alexander did against on Nov. 6, Alexander broke a 94-yard TD run versus the Lobos, which is only one yard shy of the UW school record of 95 yards set by Nate Scott versus Central Michigan on Sept. 16, Alexander also set a personal high in rushing yards in that Nov. 6 game versus the Lobos. He ran for a personal best 151 yards on the day NCAA Longest Rushing Plays Player and Game Distance of Rush 1. Thomas Merriweather, Miami (Ohio) vs. Temple, Nov. 23, yards for a TD 2. Alvester Alexander, Wyoming vs., Nov. 6, yards for a TD 3. Ronnie Hillman, San Diego State vs. Missouri, Sept. 18, yards for a TD 4. Da Rel Scott, Maryland vs. East Carolina, Dec. 29, yards for a TD Alex Allen, Akron vs. Miami (Ohio), Nov. 17, yards for a TD Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers vs. Tulane, Oct. 2, yards for a TD 7. Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois vs. Buffalo, Oct. 16, yards for a TD Chris Thompson, Florida State vs. Miami (Fla.), Oct. 9, yards for a TD 9. Dan Herron, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Nov. 27, yards 10. Jeremy Eddington, Rice vs. East Carolina, Nov. 20, yards for a TD Receiving Corps Loses Top Two Receivers From 2010, But Returns Seven of Top 11 Receivers From Last Season: While the Wyoming Cowboys lost their top two receivers from 2010 in seniors David Leonard and Zach Bolger, they return seven of their Top 11 receivers from a year ago, including four with starting experience. Junior Chris McNeill, senior Mazi Ogbonna, sophomore T.J. Smith and senior Jonathan Aiken (1 start) are the five receivers with starting experience returning. Add to that group junior running back Alvester Alexander, who was fifth on the team in receptions with 15, and you have a number of experienced targets returning in University of Wyoming 2010 Receiving Leaders Average Average Player and Years Receptions Yards Per Catch Per Game TDs 1. David Leonard, WR # Zach Bolger, WR # Chris McNeill, WR Mazi Ogbonna, WR Alvester Alexander, RB T.J. Smith, TE Bryson Studnicka, H-Back Travis Burkhalter, WR# Robert Herron, WR Jonathan Aiken, WR DeJay Lester, WR # Indicates receivers lost from 2010 Bold indicates receivers returning Page 13

14 Wyoming s Future Football Schedules: The future football schedules for the University of Wyoming as of April 2011 are as follows. In addition to the first-ever appearance in Laramie by the Huskers in 2011, Wyoming also has a future home-and-home schedule with the 2010 National Championship Runnerup Oregon Ducks beginning in All future schedules are tentative and subject to change Date Opponent Sept. 3 WEBER STATE Sept. 10 TEXAS STATE Sept. 17 at Bowling Green Sept. 24 NEBRASKA Oct. 8 Oct. 15 * Oct. 29 * Nov. 5 * Nov. 12 * Nov. 19 NEW MEXICO* Nov. 26 * Dec. 3 * Date Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Date Aug. 31 Sept. 7 Sept. 28 Date Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept Opponent at Texas TOLEDO CAL POLY at Idaho 2013 Opponent at IDAHO at Texas State 2014 Opponent UTAH STATE at Oregon FLORIDA ATLANTIC 2011 Schedule University of Wyoming Football 2011 Wyoming Football Schedule Will Feature the First-Ever Appearance by in Laramie and a Home Game vs. Rose Bowl Champion : University of Wyoming fans will have the opportunity to see some great college football in 2011 as the Wyoming Cowboys will play host to six home contests, including the first-ever appearance by new Big Ten member in Wyoming s War Memorial Stadium and an appearance by last year s Rose Bowl Champion Horned Frogs in Laramie. Wyoming will open the 2011 season at home versus Weber State on Sept. 3. The Cowboys will play at home three times during the month of September, including a Sept. 10 date with Texas State and the highly-anticipated meeting with on Sept. 24. The other three home games on Wyoming s schedule will be Mountain West Conference matchups versus on Oct. 15, the final MWC meeting with the Horned Frogs on Nov. 5 and a conference matchup versus New Mexico on Nov. 19. Wyoming and have played five previous times in the two schools histories, with all five previous meetings coming in Lincoln, Neb. The last meeting between the Cowboys and Huskers was in 1994, when Wyoming nearly pulled the upset of the Huskers before losing by a score of went on to win the National Championship that season. ended the 2010 season ranked No. 2 in both the Associated Press media poll and the USA Today Coaches poll. The Horned Frogs of course defeated Wisconsin, 21-19, in the Rose Bowl to conclude last season. This will be s final season in the Mountain West. Wyoming s road schedule will include non-conference trips to Bowling Green (Sept. 17) and Utah State (Oct. 8). Mountain West Conference road games will feature two Front Range games versus Air Force (Nov. 12) and Colorado State (Dec. 3) and trips to San Diego State (Oct. 29) and Boise State (Nov. 26). The Border War game against Colorado State will be played in the month of December for the first time in the century-old series. This year s meeting will be the 103rd meeting between the Cowboys and Rams. I like the way the schedule lines up, said third-year head coach Dave Christensen. We have two byes, which come at good times in the season -- one right after the game and then the second bye comes right before we start the second half of the season. I m pleased that for most of the season we don t have to play on the road in consecutive weeks, other than the final two games of the season and. I really do like the way the games fall, and I think it might be the best schedule since we ve been here. In addition to playing in one of the strongest football conferences in the nation -- the Mountain West -- Wyoming continues to schedule many of the most prominent, non-conference opponents in college football. Without a doubt, the game that has Wyoming fans excited is the game on Sept. 24, said UW Athletics Director Tom Burman. I know Cowboy fans have been talking to me about this game for months, and we are very pleased to be able to bring the University of to Laramie for the first time ever. I feel that this schedule has a good balance. It offers great games for our fans, a nice blend of regional teams with, Utah State and Weber State, and I believe will give our team a chance to play a very competitive schedule. Fans, who have questions or need additional information on purchasing tickets for 2011 Wyoming football games, may call the UW Athletics Ticket Office at 877-WYO-FAN1 ( ) or , or visit Date Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Date Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Date Sept. 9 Date Sept Opponent OREGON 2016 Opponent UTAH STATE at 2017 Opponent at Missouri 2018 Opponent MISSOURI Pokes Overtime History: The Wyoming Cowboys have played eight overtime games in their history. The most recent overtime game the Cowboys played was in UW captured the 2009 Bowl Championship, defeating Fresno State in double overtime. Two of Wyoming s eight overtime games have been played on neutral sites in postseason -- the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Championship game in Las Vegas, Nev., and the 2009 New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M. The other six Wyoming overtime games have been played on the road. The Cowboys have never played an overtime game at home. Date Opponent, Result Wyoming s Overtime Record 9/7/96 at Iowa State, W (1ot) /7/96 vs. BYU#, L (1ot) /17/98 at, W (1ot) /2/02 at, L (1ot) /6/04 at, W (3ot) 3-2 9/9/06 at Virginia, L (1ot) 3-3 9/30/06 at Syracuse, L (2ot) /19/09 vs. Fresno State*, W (2ot) 4-4 #The overtime game versus BYU was played in the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Championship game in Las Vegas, Nev. *The overtime game vs. Fresno State came in the 2009 Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M. Page 14

15 University of Wyoming Media Relations Staff Contacts for Football Tim Harkins Associate Athletics Director Office: (307) Cell: (307) Andy Chapman Assistant Media Relations Director Office: (307) Cell: (307) Media Relations Staff Assistant Media Relations Director: Amy Dambro Assistant Media Relations Director: Amil Anderson Assistant Media Relations Director: Nick Kinney Media Relations Office Manager: Diane Dodson Graduate Assistants: Lauren Marchant Media Relations Phone: (307) Media Relations FAX: (307) Press Box Phone: (307) Mailing Address: Athletics Media Relations Office University of Wyoming Department 3414, 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY Overnight Shipping Address: Athletics Media Relations Office University of Wyoming 16th and Gibbon Streets Laramie, WY Thad Jackson, Video Contact for Media Office: (307) Cell: (618) Chris Miller, Video Contact for Coaches Office: (307) Cell: (307) Ruben Narcisse Will Continue to be Honored by His Wyoming Teammates, as Former Roommate Sonny Puletasi Will Wear #12 for the Remainder of His Career: The 2010 college football season started on a sad note for the Wyoming Cowboys when the Monday following their season opener linebacker Ruben Narcisse was killed in an early morning car accident on Labor Day (Sept. 6, 2010). Narcisse was a 19-year old freshman from Miami, Fla. He played his high school football at Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Throughout the 2010 season, his teammates and coaches chose to honor him in a variety of ways. All the Cowboy football players wore a helmet decal that featured his initials RN in honor of their fallen teammate. His name also remained on the Wyoming roster as his team wished to continue to recognize him as being a member of the team. One Wyoming player wore Narcisse s #12 jersey each week during the season in A list of those players is below. Beginning in the 2011 season rather than having a different player wear Narcisse s jersey each week, current redshirt freshman defensive end Sonny Puletasi will wear the #12 jersey for the remainder of his career. Puletasi was Narcisse s roommate when they both arrived on campus as freshmen. Player Shamiel Gary, ss Brian Hendricks, lb Chris Prosinski, fs Ghaali Muhammad,lb Devyn Harris, lb Austyn Carta-Samuels, qb Keith Lewis, lb Oliver Schober, lb Alvester Alexander, rb David Leonard, wr Alex Toney, lb 2011 Team Notes University of Wyoming Football 2010 Players Who Wore Ruben Narcisse s #12 Jersey Game in Which They Wore #12 Jersey to Honor Ruben Narcisse at Texas vs. Boise State vs. Air Force at Toledo at vs. Utah at BYU vs. San Diego State at at vs. Colorado State Wyoming s Luke Ruff Earns First Team ESPN Academic All-District 7 Honors: University of Wyoming sophomore defensive back Luke Ruff was named a First Team ESPN Academic All-District 7 selection on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010, by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Ruff, a native of Castle Rock, Colo., has a 3.56 cumulative grade-point average in mechanical engineering. He plays both as a defensive back and as a top special teams performer. He was named Wyoming s Co-Special Teams Player of the Year as a true freshman in Ruff started the final two games of 2010, and ended the season with 27 tackles and one blocked punt. He has 39 career tackles and two blocked kicks during his two-year career. Ruff was named to the Mountain West Conference Academic All-Conference team in both 2009 and 2010, and was also a Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete selection both years. The criteria for ESPN Academic All-District honors requires a student-athlete to have achieved a minimum of a 3.30 cumulative gpa, must be a starter or important reserve on his or her team, must have completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and must have reached sophomore athletic eligibility. CoSIDA s District 7 is made up of the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana,, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. German Connection Continues for Cowboys: Over the past two years, the Wyoming Cowboys have begun to develop a recruiting base in, of all places, Germany. This connection was opened by head coach Dave Christensen and David Odenthal, who played at the University of Toledo during the time Christensen was an assistant coach at Toledo. In 2010, Oliver Schober became the first German native to join the Cowboy Football program. Schober played in all 12 games for the Cowboys as a junior linebacker and started three games. He was credited with 46 total tackles, broke up three passes and recovered one fumble. Schober also handled kickoff duties for the Pokes. Schober was listed as the starting middle linebacker for Wyoming at the conclusion of 2011 spring practice. Schober is planning on redshirting the 2011 season after suffering an injury in fall drills. In January of 2011, linebackers Alex Borgs and Mark Nzeocha joined the Wyoming team as freshmen. Nzeocha started Wyoming s 2011 season opener at one outside linebacker position. Borgs also played in the Weber State game, and is the backup at middle linebacker behind sophomore Devyn Harris. Page 15

16 Wyoming Postseason Record All-Time Bowl Record: (.500) All-Time Postseason Record: (.462) Game and Date Result Gator Bowl (Win) Wyoming 20 Jan. 1, 1951 Washington & Lee 7 Wyoming s Final 1950 Record: Head Coach: Bowden Wyatt Sun Bowl (Win) Wyoming 21 Jan. 2, 1956 Texas Tech 14 Wyoming s Final 1955 Record: Head Coach: Phil Dickens Sun Bowl (Win) Wyoming 14 Dec. 31, 1958 Hardin Simmons 6 Wyoming s Final 1958 Record: Head Coach: Bob Devaney Sun Bowl (Win) Wyoming 28 Dec. 24, 1966 Florida State 20 Wyoming s Final 1966 Record: Head Coach: Lloyd Eaton Sugar Bowl (Loss) LSU 20 Jan. 1, 1968 Wyoming 13 Wyoming s Final 1967 Record: Head Coach: Lloyd Eaton Fiesta Bowl (Loss) Oklahoma 41 Dec. 25, 1976 Wyoming 7 Wyoming s Final 1976 Record: Head Coach: Fred Akers Holiday Bowl (Loss) Iowa 20 Dec. 30, 1987 Wyoming 19 Wyoming s Final 1987 Record: Head Coach: Paul Roach Holiday Bowl (Loss) Oklahoma State 62 Dec. 30, 1988 Wyoming 14 Wyoming s Final 1988 Record: Head Coach: Paul Roach Copper Bowl (Loss) California 17 Dec. 31, 1990 Wyoming 15 Wyoming s Final 1990 Record: Head Coach: Paul Roach 2011 Wyoming Team Notes University of Wyoming Football Mountain West Conference Has Four Bowl Agreements in Place for the 2011 College Football Season: As a member of the Mountain West Conference, Wyoming has several opportunities for football postseason play. Now entering its 13th year of existence, the Mountain West has four bowl agreements in place for the 2011 season. The 2011 college football bowl season will once again kick off with the sixth annual Gildan Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17. The Mountain West will play a team from the Pacific-12 Conference, with ESPN televising. Wyoming defeated Fresno State in double overtime in the 2009 Bowl. The MW will send a team to the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl for the 13th consecutive year in The Las Vegas Bowl will feature teams from the Mountain West and Pacific-12 conferences. This year s contest will be played on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, and will be televised by ESPN. Since entering into its original agreement in 1999, teams from the MWC have posted a 7-5 record in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Wyoming Cowboys won the 2004 Vegas Bowl by a score of over UCLA. Again this year, the host venue for the game will be Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The 2011 season will mark the seventh year that the Mountain West will have a team play in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego s Qualcomm Stadium. This year, a team from the Mountain West will face a team from the Western Athletic Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 21 in a game to be televised on ESPN. The third bowl game which the MWC has a relationship with in 2011 is the Advocare V100 Independence Bowl. This season will mark the second consecutive season that the Mountain West will face a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the Independence Bowl, which will be played on Monday, Dec. 26. ESPN2 will televise the Independence Bowl this season Mountain West Conference Bowl Schedule Bowl Date Location Opponent Television Gildan Sat., Dec. 17 University Stadium Albuquerque, N.M. Pacific-12 ESPN San Diego Co. Credit Union Qualcomm Stadium Poinsettia Wed., Dec. 21 San Diego, Calif. WAC ESPN MAACO Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas Thu., Dec. 22 Las Vegas, Nev. Pacific-12 ESPN Advocare V100 Independence Stadium Independence Mon., Dec. 26 Shreveport, La. ACC ESPN2 Copper Bowl (Loss) Kansas State 52 Dec. 28, 1993 Wyoming 17 Wyoming s Final 1993 Record: Head Coach: Joe Tiller WAC Championship (Loss) BYU 28 Dec. 7, 1996 Wyoming 25 (OT) Wyoming s Final 1996 Record: 10-2 Head Coach: Joe Tiller Las Vegas Bowl (Win) Wyoming 24 Dec. 23, 2004 UCLA 21 Wyoming s Final 2004 Record: 7-5 Head Coach: Joe Glenn Bowl (Win) Wyoming 35 Dec. 19, 2009 Fresno State 28 (2OT) Wyoming s Final 2009 Record: 7-6 Head Coach: Dave Christensen The Mountain West Conference Becomes the First Conference in the Nation to Win the Bowl Challenge Cup Four Times Since the Award s Inception in : For the fourth time in seven seasons, the Mountain West Conference posted the best bowl winning percentage of any conference in the nation and therefore captured the Bowl Challenge Cup. The MWC is the first conference in the country to win the Bowl Challenge Cup four different seasons since the award s inception in The Mountain West also captured the Bowl Challenge Cup in the , and bowl seasons. Page 16

17 2011 Will Feature a New Mountain West Conference: The Mountain West Conference will feature a new eight-team league in In 2012, the MWC membership will expand to 10 football playing members Mountain West Conference Alignment Air Force Boise State (Begins MWC membership in 2011) Colorado State San Diego State (Will leave the MWC after the 2011 season) Wyoming New Members Coming in 2012 Fresno State Hawaii (Will join MWC only in football) Nevada Wyoming Football s All-Time Record: The Wyoming Cowboy Football program has played a total of 1,038 games in its history. Wyoming is 26 games under.500 all-time (492 wins to 518 losses), but has played 49 more road games than home games in its history (487 home games to 536 road games). The Cowboys played their 1,000th game on Sept. 6, 2008, against Air Force. Wyoming All-Time Football Record (.487) -- 1,038 Total Games Wyoming All-Time Home Football Record (.616) Home Games Wyoming All-Time Road Football Record (.371) Road Games Wyoming Neutral-Site Football Record (.467) Neutral-Site Games War Memorial Stadium Enters Its 62nd Season in 2011: The 2011 college football season is the 62nd season of War Memorial Stadium Wyoming has won 67.1 percent of its games in War Memorial Stadium. The War first opened on Sept. 16, 1950, with UW recording a win over Montana State. War Memorial s original capacity was 20,000 in It was expanded to 25,500 in 1970, and the seating was increased to a capacity of 33,500 in Following reconstruction of the upper deck on the West side of War Memorial Stadium in the summer of 2004, the new capacity of War Memorial Stadium was 30,514. With the construction of the Wildcatter Stadium Club & Suites in , the current capacity is 29,181. War Memorial Stadium by Decade Decade Record in The War 1950s (.744) 1960s (.893) 1970s (.510) 1980s (.733) 1990s (.746) 2000s (.483) 2010s (.500) Total (.671) 324 Total Games New Tradition Began for Wyoming Football in 2009 With the Carrying of a United States Army Special Forces Flag and a Wyoming State Flag: The Wyoming Cowboys began a new tradition on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009, versus. The Cowboys entered the field carrying two flags -- a United States Army Special Forces Flag and a Wyoming State Flag. On Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, members of the Special Forces Association Cowboy Chapter 71 presented the Wyoming Football team with an official flag of the United States Army Special Forces along with a symbolic Green Beret once worn by a fallen Green Beret in Afghanistan The U.S. Army Special Forces Flag is carried onto the field each week by the Wyoming Cowboy who scored the most points as a special forces (special teams) player the previous week. Also the week leading up to the Oct. 10 game versus, the Wyoming Football team was sent a package by the 115th Fires Brigade based out of Cheyenne. One of the items in that package was a Wyoming State Flag, which had been flown over Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The Wyoming State Flag is carried each week by a player who is a native of the state of Wyoming to honor those from Wyoming who are serving overseas. Game Wyoming State Flag Bearer U.S. Special Forces Flag Bearer 2009 Season vs. Chris Prosinski, Buffalo, Wyo. Luke Ruff, Castle Rock, Colo. Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. T.J. Atwater, Wichita, Kan. at Utah Clayton Kirven, Buffalo, Wyo. Ghaali Muhammad, St. Joseph, Mo. vs. BYU Joe Evers, Sheridan, Wyo. Austin McCoy, Winter Haven, Fla. Clayton Kirven, Buffalo, Wyo. Chris Prosinski, Buffalo, Wyo. vs. Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Mitch Unrein, Eaton, Colo. at CSU Chris Prosinski, Buffalo, Wyo. Austin McCoy, Winter Haven, Fla. vs. Fresno State Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Chris Prosinski, Buffalo, Wyo Season vs. Southern Utah Reece Hall, Sheridan, Wyo. Luke Ruff, Castle Rock, Colo. at Texas Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Luke Ruff, Castle Rock, Colo. vs. Boise State Clayton Kirven, Buffalo, Wyo. Oliver Schober, Munich, Germany vs. Air Force Patrick Hartford,Rock Springs,Wyo. Greg Saydjari, Skowhegan, Maine at Toledo Andrew Meredith,Green River,Wyo. Marcell Gipson, Dallas Texas at Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Marcell Gipson, Dallas, Texas vs. Utah Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Austin McCoy, Winter Haven, Fla. at BYU Clayton Kirven, Buffalo, Wyo. Bryson Studnicka, Clay Center, Neb. vs. San Diego State Reece Hall, Sheridan, Wyo. Josh Biezuns, Prior Lake, Minn. at Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. Oliver Schober, Munich, Germany at Reece Hall, Sheridan, Wyo. Devyn Harris, Fountain, Colo. vs. Colorado State Zach Bolger, Casper, Wyo. James Caraway, Topeka, Kan. vs. Weber State Clayton Kirven, Buffalo, Wyo. Josh Biezuns, Prior Lake, Minn. vs. Texas State Andrew Meredith,Green River,Wyo. Luke Ruff, Castle Rock, Colo. at Bowling Green Spencer Bruce, Gillette, Wyo. Todd Knight, Aurora, Colo. Facing Top 25 Opponents Seems to be the Norm for the Wyoming Cowboys During the Dave Christensen Era: Now entering the third year of the Dave Christensen era at Wyoming, it seems to be the norm for the Wyoming Cowboys to face Top 25 opponents. Christensen s Wyoming teams have played eight games against Top 25 ranked opponents the past two seasons, facing four in 2009 and four in In 2009, Wyoming hosted the highest ranked team to ever visit War Memorial Stadium in the No. 2 ranked Texas Longhorns. The 2009 season marked the first time in school history that Wyoming hosted two Top Five ranked teams in the same season as the No. 4 ranked Horned Frogs also made a visit to Wyoming s War Memorial Stadium. The 2010 season saw the then No. 3 ranked Boise State Broncos visit Laramie. Wyoming played two other Top Five ranked teams on the road during the 2010 season -- No. 4 ranked Texas and No. 5 ranked Wyoming Top 25 Ranked Opponents (Rankings at the Time UW Played Opponent) Date AP USA Today Played Opponent Ranking Ranking Sept. 12 Texas No. 2 No. 2 Nov. 21 No. 4 No. 4 Oct. 31 at Utah No. 19 No. 19 Nov. 7 BYU No. 25 No Wyoming Top 25 Ranked Opponents (Rankings at the Time UW Played Opponent) Date AP USA Today Played Opponent Ranking Ranking Sept. 18 Boise State No. 3 No. 3 Oct. 9 at No. 5 No. 5 Sept. 11 at Texas No. 5 No. 4 Oct. 16 Utah No. 11 No Page 17

18 Wyoming Cowboys Faced Four Nationally-Ranked Teams During 2010 Season: The Wyoming Cowboys faced four nationally-ranked opponents on their schedule during the 2010 season. The four 2010 Wyoming opponents ranked in the national polls at the time Wyoming played them were: Texas, Boise State, and Utah. Here is a summary of where Wyoming s opponents ranked when Wyoming played them. Date USA UW AP Today Plays Opponent Ranking Ranking Sept. 11 at Texas No. 5 No. 4 Sept. 18 Boise State No. 3 No. 3 Oct. 9 at No. 5 No. 5 Oct. 16 Utah No. 11 No Final BCS Standings: The final Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings released prior to the bowl season included three Wyoming opponents ranked in the Top 25. The Horned Frogs were ranked No. 3, the Boise State Broncos were ranked No. 10 and the Utah Utes were No. 19. Below are the final 2010 BCS standings. Team 2010 BCS Avg. 1. Auburn Oregon Stanford Wisconsin Ohio State Oklahoma Arkansas Michigan State Boise State LSU Missouri Virginia Tech Oklahoma State Nevada Alabama Texas A&M Utah South Carolina Mississippi State West Virginia Florida State Hawaii UCF.0545 Bold indicates 2010 Wyoming opponents 2011 National Polls: Below are the current 2011 national polls from the Associated Press Media Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. Associated Press USA Today Coaches Poll Harris Interactive Poll (Week 4: Sept. 18, 2011) (Week 4: Sept. 18, 2011) (No Poll Yet Released) Team Record Team Record Team Record 1. Oklahoma Oklahoma 2-0 (No Poll Yet Released) 2. LSU Alabama Alabama LSU Boise State Boise State Stanford Stanford Wisconsin Oklahoma St Oklahoma State Wisconsin Texas A&M Texas A&M Oregon South Carolina Florida State Virginia Tech South Carolina Arkansas Virginia Tech Oregon Arkansas Florida State Florida Florida West Virginia West Virginia Baylor South Florida South Florida Texas Texas Baylor Clemson Michigan Michigan Clemson USC Michigan State Illinois Georgia Tech Georgia Tech North Carolina 3-0 Associated Press Others Receiving Votes: Michigan State 42, Auburn 29, Houston 25, Miami (Fla.) 23, Iowa State 19, Utah 19, Ohio State 16, Maryland 15, Mississippi State 14, Missouri 10, Arizona State 9, San Diego State 8, Vanderbilt 8, Notre Dame 8, Georgia 7, Florida International 4, California 3, Navy 3, North Carolina 2, Tennessee 2. USA Today Others Receiving Votes: Ohio State 92, Illinois 90, Houston 60, Miami (Fla.) 39, Iowa State 27, Missouri 22, California 21, Penn State 19, Utah 17, Arizona State 16, Auburn 14, San Diego State 14, Florida International 11, Vanderbilt 11, Mississippi State 8, Tennessee 5, Texas Tech 3, Notre Dame 3, Washington 3, Ohio 2, Northwestern 1. Bold indicates 2011 Wyoming opponents Rankings University of Wyoming Football Pokes in the Polls, Through the Years: Below is a breakdown of the Wyoming Cowboys in the four major college polls through the years. The abbreviations below are: Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), USA Today Coaches Poll (USA) and Harris Interactive (Harris). The first column lists a summary of the years Wyoming ended the season in a national poll. The second column lists the highest ranking UW received in any given year. Wyoming s Season-Ending Wyoming s High Rankings Rankings in the National Polls in the National Polls Year AP UPI USA Harris Year AP UPI USA Harris th 14th th 14th th th th th th th th th th 5th th 5th th st th 21st th 10th th th nd 22nd th 15th th 25th th 35th th th 38th th 34th 41st th 37th 39th Page 18

19 Cowboys in the 2011 Mountain West and NCAA Statistical Rankings: Below are where the Wyoming Cowboys rank in the current 2011 MWC and NCAA statistical rankings Wyoming Team Rankings in the Mountain West Conference and NCAA Team Category Average MWC Rank NCAA Rank (120 Teams) Scoring Offense 36.0 points per game No. 4 Tie No. 35 Rushing Offense yards per game No. 2 No. 20 Passing Offense yards per game No. 2 No. 36 Total Offense yards per game No. 2 No. 16 Passing Efficiency rating No. 5 No. 65 First Downs 21.7 first downs per game No. 2 Tie No. 48 The Mountain West Conference Enters Its 13th Season in 2011: The 2011 college football season will be the 13th season of the Mountain West Conference MWC Football Standings Conference Overall Wyoming 0-0 (-----) 3-0 (1.000) SDSU 0-0 (-----) 3-0 (1.000) Boise State 0-0 (-----) 2-0 (1.000) Colorado St. 1-0 (1.000) 2-1 (.667) 1-0 (1.000) 2-1 (.667) Air Force 0-1 (.000) 1-1 (.500) 0-0 (-----) 0-2 (.000) 0-1 (.000) 0-3 (.000) This Week s Schedule Saturday, Sept. 24 (TV) at Wyoming, 5:30 p.m. (VERSUS) Tennessee St., 1 p.m. (The Mtn. HD) Tulsa, 6 p.m. (CBS Sports HD) Colorado State, 6 p.m. (TBA) Sam Houston St. at, 4 p.m. SDSU at Michigan, 10 a.m. (Big Ten Network) Portland St. at, 5 p.m. Southern Utah at, 7 p.m. (The Mtn. HD) All times listed are Mountain Time Last Week s Results Friday, Sept. 16 (TV) Boise State 40, at Toledo 15 (ESPN HD) Saturday, Sept. 17 (TV) Wyoming 28, at Bowling Green 27 (ESPN3) #CSU 14, vs. Colorado 28 (ROOT Sports) La.-Monroe 17, at 38 (The Mtn. HD) Texas Tech 59, at UNM 13 (VERSUS HD) Wash. St. 24, at SDSU 42 (The Mtn. HD) Hawaii at, 8 p.m. (The Mtn. HD) Air Force was idle last week # Game played in Denver, Colo Wyoming Players To Earn MWC Player of the Week Josh Biezuns, Sr., DE, Prior Lake, Minn. Sept. 19, MW Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Bowling Green on Sept. 17, 2011 Scoring Defense 23.0 points per game No. 4 Tie No. 55 Rushing Defense yards per game No. 2 Tie No. 54 Passing Defense yards per game No. 6 No. 109 Total Defense yards per game No. 5 No. 94 Pass Defense Efficiency rating No. 4 No. 95 Fewest Opponent First Downs 23.0 first downs per game No. 7 Tie No. 105 Field-Goal Percentage 50.0 percent (1 of 2) Tie No. 3 NA PAT Kicking Percentage percent (15 of 15) Tie No. 1 NA Net Punting 35.4 net yards per punt No. 7 No. 88 Punt Returns -1.0 yards per return No. 8 Tie No. 114 Punt Return Coverage 3.0 yards per return No. 3 No. 27 Kickoff Returns 22.8 yards per return No. 7 No. 49 Kickoff Return Coverage 19.7 yards per return No. 3 No. 47 Turnover Margin turnover margin per game Tie No. 1 Tie No. 5 Most Turnovers Gained 10 total turnovers gained No. 1 No. 5 Most Fumbles Recovered 6 total fumble recoveries No. 1 No. 3 Most Passes Intercepted 4 total interceptions No. 1 No. 18 Fewest Turnovers Lost 4 total turnovers lost No. 4 No. 44 Fewest Fumbles Lost 1 total fumbles lost No. 2 No. 15 Fewest Passes Had Intercepted 3 total interceptions thrown No. 7 No. 72 Time of Possession 28:43 minutes per game No. 7 NA Third-Down Conversion % 41.3 percent (19 of 46) No. 5 Tie No. 65 Opp. Third-Down Conv. % 34.1 percent (15 of 44) No. 2 No. 40 Fourth-Down Conversion% 28.6 percent (2 of 7) No. 8 Tie No. 92 Opp. Fourth-Down Conversion % 40.0 percent (2 of 5) No. 2 Tie No. 40 Red Zone Offense 75.0 percent (12 of 16) No. 6 Tie No. 89 Red Zone Defense 63.6 percent (7 of 11) No. 2 Tie No. 30 Fewest Penalty Yards 50.0 yards per game No. 5 Tie No. 53 Sacks By 3.00 sacks per game Tie No. 2 Tie No. 22 Sacks Against 0.67 sacks per game No. 4 Tie No. 16 Tackles for Losses 6.67 TFLs per game Tie No. 2 Tie No. 38 Tackles for Losses Against 5.67 TFLs per game No. 5 Tie No Wyoming Players in the NCAA Rankings (Listed Alphabetically by Player) Individual Category Average MWC Rank NCAA Rank Josh Biezuns, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Josh Biezuns, Sacks 0.67 per game Tie No. 9 Tie No. 59 Josh Biezuns, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Blair Burns, Interceptions 0.67 per game Tie No. 1 Tie No. 8 Blair Burns, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Ben Durbin, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Brian Hendricks, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Robert Herron, Receptions 5.7 per game No. 2 Tie No. 40 Marqueston Huff, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Marqueston Huff, Interceptions 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 79 Korey Jones, Sacks 1.33 per game No. 2 Tie No. 3 Korey Jones, Tackles for Losses 1.83 per game No. 2 Tie No. 15 Gabe Knapton, Sacks 0.67 per game Tie No. 9 Tie No. 59 Austin McCoy, Punting 38.9 yards per punt No. 4 No. 57 Ghaali Muhammad, Rushing 66.0 yards per game No. 6 No. 91 Mark Nzeocha, Interceptions 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 79 Mazi Ogbonna, Receptions 4.7 per game Tie No. 6 Tie No. 85 Sonny Puletasi, Forced Fumbles 0.33 per game Tie No. 8 Tie No. 68 Luke Ruff, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No. 55 Dominic Rufran, Kickoff Returns 24.4 yards per return No. 5 No. 49 Brett Smith, Total Offense yards per game No. 2 No. 16 Brett Smith, Passing Yards yards per game No. 2 No. 27 Brett Smith,Passing Efficiency rating No. 4 No. 58 Daniel Sullivan, Field Goals 0.33 field goals per game Tie No. 5 Tie No. 97 Darrenn White, Fumbles Recovered 0.33 per game Tie No. 4 Tie No Wyoming Players in the Mountain West Conference Rankings (Listed Alphabetically by Player) Individual Category Average MWC Rank NCAA Rank Alvester Alexander, Scoring 6.00 points per game Tie No. 6 NA Alvester Alexander, All-Purpose Yards 92.7 yards per game No. 10 NA Alvester Alexander, Rushing 45.7 yards per game No. 15 NA Alvester Alexander, Receiving Yards 38.3 yards per game No. 15 NA Luke Anderson, Passes Defended 0.67 per game Tie No. 7 NA Josh Biezuns, Tackles for Loss 1.00 per game Tie No. 9 NA Blair Burns, Passes Defended 0.67 per game Tie No. 7 NA Tashaun Gipson, Passes Defended 0.67 per game Tie No. 7 NA Devyn Harris, Tackles 7.7 per game Tie No. 5 NA Brian Hendricks, Tackles 7.7 per game Tie No. 5 NA Robert Herron, Receiving Yards 58.7 yards per game No. 7 NA Marqueston Huff, Tackles 6.0 per game Tie No. 15 NA Korey Jones, Tackles 6.0 per game Tie No. 15 NA Gabe Knapton, Sacks 0.67 per game Tie No. 8 NA Chris McNeill, Receptions 4.0 per game Tie No. 9 NA Chris McNeill, Receiving Yards 46.3 yards per game No. 10 NA Brandon Miller, Rushing 56.3 yards per game No. 9 NA Brandon Miller, All-Purpose Yards 81.7 yards per game No. 13 NA Ghaali Muhammad, Total Offense 66.0 yards per game No. 14 NA Ghaali Muhammad, All-Purpose Yards 81.0 yards per game No. 14 NA Mark Nzeocha, Passes Defended 0.67 per game Tie No. 7 NA Mazi Ogbonna, Receiving Yards 42.3 yards per game Tie No. 13 NA Luke Ruff, Tackles 7.7 per game Tie No. 5 NA Dominic Rufran, All-Purpose Yards 99.3 yards per game No. 9 NA Dominic Rufran, Receiving Yards 42.3 yards per game Tie No. 13 NA Brett Smith, Scoring 6.00 points per game Tie No. 6 NA Brett Smith, Rushing 51.3 yards per game No. 13 NA Page 19

20 Dave Christensen (Western Washington 85) Head Football Coach, University of Wyoming Dave Christensen will be entering his third season as head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys in You couldn t have asked for much more from a head coach in his first season. Dave Christensen s first year as a college head coach in 2009 was filled with highlights. He led the Wyoming Cowboys to a bowl game in his first season, becoming only the second Cowboy head coach to accomplish that feat -- the other being Paul Roach in Christensen became the first UW head coach to win a bowl game in his first season, as his Pokes defeated Fresno State, in double overtime, in the Bowl. He also guided Wyoming to a road win over archrival Colorado State in the regular-season finale, bringing the Bronze Boot back to Laramie. For a team that began the season picked to finish last (ninth) in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll, Christensen s Cowboys ended the season with a 7-6 overall record, a 4-4 league mark and a fifth-place finish in a league that had three teams end the season ranked among the Top 18 in both the Associated Press Media Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll. And his team accomplished all this while playing a schedule that was ranked as the eighth toughest in the nation and included BCS national runner-up Texas. All told, Christensen had seven of his Cowboys earn All-Conference honors his first season at UW. While he delivered on his promise to the 2009 senior class that he would do everything he could to get them to a bowl game, he also built a team with an eye toward the future. In his second season at UW, Christensen s young team faced one of the nation s most difficult schedules, playing three teams that were ranked in the Top 5 in the nation at the time the Cowboys faced them (No. 3 Boise State, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 ) and playing a fourth Top 10 ranked team in No. 10 Utah. Wyoming ended Christensen s second season on a high note, defeating archrival Colorado State, 44-0, in the season finale. Eight Cowboys earned All-Conference recognition at the conclusion of the season -- two Second Team selections and six Honorable Mention honorees. Wyoming Football hired its dynamic and innovative new leader on Dec. 1, 2008, as University of Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman announced that Christensen, then the Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Missouri, had been selected as the new head coach of the Cowboys. We are thrilled to be able to attract a coach with the experience that Coach (Dave) Christensen brings to our program, said Burman at the time of Christensen s hiring. He is one of the great offensive minds in college football, and he will bring a very exciting brand of football to Jonah Field. The plan he presented to us for building a comprehensive program was the best we heard in our search process. I am confident that he will put an outstanding coaching staff together, and that they will hit the ground running. With Dave leading Cowboy Football, I believe our program will make dramatic progress in the coming years and return to a position of prominence in the Mountain West Conference. After serving as an assistant coach at the college level for 24 years, Christensen expressed the emotions he felt upon earning his first head-coaching position. I can t tell you how excited I am to be given the opportunity to lead the Wyoming Cowboy Football program, said Christensen. The opportunity to become a head coach is something I ve been preparing for my entire career. This is a great job at an outstanding university. Wyoming has a rich football tradition, and combined with the new, state-of-the art facilities, I know we can win here. Christensen became the 31st coach in Wyoming Football history, and was signed to a five-year contract -- a contract that was extended in the spring of 2010 to run through Dec. 31, At the time of Christensen s contract extension, Burman had this to say. In his first year, Coach (Dave) Christensen did an outstanding job of returning Wyoming Football to a competitive position in the Mountain West Conference. He led our football program to a winning record and a Bowl victory, and it was evident by the large number of fans at the bowl game that he has reenergized our fan base. We are excited about the future of Cowboy Football and the leadership that Coach Christensen has provided, and we are pleased to announce this extension of his contract. While the offensive coordinator at Missouri, Christensen was named the 2007 National Offensive Coordinator of the Year by Rivals.com and was also runner-up for the 2007 Frank Broyles Award, which honors the top assistant coach in the nation each season. He helped lead the Missouri Tigers to the Big 12 Championship game in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons as champions of the Big 12 North. In 2008, Mizzou ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in passing offense (330.4 yards per game), No. 6 in scoring offense (42.2 points per game) and No. 8 in total offense (484.1 yards per game). The Tigers concluded the 2008 season ranked No. 16 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 19 in the final Associated Press Media Poll and were No. 21 in the final BCS Rankings entering the college bowl season. Missouri defeated Northwestern, in overtime, in the 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl. The 2007 season saw Missouri conclude the season ranked No. 4 in the final Associated Press ranking. That was the highest season-ending ranking in school history for the Tigers. Mizzou finished the season by defeating Arkansas, 38-7, in the Cotton Bowl, giving the Tigers a school record 12th win on the season. His 2007 offense ranked No. 5 in the nation in total offense (490.3 yards per game), No. 8 in scoring offense (39.9 points per game) and No. 9 in passing offense (314.1 yards per game). Christensen earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Western Washington in 1985 and a master of science degree in college instruction and sports science from Eastern Washington in He is 50 years old, born Jan. 17, Christensen and his wife Susie have three children, Katie, D.J. and Emily. Page 20

21 Dave Christensen (Western Washington 85) Head Football Coach, University of Wyoming Coaching Honors 2007 National Offensive Coordinator of the Year, As selected by Rivals.com 2007 Runner-up for Frank Broyles Award as Assistant Coach of the Year Postseason Coaching Experience 2009 Bowl Champions, Wyoming defeated Fresno State, in double overtime, on Dec. 19, Valero Alamo Bowl Champions, Missouri defeated Northwestern, in overtime, on Dec. 29, AT&T Cotton Bowl Champions, Missouri defeated Arkansas, 38-7, on Jan. 1, Sun Bowl, Missouri lost to Oregon State, 38-39, on Dec. 29, Independence Bowl Champions, Missouri defeated South Carolina, 38-31, on Dec. 30, Independence Bowl, Missouri lost to Arkansas, 14-27, on Dec. 31, Las Vegas Bowl Champions, Toledo defeated Nevada, in overtime, on Dec. 13, Freedom Bowl Champions, Washington defeated Florida, 34-7, on Dec. 30, 1989 Championship Teams 2008 Big 12 Conference North Champions 2007 Big 12 Conference North Champions 2000 Mid-American Conference West Co-Champions 1998 Mid-American Conference West Champions 1997 Mid-American Conference West Champions 1995 Mid-American Conference Champions College Head-Coaching Record Overall Record Conference Record Conference Postseason Season School W L % W L % Finish Appearance 2011 Wyoming Wyoming T8th 2009 Wyoming th N.M. Bowl Champions Record at Wyoming (2 years) College Assistant-Coaching Record Overall Record Conference Record Conference Postseason Season School W L T % W L T % Finish Appearance 2008 Missouri st (Big 12 North) Valero Alamo Bowl 2007 Missouri st (Big 12 North) AT&T Cotton Bowl 2006 Missouri nd (Big 12 North) Sun Bowl 2005 Missouri nd (Big 12 North) Independence Bowl 2004 Missouri rd (Big 12 North) 2003 Missouri rd (Big 12 North) Independence Bowl 2002 Missouri th (Big 12 North) 2001 Missouri th (Big 12 North) Record at Missouri (8 years) Toledo Tie 1st (MAC West) 1999 Toledo Tie 2nd (MAC West) 1998 Toledo st (MAC West) MAC Champ. Game 1997 Toledo st (MAC West) MAC Champ. Game 1996 Toledo Tie 2nd 1995 Toledo st Las Vegas Bowl 1994 Toledo th 1993 Toledo Tie 7th 1992 Toledo Tie 3rd Record at Toledo (9 years) Idaho State th 1990 Idaho State th Record at Idaho State (2 years) Washington Tie 2nd Freedom Bowl 1988 Washington th Record at Washington (2 years) Eastern Washington th 1986 Eastern Washington (NCAA I-AA Independent) NA Record at E. Washington (2 years) Western Washington th Record at W. Washington (1 year) Overall Record as a Head Coach (.464) in 3 seasons Football Bowl Subdivision Record as an Assistant Coach (.631) in 19 seasons Overall Record as a College Assistant Coach (.572) in 24 seasons Page 21

22 2011 Wyoming Coaching Staff University of Wyoming Wyoming Coaches in the Press Box Gregg Brandon Alex Grinch Jim Harding Matt Rahl Offensive Coordinator Secondary Coach and Offensive Line Defensive Line and Quarterbacks Recruiting Coordinator Years as a College Coach: 30th Years as a College Coach: 9th Years as a College Coach: 6th Years as a College Coach: 10th Years at Wyoming: 5th (1st since 1990) Years at Wyoming: 3rd Years at Wyoming: 3rd Years at Wyoming: 3rd Alma Mater: Northern Colorado 78 Alma Mater: Mount Union 02 Alma Mater: Toledo 01 Alma Mater: Missouri Southern 03 Wyoming Coaches on the Field Marty English Pete Kaligis Defensive Coordinator Offensive Line and Linebackers Years as a College Coach: 25th Years as a College Coach: 17th Years at Wyoming: 9th Years at Wyoming: 3rd Alma Mater: Northern Colorado 86 Alma Mater: Washington 94 Jason Ray Danilo Robinson Derek Sage Running Backs Defensive Line Receivers Years as a College Coach: 3rd Years as a College Coach: 13th Years as a College Coach: 10th Years at Wyoming: 3rd Years at Wyoming: 1st Years at Wyoming: 2nd Alma Mater: Missouri 07 Alma Mater: Utah State 97 Alma Mater: Cal State Northridge 02 Page 22