This Saturday the Wyoming Cowboys will host their final non-conference game of the 2017 season when the Texas State Bobcats travel to Laramie for a game that will kick off at 2 p.m., Mountain Time. Saturday’s game will feature a number of special events, including Band Day, which is expected to bring over 1,000 high school students to campus from 22 schools. It will also be Boys & Girls Club Day, Celebrate Energy Day and Family Weekend at Wyoming.
The Cowboys and Bobcats have played only two previous games against one another prior to this season — one in Laramie in 2011 and one in San Marcos, Texas in 2013. The home team has won each of the previous two meetings.
Texas State is a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Wyoming Cowboys have played seven of the 12 schools that are currently members of the Sun Belt. Wyoming holds a 16-3 all-time record vs. those schools.
Wyoming’s 2017 conference opening win over Hawai’i last Saturday marked the third time in the four seasons of the Craig Bohl era at UW that the Pokes won their Mountain West Conference opener.
The play of Wyoming junior strong safety Andrew Wingard in the 28-21 overtime win over Hawai’i last Saturday was recognized by the Mountain West Conference as he was named the Defensive Player of the Week. It is Wingard’s first MW Player of the Week honor this season and the second of his career. Wingard had nine tackles in the win over the Rainbow Warriors, including six solo tackles, one tackle for a loss for a minus four yards, one interception for 22 yards and two pass breakups. Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Wingard was voted by conference media members as the Preseason Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Wyoming’s true freshman running back Trey Woods had the first breakout game of his young career in Wyoming’s win over Hawai’i. Woods ran for 135 yards on 15 carries and scored his first touchdown as a Cowboy. He averaged 9.0 yards per carry versus Hawai’i, had a 34-yard TD run and a 59-yard run to set up another Cowboy touchdown.
The win over Hawai’I was also one of only four home games in Wyoming history to go to overtime. Since the overtime rules were introduced in college football in 1996, Wyoming has played a total of 15 overtime games but has played only four overtime games at home, and it took 18 years before they played their first home OT game in 2013. Since 2013, Wyoming has played four of its last five overtime games at home. With their win over Hawai’i this season, the Pokes now have a 3-1 (.750) home record in overtime games in War Memorial Stadium.
Wyoming enters Saturday’s game with a 2-2 overall record and a 1-0 record in the Mountain West.  Texas State has started off the 2017 season with a 1-3 record and is 0-1in the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats defeated Houston Baptist, 20-11, in their season opener. They lost 37-3 at Colorado, played fellow Sun Belt Conference member Appalachian State close before losing 20-13 and last week lost to Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) 44-14.