A Friday night meeting between the Wyoming Cowboys and Boise State Broncos will kick off this week’s action in the Mountain West Conference.  The game will be televised nationally on FS1 and begin at 7 p.m. at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

Both teams bring overall records of 5-4 into the contest, and both teams are coming off convincing wins. Wyoming defeated Colorado State 31-17 on Saturday in Laramie to reclaim the coveted Bronze Boot, while Boise State traveled to Fresno State and beat the Bulldogs 40-14. 

Beginning with the 2016 season, the Wyoming Cowboys and Boise State Broncos have played a series of close games, with three of the five contests decided by one score. Last year, the Broncos won in Laramie by a 17-9 margin.

The Pokes’ offense has struggled in parts of this season, but Cowboy quarterback Levi Williams and wide receiver Isaiah Neyor are developing an exciting connection for Wyoming’s passing attack.

Against Colorado State, Williams found Neyor on two touchdown passes of 25 and 15 yards.  Williams ended the day 9-of-16 passing for 92 yards, two TD passes and no interceptions. He also rushed for 116 yards and one TD. Neyor, meanwhile, caught three passes for 45 yards and two TDs.  Both Cowboys are sophomores.

The Wyoming rushing attack was also impressive in the Cowboys’ 31-17 win over CSU, as UW rushed for a season-high 385 yards. Running back Titus Swen rushed for 166 yards on 21 carries, the second 100-yard game of his career and first of the season.

Wyoming’s leading rusher, Xazavian Valladay, added 76 yards on the ground to move him from fourth place on the UW career rushing list to second. Valladay now has 2,971 rushing yards as a Cowboy, passing Ryan Christopherson (2,906 yards from 1991-94) and Devin Moore (2,963 from 2005-08). Valladay trails only Brian Hill, who rushed for 4,287 yards from 2014-16 and is just 29 shy of the 3,000-yard milestone. 

Wyoming’s defense has been outstanding throughout this season and continues to rank among the best in the nation.  The Cowboys enter this week ranked No. 4 in the nation in pass defense, allowing opponents only 157.9 passing yards per game, and they rank No. 13 in the country in pass defense efficiency, with a rating of 114.03.

In terms of total defense, Wyoming is 23rd out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs, allowing opponents only 327 yards of total offense per game.

Cowboy linebacker Chad Muma continues his outstanding play, currently ranking among the top players in the nation in interception returns for touchdowns (No. 2 with two) and interceptions (No. 16 with three). Within the FBS, he also ranks No. 3 in solo tackles (6.4 per game) and No. 10 in total tackles (9.9 per game).  He earned his second Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honor last week for his performance against Colorado State — a game in which he made 11 tackles, including six solo tackles, and intercepted his third pass of the season.

Once again this year, the Wyoming Cowboys are one of the least penalized teams in the country.  That has been a consistent part of the Wyoming football program under head coach Craig Bohl.  Entering this week’s game, Wyoming ranks No. 14 in the nation in fewest penalties per game (4.56) and ranks No. 15 in fewest penalty yards per game (40.11).

In addition to being televised on FS1, Friday’s game will be broadast live on the 26 affiliates of the Cowboy Sports Network, including KPOW 1260 AM in Powell.