Wyoming travels to the Lone Star State on Saturday for the first meeting with North Texas

LARAMIE, Wyo. (September 16, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys are on the road for the second time this season, traveling to the Lone Star State on Saturday night to face North Texas of the American Athletic Conference at DATCU Stadium in Denton, Texas. It will be the first time the two schools have met on the football field.

The contest begins at 5:00 p.m. MT and can be viewed on ESPN+. James Westling will provide commentary and Leger Douzable will provide analysis. The game will also be broadcast on the Cowboy Sports Network's 26 channels with Keith Kelley on commentary, Kevin McKinney on sound and Erick Pauley on the sidelines.

White returns to the defensive backfield: Safety Isaac White returned to the field for the Pokes against BYU and made a career-high 10 tackles. He also made a pass breakup late in the first half that stopped a BYU charge and limited the Cougars to a field goal. He leads the team with 19 tackles this season and has a season average of 9.5 tackles per game.

Against the American Athletic Conference: The Cowboys and North Texas meet on Saturday in what will be the 15th meeting between current members of the American Conference. Wyoming has an 8-6 record against the conference, but has only played Tulsa as a current member of the conference. UW has a 1-1 record in those two games.

Tackles at the defensive end position: Defensive end Sabastian Harsh has been solid all around for the Cowboys. He has 18 tackles this season, which ranks second on the team. He is also the team's best player with 3.5 tackles for loss. He is the best defensive lineman in the Mountain West Conference in tackles.

Turnover Titan makes game: Nickel Wrook Brown recorded an interception in the first quarter against BYU. It was the first interception of the season for the Cowboys. It was the fourth of his career with the Cowboys. The Texas native will return to his home state but will miss the first half after receiving a penalty for targeted attack in the second half.

Another difficult challenge: The Cowboys face another tough task on the road against North Texas. The Mean Green are 2-1 this season. The four opponents on the Cowboys' schedule have a combined record of 10-2 this season.

King plays everywhere: Wide receiver Tyler King was everywhere for the Cowboys. He caught three passes for a career-high 52 yards, a season high for a Cowboy this season, and he also returned a kick for 25 yards. He ranks first in the MW and No. 13 in the nation with just over 25 yards per return this season.

Svoboda through the air: Quarterback Evan Svoboda had a career-high 140 passing yards and 32 on the ground. He is the second-leading player with 14 completions after 17 completions against Texas last season.

Nanke catches in the pass: Tight end Clay Nanke caught a pass for 24 yards against BYU. It was Nanke's first pass of the season and of his career. Wyoming's tight ends have made six catches for 55 yards in the first three games of the season.

Sargent has career day: Wide receiver Jaylen Sargent caught two passes against BYU, matching his career high set against Ohio in the 2022 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl. Against the Cougars, he managed 18 yards, including a career-high 12-yard pass.

Find different destinations: The Pokes had 11 different players catch a pass against BYU, the most the Cowboys had in a game last season, nine. It was the most in a game since Wyoming had 11 different players catch a pass against Texas in 2009.

Defense on the third attempt: The Cowboys held BYU to 2 of 11 third downs for the night. In the last two games, Wyoming has held its opponents to 3 of 24, or 12.5 percent. UW ranks third in the MW and 24th in the nation, holding teams to 28.2 percent on third downs.

About North Texas: The Mean Green (2-1) suffered a 66-21 loss at Texas Tech last Saturday. Three turnovers by North Texas helped the Red Raiders score 35 points in the second quarter and 42 unanswered points to close the first half after a competitive first 15 minutes. Quarterback Chander Morris had two touchdowns and three interceptions before watching most of the fourth quarter from the sidelines.

North Texas, which opened the season with a 52-38 win at South Alabama and beat Stephen F. Austin 35-20 in Denton, enters the matchup with Wyoming ranked 34th in the FBS in total offense (36.0 points per game) and 24th in total yards (469.0 yards per game). The Mean Green defense ranks 129th in points allowed (41.3 per game) and 127th in yards allowed (472.0 per game).

Despite the tough performance in Lubbock, Morris is completing 65.2% of his passes and averaging 299.7 passing yards per game with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. Wide receiver Damon Ward Jr. is averaging 93.7 passing yards with two touchdowns.

This is the first meeting between UW and North Texas, which was a member of the Sun Belt Conference (2000-13) and Conference USA (2013-23) before joining the American Athletic Conference last season.