2020 Wyoming Cowboys football team explained

Mode:	football
Year:	2020
Team:	Wyoming Cowboys
Conference:	Mountain West Conference
Short Conf:	MW
Record:	2–4
Conf Record:	2–4
Head Coach:	Craig Bohl
Hc Year:	7th
Off Coach:	Brent Vigen
Oc Year:	7th
Def Coach:	Jay Sawvel
Dc Year:	1st
Def Scheme:	Tampa 2
Stadium:	War Memorial Stadium

The 2020 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season was suspended on August 10, 2020, however, the Mountain West Conference board of directors later decided to play an eight-game season, starting on October 24.^[1] The Cowboys played their home games at War Memorial Stadium as members of the Mountain West Conference. They were led by seventh-year head coach Craig Bohl.

2020 recruiting class

The Cowboys announced an early signing class of 18 high school student athletes on December 18, 2019.^[2] A day later, the Cowboys added tackle Emmanuel Pregnon.^[3] On February 5, 2020, the Cowboys added five more recruits.^[4]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Doak Walker Award^[5]	Xazavian Valladay	RB	JR
Outland Trophy^[6]	Keegan Cryder	C	JR
Maxwell Award^[7]	Xazavian Valladay	RB	JR

Mountain West media days

Mountain West media days were originally scheduled for July 16–17 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, but were canceled in favor of virtual media days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] On July 20, the virtual media days were canceled.^[9] The division predicted order of finish was released July 21, the preseason all-conference team was released on July 22, and preseason individual awards were released on July 23.

Wyoming was picked to finish 2nd in the Mountain Division in the Mountain West preseason poll.^[10] The divisions were later suspended for the 2020 season.

Media poll

Mountain Division
1	Boise State	125 (20)
2	Wyoming	90 (1)
3	Air Force	86
4	Utah State	60
5	Colorado State	59
6	New Mexico	21

Preseason All-Mountain West

All-Mountain West Offense^[11] ! Position! Player! Class! Team
RB	Xazavian Valladay	Jr.	Wyoming
OL	Keegan Cryder	Jr.	Wyoming

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Wyoming	Alma mater	Before Wyoming
	Head coach	7	Nebraska (1982)	North Dakota State – head coach (2013)
	Associate head coach / offensive coordinator / quarterbacks	7	North Dakota State (1998)	North Dakota State – Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks Coach (2013)
	Defensive coordinator / Safeties	1	Mount Union (1993)	Wake Forest – Defensive coordinator / Cornerbacks Coach (2018)
	Linebackers	4	Minnesota State–Moorhead (2016)	Wyoming – Graduate assistant (2018)
Benny Boyd	Cornerbacks	1	Aurora (2000)	Eastern Illinois – Cornerbacks Coach / Special Teams Coach (2019)
Marty English	Defensive ends	1	Northern Colorado (1986)	Northern Colorado – Associate head coach / defensive coordinator / linebackers coach (2019)
Mike Grant	Wide receivers	5	Nebraska (1993)	North Texas – Wide receivers coach / receiving coordinator (2014)
Gordie Haug	Running Backs / Director of player personnel	7	Bemidji State (2009)	North Dakota State – Running backs coach (2013)
	Defensive run game coordinator / Defensive tackles / Nose Tackles	12	Washington (1994)	Montana – Offensive line coach (2008)
Bart Miller	Run-Game Coordinator / Offensive Line	2	New Mexico (1997)	Ohio – Offensive line coach (2018)
Shannon Moore	Special teams coordinator / tight ends / Fullbacks	2	Black Hills State (2000)	East Carolina – Tight ends coach / recruiting coordinator (2018)
Eric Donoval	Director of Sports Performance / Head Football Strength and Conditioning	3	Wisconsin–La Crosse (2010)	LSU – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach (2017)

Roster

Schedule

Wyoming announced its 2020 football schedule on February 26, 2020.^[12] The 2020 schedule consisted of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season. On August 10, 2020, the Mountain West Conference announced the suspension of the football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13] ^[14] On September 25, the Mountain West Conference announced that they would be playing an eight-game schedule, to start October 24. The team's non conference games against Weber State, Louisiana, Utah, and Ball State remained canceled. Additionally, a game against Hawaii replaced a game against San Diego State. On November 8, the scheduled November 14 game against Air Force was canceled by the Mountain West Conference due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases within the Air Force football team and Academy.^[15] On November 18, the scheduled November 19 game against Utah State was canceled by the Mountain West Conference due to rising COVID-19 cases in the Utah State program.^[16]

Source^[17]

Statistics

Team

Team Statistics
	Wyoming	Opponents
Points	159	126
First Downs	111	107
Rushing	68	48
Passing	36	49
Penalty	7	10
Rushing Yards	1317	752
Rushing Attempts	275	221
Average Per Rush	4.8	3.4
Long	78	36
Rushing TDs	16	7
Passing Yards	920	1215
Comp–Att	62–134	113–178
Comp %	46.3%	63.5%
Average Per Game	153.3	202.7
Average per Attempt	6.9	6.8
Passing TDs	1	8
INT's	5	4
Touchdowns	17	16
Passing	1	8
Rushing	16	7
Defensive	0	1
Interceptions	4	5
Yards	60	35
Total Offense	2237	1968
Total Plays	409	399
Average Yards/Game	372.8	328.0
Kick Returns: # – Yards	15–290	17–407
TDs	0	0
Long	40	72
Punts	30	34
Yards	1122	1491
Average	37.4	43.9
Punt Returns: # – Yards	12–66	9–64
TDs	0	0
Long	15	27
Fumbles – Fumbles Lost	6–4	8–6
Penalties – Yards	31–279	37–311
3rd–Down Conversions	27/89 (30.3%)	29/80 (36.3%)
4th–Down Conversions	6/12 (50.0%)	0/6 (0.0%)
Field Goals	13–14	5–7
Sacks	17	16
Yards	109	101

Offense

Passing Statistics
NAME	GP	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	TD	INT	RAT
Levi Williams	6	59	119	877	49.6%	1	3	109.22
Gavin Beerup	2	2	13	37	15.4%	0	2	8.52
Sean Chambers	1	1	1	6	100.0%	0	0	150.40
Team	4	0	1	0	0.0%	0	0	0.00
TOTALS	6	62	134	920	46.3%	1	5	98.94

Rushing Statistics
NAME	GP	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Xazavian Valladay	5	99	550	5.6	78	4
Trey Smith	6	88	488	5.5	58	5
Levi Williams	6	56	100	1.8	21	6
	6	1	58	58.0	58	0
Dawaiian McNeely	5	14	55	3.9	14	0
Brett Brenton	5	3	41	13.7	19	1
Gavin Beerup	2	5	27	5.4	38	0
Devin Jennings	6	2	5	5.0	4	0
Parker Christensen	6	1	5	5.0	5	0
Ayden Eberhardt	6	1	1	1.0	1	0
Sean Chambers	1	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Team	4	4	−11	-2.8	0	0
TOTALS	6	275	1317	4.8	78	16

Receiving Statistics
NAME	GP	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ayden Eberhardt	6	16	252	15.8	56	0
Xazavian Valladay	5	13	105	8.1	29	0
Isaiah Neyor	6	8	248	31.0	54	0
Dontae Crow	6	7	78	11.1	25	0
Treyton Welch	6	5	95	19.0	30	0
Nate Weinman	6	4	49	12.2	15	0
Trey Smith	6	3	18	6.0	8	0
Parker Christensen	6	2	28	14.0	21	0
Gunner Gentry	3	2	28	14.0	22	1
Jackson Marcotte	5	1	12	12.0	12	0
Devin Jennings	6	1	7	7.0	7	0
TOTALS	6	62	920	14.8	56	1

Defense

Defensive Statistics
	NAME	GP	SOLO	AST	TOT	TFL-YDS	SACKS	INT	BU	QBH	FR	FF	BLK	SAF
48	Chad Muma	6	33	39	72	8.0–36	3.0–25	0	1	0	1	1	0	0
5	Esaias Gandy	6	23	22	45	4.5–25	1.0–9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	Easton Gibbs	6	21	21	42	2.5–6	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
96	Jordan Bertagnole	6	10	21	31	6.5–24	2.5–16	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
94	Cole Godbout	5	13	17	30	4.0–15	1.0–9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
33	Charles Hicks	5	8	19	27	3.5–12	2.0–9	1–47	0	0	2	0	0	0
21	C.J. Coldon	6	17	9	26	1.0–2	0.0–0	2–1	3	0	0	0	0	0
26	Braden Smith	6	16	7	23	2.0–12	1.0–4	1–12	0	1	0	0	0	0
88	Garrett Crall	3	11	10	21	3.0–22	2.0–13	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
6	Keonte Glinton	6	10	6	16	1.5–3	0.0–0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
44	Victor Jones	3	4	9	13	3.0–20	1.5–15	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
20		6	9	4	13	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
93	DeVonne Harris	5	5	4	9	1.0–1	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
43	Shae Suiaunoa	6	2	6	8	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Keyon Blankenbaker	4	6	2	8	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
8	Cameron Smith	4	4	4	8	3.0–9	2.0–7	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
14	Miles Williams	6	4	4	8	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
91	Jaylen Pate	6	5	2	7	1.0–2	1.0–2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Cameron Murray	5	4	2	6	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
98	Ravontae Holt	2	1	3	4	0.5–3	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
80	Parker Christensen	6	1	2	3	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	Dawaiian McNeely	5	2	1	3	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
95	Caleb Robinson	2	1	2	3	0.5–1	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Cameron Stone	5	2	0	2	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
90	Gavin Meyer	3	1	1	2	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Brett Brenton	5	1	1	2	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
19	Ayden Eberhardt	6	1	1	2	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	Blake Harrington	3	1	0	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61	Jason Davis	6	0	1	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Xavier Carter	1	1	0	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
76	Justis Borton	6	0	1	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Issac White	1	0	1	1	0.5–1	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Isaiah Neyor	6	1	0	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	Brennan Kutterer	3	0	1	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	Wyatt Ekeler	2	1	0	1	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	Team	4	0	0	0	0.0–0	0.0–0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTAL	6	217	224	441	46–194	17–109	4–60	14	4	6	2	0	0
	OPPONENTS	6	222	236	458	37–156	16–101	5–35	12	7	4	5	1	0

Key: SOLO: Solo Tackles, AST: Assisted Tackles, TOT: Total Tackles, TFL: Tackles-for-loss, SACK: Quarterback Sacks, INT: Interceptions, BU: Passes Broken Up, QBH: Quarterback Hits, FF: Forced Fumbles, FR: Fumbles Recovered, BLK: Kicks or Punts Blocked, SAF: Safeties

Interceptions Statistics
NAME	NO.	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
C.J. Coldon	2	1	0.5	0	1
Braden Smith	1	12	12.0	0	12
Charles Hicks	1	47	47.0	0	47
TOTALS	4	60	15.0	0	47

Special teams

Kicking Statistics
NAME	XPM	XPA	XP%	FGM	FGA	FG%	1–19	20–29	30–39	40–49	50+	LNG	PTS
John Hoyland	16	16	100.0%	13	14	92.9%	0–0	5–5	6–7	2–2	0–0	42	55
TOTALS	16	16	100.0%	13	14	92.9%	0–0	5–5	6–7	2–2	0–0	42	55

Kick Return Statistics
NAME	RTNS	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
Dontae Crow	13	285	21.9	0	40
Jahmari Moore	1	1	1.0	0	1
Jeff Burroughs	1	4	4.0	0	4
TOTALS	15	290	19.3	0	40

Punting Statistics
NAME	PUNTS	YDS	AVG	LONG	TB	FC	I–20	50+	BLK
Nick Null	29	1122	38.7	51	1	8	6	1	1
TEAM	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	30	1122	37.4	51	1	8	6	1	1

Punt Return Statistics
NAME	RTNS	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dontae Crow	10	57	5.7	0	15
Ayden Eberhardt	2	9	4.5	0	6
TOTALS	12	66	5.5	0	15

Awards and honors

All–conference teams

All–Mountain West teams were announced on December 15, 2020.^[18]

Position	Player	Class
First Team Offense
RB	Xazavian Valladay	JR
OL	Keegan Cryder	JR
First Team Defense
LB	Chad Muma	JR

Position	Player	Class
Second Team Offense
PK	John Hoyland	FR

Honorable Mentions

Esaias Gandy, Sr., DB
Logan Harris, Sr., OL
Isaiah Neyor, Fr., WR

Game summaries

At Nevada

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 16–31, 227 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT; Carson Strong (NEV): 39–52, 420 YDS, 4 TD
Rushing leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 22 CAR, 87 YDS; Devonte Lee (NEV): 18 CAR, 65 YDS
Receiving leaders: Isaiah Neyor (WYO): 3 REC, 102 YDS; Cole Turner (NEV): 7 REC, 119 YDS, 2 TD

Hawaii

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 9–18, 112 YDS; Chevan Cordeiro (HAW): 11–26, 110 YDS, 1 INT
Rushing leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 32 CAR, 163 YDS, 2 TD; Miles Reed (HAW): 7 CAR, 54 YDS
Receiving leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 2 REC, 32 YDS; Zion Bowens (HAW): 1 REC, 47 YDS

At Colorado State

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 19–31, 321 YDS, 1 INT; Patrick O'Brien (CSU): 18–26, 255 YDS, 2 TD
Rushing leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 28 CAR, 147 YDS, 1 TD; A'Jon Vivens (CSU): 14 CAR, 62 YDS
Receiving leaders: Ayden Eberhardt (WYO): 7 REC, 132 YDS; Dante Wright (CSU): 10 REC, 146 YDS

At UNLV

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 8–14, 99 YDS; Doug Brumfield (UNLV): 4–8, 93 YDS
Rushing leaders: Trey Smith (WYO): 24 CAR, 164 YDS, 1 TD; Max Gilliam (UNLV): 12 CAR, 63 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving leaders: Ayden Eberhardt (WYO): 3 REC, 42 YDS; Kyle Williams (UNLV): 4 REC, 71 YDS

At New Mexico

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 4–12, 73 YDS, 1 INT; Isaiah Chavez (UNM): 5–10, 55 YDS, 1 TD
Rushing leaders: Trey Smith (WYO): 24 CAR, 154 YDS, 1 TD; Bobby Cole (UNM): 22 CAR, 131 YDS
Receiving leaders: Isaiah Neyor (WYO): 1 REC, 54 YDS; Bobby Cole (UNM): 2 REC, 53 YDS

Boise State

Passing leaders: Levi Williams (WYO): 3–13, 45 YDS; Hank Bachmeier (BSU): 19–28, 181 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 11 CAR, 59 YDS; Andrew Van Buren (BSU): 25 CAR, 79 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving leaders: Xazavian Valladay (WYO): 1 REC, 29 YDS; Khalil Shakir (BSU): 8 REC, 105 YDS

Notes and References

. 2020 MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL SEASON TO BEGIN ON OCTOBER 24 . Colorado Springs, Colorado . Mountain West Conference . 25 September 2020 . 3 October 2020.
News: Seeman . Nick . 2020 Wyoming Football Recruiting Class Stretches From East Coast to West Coast . 22 April 2020 . GoWyo.com . 18 December 2019.
News: Seeman . Nick . Wyoming Football Adds Talented Offensive Tackle Emmanuel Pregnon . 22 April 2020 . GoWyo.com . 19 December 2019.
News: Harkins . Tim . Wyoming Football Adds Five Dynamic Players to 2020 Recruiting Class . 22 April 2020 . GoWyo.com . 5 February 2020.
. 2020 Doak Walker Award Candidates Announced . Dallas, Texas . Southern Methodist University . 15 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
. 2020 Outland Trophy Watch List Unveiled . Dallas, Texas . Football Writers Association of American . 21 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
. 2020 Maxwell Award Watch List . Maxwell Football Club . 24 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
News: Khan Jr. . Sam . Mountain West, MAC planning virtual preseason media days . 4 August 2020 . ESPN.com . 29 April 2020.
. Mountain West Postpones 2020 Football Virtual Media Days. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mountain West Conference . 20 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
. Boise State, San Diego State Picked to Win 2020 Mountain West Football Divisional Titles. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mountain West Conference . 21 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
. 2020 Mountain West Football Preseason All-Conference Team. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mountain West Conference . 22 July 2020 . 4 August 2020.
Web site: Wyoming Football to Host One of the Best Home Schedules in School History in 2020. University of Wyoming. February 26, 2020. August 11, 2020.
Web site: 'This hurts': Wyoming players, administrators react to postponed football season. 2020-08-11. Casper Star-Tribune. en-US.
Web site: 2020-08-10. Mountain West postpones football, fall sports. 2020-08-11. ESPN.com. en.
News: Bonagura . Kyle . Air Force Falcons-Wyoming Cowboys game canceled due to COVID-19 uptick . 9 November 2020 . ESPN.com . 8 November 2020.
News: Potter . Davis . More COVID-19 issues cancel Wyoming's game against Utah State . 19 November 2020 . Casper Star Tribune . 18 November 2020.
Web site: 2020 Wyoming Football Schedule . FBSchedules.com . March 5, 2020.
. Mountain West Announces 2020 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors . Colorado Springs, Colorado . Mountain West Conference. 15 December 2020 . 12 December 2020.