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The Wyoming Cowboys are going to host a Power Five opponent next decade as they have scheduled and home-and-home with Utah in 2020 and 2025. The teams will first play in Laramie at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, and the second game will be the season opener at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Utah on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
These two teams were in the WAC and Mountain West and their first game was in 1905 and have played 85 times with the Utes leading the all-time series 51-32-1.
“This is a great opportunity for us to renew a traditional rivalry that goes back to the Skyline Conference, through the WAC and the Mountain West Conference,” said Tom Burman, University of Wyoming Athletics Director. “We’re excited for our fans, particularly in Western Wyoming.”
“I’ve heard about the long history of this rivalry, and I know our fans will be thrilled to see Utah return to War Memorial Stadium,” said Craig Bohl, Wyoming Head Coach. “This will be an outstanding opportunity for us to play another quality Pac-12 opponent in the coming years. We look forward to the challenge as we continue to take steps forward in the development of our football program.”
One of the more memorable games in this series was back in 2007 when former Cowboys head coach Joe Glenn flipped of Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham after the Utes went for, and converted, an onside kick while leading 43-0.
One other notable game in this series was the 2004 game when Utah was undefeated and on the path to being the first team form a non-BCS league to qualify for a bowl game. There were weather issues late in the season and the power was knocked out at War Memorial Stadium.
This game was to be aired on ABC and was to give both teams some major publicity, but the most bizarre moment in this game is when some affiliates started to play one of the Harry Potter movies and the local Salt Lake ABC affiliate was unable to switch to the game once it was started due to a contract they had about the movie.
This is a good opponent for Wyoming to add to its slate and even better they bring in Utah to their home stadium as a Power Five school. This addition of the Utes fills out the Cowboys 2020 non-conference schedule which includes hosting Weber State and then traveling to Texas Tech and Ball State.