LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowboy football team officially opened the 2025 season Monday morning with its first fall practice under second-year head coach Jay Sawvel. The 21-period workout on the North 40 Fields marked the first of 24 practices leading up to Wyoming’s season opener at Akron on Aug. 28.
“It was good to get out on the field today and it was good to get some work in,” Sawvel said. “It is Day One and we got activity and there was good effort, and we need to work to get into football shape. I thought for the most part the mechanics of the practice went well, and I thought we didn’t have guys all over the place and I was happy to get started.”
Wyoming returns significant experience up front, led by preseason All-Mountain West selections Caden Barnett and Jack Walsh. Barnett has appeared in 35 games for the Cowboys, while Walsh, ranked by Pro Football Focus as the No. 25 guard in the nation and fourth in the Mountain West last season, anchored the line in 2024.
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On Tuesday, Walsh added another accolade when he was named to the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List, becoming the first Wyoming offensive lineman on the list since Keegan Cryder in 2021. The Outland Trophy, now in its 80th year, honors the best interior lineman in college football.
Walsh started 10 games for the Cowboys last season, logging more than 650 snaps without allowing a sack. He recorded over 20 pancake blocks and helped Wyoming post 604 yards of total offense, its highest mark since 2021.
Wyoming also returns veteran linemen Wes King and Jake Davies, along with Nate Geiger, Rex Johnsen, Quinn Grovesteen-Matchey and Luke Sandy, who saw extended action in 2023 before missing last season with an injury.
Four Cowboys – tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, King, Walsh and defensive end Tyce Westland – were also named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 on Monday, which previews college players eligible for the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl and NFL Draft. The Mountain West placed 36 players on the list, the fifth-most among FBS conferences.
