For the Wyoming football team, the transition to a new head coach in 2024 was bumpy.

As the Cowboys enter year No. 2 under Jay Sawvel, however, they are hoping to get back on track.

This summer, BuffZone will preview each of Colorado’s opponents for the 2025 season and in this installment we look at Wyoming, which will visit Folsom Field on Sept. 20 in the Buffs’ fourth game of the season.

In 10 years under Craig Bohl (2014-23), the Cowboys went 61-60 and played in bowl games in six of his last eight years.

A year ago, Wyoming went 3-9, but Sawvel, the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator for four years before taking over as head coach, brings back a lot of core players. He said in spring that after the season, he had a top-10 list of players he hoped to keep from leaving for the transfer portal and nine of them are returning to Laramie.

“We have the makings of a good football team,” he said after the Cowboys’ spring game in April. “We have to get a lot better in certain areas, but when you look at it and you go, you’ve got your pieces of a great tight end group that we have, our two leading wide receivers back, our quarterback back, our offensive line back in a sense. We have a stocked room at defensive tackle right now.”

On offense, there is optimism in part because of the return of quarterback Kaden Anderson. A redshirt freshman last year, he played sparingly in the Cowboys’ first eight games and then took over as the starter.

This year, Anderson comes in as the clear starter. So much so, in fact, that Evan Svoboda, who started nine games at quarterback during the 2024 season (1,318 yards, five TDs, eight INTs), is now playing tight end.

Wyoming ranked 123rd nationally in scoring (19.3 points per game) last year but should improve upon that with so much back on offense. John Michael Gyllenborg is a top tight end in the Mountain West; and receivers Jaylen Sargent (team-high 480 yards) and Chris Durr (team-high 31 catches) are back.

Also back is leading rusher Sam Scott, who finished with 435 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry, despite making just four starts. The Cowboys would like to get more out of the run game, though, and added transfers Terron Kellman (Charlotte) and Max White (Iowa).

Four of the five starting offensive linemen are back, including Jack Walsh, a second-team all-conference guard in 2024 who is moving to center.

Defensively, only one full-time starter (nose tackle Ben Florentine) is back, but Wyoming likes the pieces it has this year.

Tyce Westland is a talented pass rusher with potential to emerge as a star. Also on the edge is Brayden Wilson, a two-time All-Big Sky player at Weber State.

Andrew Johnson made a handful of starts at safety last year and nickel Malique Singleton has some starting experience, but the secondary was bolstered through the transfer portal.

Several players will be in starting roles for the first time, especially on defense, and there is always the challenge of meshing 20 newcomers with the returning players, but Sawvel likes the team Wyoming has this year — especially with those who decided to stay.

“I couldn’t be happier with a lot of that piece right now,” he said.

If that group can lead the way, Wyoming could find itself back on the winning track in 2025.