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Game Day Guide: Hawaii at Wyoming
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Cowboys open the Mountain West schedule on Saturday hosting Hawai’i inside War Memorial Stadium on Homecoming at the University of Wyoming. The contest will be a Gold Out, as it is slated for a 1 p.m. kick on The CW.
Gold Out
The Gold Out will take place on Saturday afternoon as fans are encouraged to wear gold to the contest against the Rainbow Warriors.
Ticket Information for This Season
Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:
• Go to GoWyo.com/tickets
• Email tickets@uwyo.edu
• Call (307) 766-7220
• Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.
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Contest on The CW
Saturday’s contest will be televised on The CW with Chris Fisher on the call, Cody Kessler analyzing the action and Marshall Newhouse on the sidelines. Fans can also stream the contest on the WatchESPN App.
Listen Live
The game will also be available on the 26 stations of The Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call, Kevin McKinney on color and Erick Pauley on the sidelines.
Wyoming Notes
Saturday’s meeting between the Wyoming Cowboys and Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors will be the 30th in history between the old rivals. Wyoming leads the overall series 17-12 and also leads in games played between the two teams since both have been members of the Mountain West Conference.
The Cowboys lead the MW series 5-4. In the previous 13 games played in Laramie, the Pokes hold a 9-4 advantage.
The Cowboys and Rainbow Warriors will be competing for the Paniolo Trophy for the 28th time. Wyoming and Hawai’i first played each other in football on Nov. 18, 1978, and Hawai’i won in Honolulu, 27-22.
The Paniolo Trophy has been a part of the series since 1979. In the second year of the series, a group of Hawai’ian residents, with roots in Wyoming, donated a statuette of a Cowboy preparing to toss a lariat.
When the traveling trophy was introduced, both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference, as Hawai’i joined the WAC in 1979.
Wyoming leads the Paniolo Trophy portion of the series, 17 wins to Hawai’i’s 10. The traveling trophy was named the Paniolo Trophy as Paniolo is the Hawaiian word for Cowboy.
When Hawai’i was invited to join the Mountain West Conference in 2012, the two schools began discussing renewing the Paniolo Trophy competition. But over that 15-year timespan, the Paniolo Trophy was lost, which became a story in itself. Each school searched for it, but it was not to be found.
Enter a new group of Hawai’i fans to continue the tradition. The Paniolo Preservation Society, a group dedicated to preserving Hawai’i’s rich Cowboy heritage, proposed a new trophy.
Led by the Society’s President, Mrs. Patricia C. Bergin, a bronze maquette featuring Hawai’ian native Ikua Purdy roping a wild stag bull was donated to the two schools in 2013 to mark renewal of the series.
Purdy became the first Hawaiian inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1999. The bronze is a reproduction of a larger work by noted western sculptor Fred Fellows. The reproduction measures approximately 20 inches long and 12 inches high.
Conference Openers
The 2026 season marks the 28th season of the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming is 14-13 in Mountain West openers. UW is 10-7 when opening MW play at home and is 4-6 when opening on the road.
Homecoming All-Time
This week’s game versus Hawai’i will mark the 101st Homecoming game in University of Wyoming history.
UW’s Overall Record in Homecoming Games: 50-47-3
UW’s Homecoming Record in War Memorial: 45-28-2
Frendt Has Career Day
Wyoming tight end Kyle Frendt had a career day for the Pokes at Central Michigan. He recorded four catches for 95 yards, both career highs for the sophomore.
He also grabbed a 39-yard reception in the contest, which was a career-long catch. He is second on the team with seven catches for 128 yards and is averaging 18.3 yards per catch for the season, which ranks second in the MW.
Rutherford Racks Up Stops
Linebacker Gary Rutherford recorded a career-high 13 tackles for the Cowboys at Central Michigan. It marked the third-straight game a Poke linebacker had 10 or more tackles in a game.
He leads the team this season with 27 tackles for nine per game, which ranks fourth in the MW and No. 21 in the nation.
Bauman in Double-Digits in First Career Start
Linebacker Dash Bauman recorded a career-high 12 tackles for the Cowboys at Central Michigan. He recorded nine of those stops in the first half of the game.
He also added a tackle for loss in the contest for the first of his career. He earned his first career start, as UW’s leading tackler on the season, linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz, was out with an injury.
Drake and Williams Add Stops
Wyoming defensive tackles Dante Drake and Jayden Williams had career days for the Cowboys at Central Michigan. Each added a career-high seven tackles in the contest for the Brown and Gold.
Hughes on the Ground
Quarterback Tyler Hughes led the Cowboys in rushing at Central Michigan. He recorded 78 yards in the contest, which is a career high in the Brown and Gold.
He averaged 7.8 yards per rush and also added a game-long rush of 21 yards. He leads the team in rushing this season with 156 yards, averaging 52 yards per game.
In the Fourth Quarter
The Cowboys recorded 145 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter against Central Michigan, as UW finished the game with a season-high 342 yards of total offense.
In fact, the Cowboys have recorded 280 yards of total offense in the final quarter over the last two contests. That marks 45 percent of the Cowboys’ yards in the last two games in just those two quarters.
Wilson Adds to Offense in Different Ways
Tight end Jake Wilson has become a versatile piece of the Cowboy offense this season. He leads the team with nine receptions for 117 yards.
He had four catches for 31 yards at Central Michigan and also added a rush for 20 yards in the contest.
Holman Finds the End Zone
Running back Markell Holman found the end zone for the Cowboys at Central Michigan. It was his first touchdown of the season and marked the 14th of his collegiate career.
He has rushed for 132 yards on the season and leads the team with 6.3 yards per rush.
Third Downs
The Cowboys were 6-of-13 on third down at Central Michigan and are converting 33 percent of their third downs this season.
In the last two games, the Pokes are 11-of-25 on third down for 44 percent. The Pokes opened the season going 0-of-8 on third down at Colorado State.
About Hawai’i
Hawai’i enters the contest after a bye week with a 1-2 overall record following a 29-19 home win over New Mexico State in its last outing. The Rainbow Warriors are 0-1 in Mountain West play after losing 21-6 to UNLV on Sept. 5.
Hawai’i is led offensively by the MW Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado. Alejado has thrown for 794 yards, including two touchdowns and an interception so far this season.
Sophomore running back DeVon Rice leads Hawai’i’s rushing attack with 167 yards and three touchdowns on 42 rushing attempts.
As a team, the Rainbow Warriors are averaging 346.3 yards of total offense per game and 20.67 points per outing.
Defensively, Hawai’i is allowing opponents to score an average of 25.67 points per game while giving up 404 yards of total offense per contest.
The Rainbow Warriors are led on that side of the ball by junior defensive back Kona Moore, who has recorded 30 tackles so far this season, including 19 solo stops and 11 assisted tackles.
*UW Press Release
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