Cowboys Enter Final Week of Fall Camp

Pokes open the season on Sept. 5 at Colorado State

LARAMIE, Wyo.  (August 24, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowboys hit the field for the third week of fall camp on Monday. The Pokes are coming off a 95-play scrimmage on Saturday evening inside War Memorial Stadium. The team will have Tuesday off before getting into game prep for the opener on Sept. 5 at Colorado State.

What Head Coach Jay Sawvel Had to Say

The scrimmage went well Saturday, I think we were about 95 plays, Sunday we came out and practiced with pads on, today came out and practiced with pads on. We will give the players a day off, it'll be tomorrow, then we'll get into our first opponent on Wednesday., I think from a health perspective, we're, we're in a solid place. You know, you got a couple of bumps and bruises here and there, it'll be good for guys to have a couple of days where physically, you know, we're not doing anything.”

The Cowboys return one of the top safeties in the Mountain West in Jones Thomas and one of the top nickel players in Desman Hearns. Both were preseason All-MW selections by numerous publications.

Thomas appeared in and started 11 games for the Cowboys. He is the Cowboys’ leading returning tackler from 2025 with 57. He also tied for the team lead with two interceptions and added four pass breakups. He recorded an interception for a touchdown against Hawai’i. He had a career-high 12 tackles for the Pokes at Fresno State. He also tied a career-high with seven solo stops, as he also had seven against Air Force. He added eight tackles against Utah and against UNLV. 

Hearns appeared 12 games with 11 starts in his first season with the Brown and Gold. He finished the season with 35 total tackles with 29 solo stops. He also added two tackles for loss. He tied for the team lead with two interceptions and forced two fumbles. He also tied for the team lead with five pass breakups. He added an interception in both the Northern Iowa and Colorado State games. He forced fumbles against Utah and UNLV. He recorded eight tackles twice doing so against Utah and San Jose State, as he recorded eight solo stops against SJSU.

The Pokes have depth at the position with players like Brooklyn Cheek, who started a contest last season along with Jaden DaCosta, who was a valuable special teamer along with Wyoming native Drew Jackson. Others in the mix include Kaiden Kimble-Turner and Elvin Ampofo, who redshirted last season.

Wyoming also added players in the transfer portal in Jett Vincent and Da’Marion Brownlee. Vincent saw playing time during his stint at Colorado State with Brownlee playing Missouri Southern. Wyoming also added a talented player to play in the nickel position in Travis Franklin Jr. out of Jacksonville State.