For Wyoming football, the historic 1996 season remains to be one of the most storied seasons in the program’s history. That team was even recently inducted into UW’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2026 for that memorable season.
However, one of the most lasting memories of that season remains to be the sting of being left out of a bowl game, despite the team finishing the season ranked in the Associated Press top-25 with a 10-2 record after just falling short against BYU in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title game.
That season was nearly halted before it ever got started, as the Cowboys barely slipped past Idaho in their home and season opener by a final score of 40-38. Kicker Cory Wedel tied a program record he still holds today for the most field goals made in a single game, as he booted six field goals through the uprights to help the Cowboys hold on for a win.
“From my perspective, we played almost the whole game tight. We have put too much pressure on ourselves. I think the fans and the media have as well. When we relax and start flying around, we’ll play better,” head coach Joe Tiller said in a story after the 40-38 win by the Branding Iron’s Ian McMackin.
The Cowboys then hit the road to Ames, Iowa where they would pull off an upset victory over Iowa State, downing the Cyclones 41-38 in overtime. It was yet another record-setting day for the Cowboys as they pulled out yet another narrow victory, as wide receiver Marcus Harris set the program record for the most receptions in a game, as he finished with 16 receptions for 223 yards. He would later tie that record again in the same season.
According to the Branding Iron’s Josh Johnson, the Cowboys also swept the WAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week honors after the victory over the Cyclones, as Harris won the offensive honors for his performance and linebacker Jay Jenkins won the defensive honors after tallying 15 tackles and an interception that led to the Cowboys’ game-tying drive to send the contest to overtime.
It was after this point that the Cowboys’ season really began gaining steam.
The Cowboys would completely dismantle Hawaii in their next contest by a final score of 66-0. McMackin again recapped the Cowboys’ victory in the Branding Iron with an article headline “Fried Rainbow Anyone?”
“We went out and put a complete game together today, we had a good attitude coming in after the come-from-behind win. Everything just skyrocketed out on the field,” cornerback Lee Vaughn said in the article.
Air Force was next up on the docket, and again the Cowboys were victorious. The contest was much closer than their last outing, as the Cowboys outlasted the Falcons 22-19. Wedel was again the hero, as he strung together two consecutive field goals late in the game to earn the Cowboys the win, including the game-winner with 36 seconds remaining in the game.
The Cowboys then handled a lowly UNLV team in their next outing, despite allowing the Rebels 543 yards of total offense. That earned them a place in the AP top-25, ranking 25th heading into their next contest against a bad San Jose State. They also handily defeated the Spartans to open the season 6-0.
The Cowboys were then awarded with three straight home games, all of which they won in dominant fashion by an average margin of about 26 points. The Branding Iron’s Mike Miller wrote an article titled “Thank Schedule Man for 7-0” after the Cowboys defeated Western Michigan 42-28, which details how poor the Cowboys’ opponents were up to that point.
“Thank you, schedule man, I’m sure you knew how bad our opponents would be this year. The 12-28 combined record of beaten UW opponents is something I’m sure you took into consideration,” Miller wrote. “You knew that UNLV and Western Michigan had programs that were in the toilet. It was obvious to you that San Jose State and Hawaii would be lucky to have a win thus far.”
Regardless of those facts, an undefeated record at that point was nothing to scoff at.
After reaching a 9-0 record and ranking as high as 16th in the nation, the Cowboys faced their biggest challenge yet: San Diego State—a program that was, in fact, not in the toilet. The Aztecs were 5-2 to start their season and the Cowboys would have to beat them to remain alone in first atop the Pacific Division of the WAC.
The Cowboys unfortunately fell to the Aztecs 28-24 after allowing a last-minute scoring drive to the Aztecs to seal the deal. This set up a high-stakes matchup for the Cowboys against their rival Colorado State.
Win, and the Cowboys would still have a chance to play in the WAC title game. Lose, and all those dreams go away.
The Cowboys got as good of a start as you could ask for, blanking the Rams in the first half to take a 13-0 lead into the break. Then began the “quarter from hell,” aptly described in a recap by the Branding Iron’s Johnson. The Rams scored 24 unanswered points in the third quarter, setting the stage for an incredible comeback by the Cowboys. Running back Marques Brigham would give the Cowboys a one-point edge after an incredible 96-yard scoring drive, and cornerback Brian Lee secured the victory with a timely interception.
Speaking of timely, UNLV certainly picked the right time to pick up their first and only win of the season when they defeated San Diego State on the same day. That left the Cowboys alone atop the Pacific Division, with a date set against 6th ranked BYU in the WAC title game—a game that lived up to every expectation.
The Cowboys were blanked in the first half and trailed by 13 heading into the locker room, but a fumble recovery by their defense led to a touchdown that sparked a second half comeback, with the Cowboys eventually maintaining a 25-20 lead. Tiller infamously decided to take a safety instead of punting late in the fourth quarter, which eventually led to the Cougars kicking a game-tying field goal in the last few seconds of regulation.
The Cowboys went on to lose that one in overtime after missing a field goal on their first offensive possession of the extra period—and with that, their bowl hopes were dashed, whether they knew it at the time or not. The WAC was only allotted two bowl bids that season, with BYU playing in the Cotton Classic Bowl and Utah being selected to compete in the Copper Bowl, despite finishing with an 8-4 record compared to the Cowboys’ 10-2 record.
With that, the world didn’t get to see that season’s leader in total offensive yards, UW quarterback Josh Wallwork, tear up yet another opposing defense. Harris, who won consensus All-American honors and the Fred Biletnikoff Award for his record-setting season, never again caught a football in a Wyoming uniform. Joe Tiller had coached his final game at Wyoming, as he was announced to take over the Purdue head coach vacancy before the Cowboys had even played for a WAC title.
The pain of that historic season ending too soon is still felt to this day—and that 1996 season remains the biggest “what-if” in program history.
