Courtesy photo by UW Athletics
The Wyoming Cowboys football team made the trip down to Colorado State on September 5th and fell at the hands of the Rams 35-13, but that is only where the story starts. Immediately after the 4th quarter buzzer sounded, CSU fans began to pour onto the field. Junior Defensive Tackle Jayden Williams, wearing number 98, wasn’t having it, and he was seen through many videos on social media pushing a fan onto the ground while walking towards the locker room.
The fan, whose identity is uncertain, fell onto the field hard, then got up, seemingly uninjured, and continued to rush towards the center of the field, where the heart of the celebration was occurring. Williams appeared to have minor altercations with other opposing fans while walking through a swarm to the tunnel.
In what was an emotional loss for the Cowboys, dealing with press and controversy regarding poor conduct was surely not what coach Jay Sawvel was looking for to ease the pain of defeat. “It’s been addressed, and will be addressed further in house,” Sawvel said regarding the incident. “Obviously we don’t condone that from players to fans or anything from that standpoint. That will be something we address team-wide as well,” he said, according to a report by Kaycee Clark-Mellott from KGWN TV.
Beyond the grey area of “addressing it,” no further disciplinary action has been taken so far by the football program or the university itself.
From the standpoint of the player, Jayden Williams, it was an understandably frustrating loss. The Cowboys, especially on defense, where Williams plays, made some small mistakes that had large implications on the game. Blown coverage that led to a long-distance touchdown and some penalties that handed the Rams effortless first downs were key plays that decided the outcome of the game.
Giving up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one with a minute left, also felt like a nail in the coffin for players and staff. Tensions and emotions were very high all the way through the final whistle.
However, taking frustrations out on the opposing fans is not a great look for the program. “I made a mistake, and I apologize for my actions, and I did not represent the school or the program in the correct way,” Williams said in an apology video he posted on X. Williams also responded to Colorado State and their fans in the 30-second clip, apologizing for his outburst following the game.
Needless to say, after being under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons during week one, the Cowboys have some things that they need to work through as a team to put the loss behind them and rebound for future games. With Mountain West play soon to begin, the Cowboys still have high hopes for the season. With a good conference campaign and some wins prior to that, the Pokes still have major aspirations for a bowl game at the end of the season, the first time since 2023.
