North 40 Practice Fields Will Be Silent This Fall
LARAMIE -- The North 40 practice fields will be quiet this August.
During his first two seasons at the helm of the Wyoming football program, Jay Sawvel moved a majority of his training camp to the lush natural grass fields off 22nd Street and Willett Drive.
Not anymore.
Though admittedly it's much cooler than the synthetic FieldTurf inside War Memorial Stadium -- and multiple units can work at once in the same area -- his reason for the change is simple: the Cowboys won't play on grass one time this fall.
The Cowboys have played on a natural surface just four times -- at San Diego State, Arizona State, BYU and UConn -- in the last five years.
There's another motive for the move, too.
"I was always panicked if the grass was going to dry enough," Sawvel said last month at Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas. "So, why go out there?"
Wyoming's third-year head coach is referring to a recent number of high-profile injuries that occurred on the practice fields. Former tight end John Michael Gyllenborg suffered a nagging high-ankle sprain just ahead of the 2024 campaign, forcing him to miss the season opener at Arizona State. Running back Dawaiian McNeely tore his ACL ahead of the 2023 season. Fellow ball carrier Patrick Broadway also suffered a season-ending knee injury out there last August.
"I've seen enough non-contact injuries on the grass field," Sawvel added. "We don’t need that."
He said his team might as well get used to the heat, too, with early games at Colorado State and Central Michigan.
Smoke from wildfires throughout the west has also settled on the high plains, which could force the Cowboys into the indoor practice facility, depending on air quality.
Wyoming will open its first of 25 fall practices Wednesday in Laramie.
The regular season kicks off Sept. 5 in Fort Collins. Most workouts will be closed to the public and media this month because the Cowboys will open against their Border War rivals, which are located just 65 miles south on Highway 287.
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