BYU and Wyoming have a long and storied history of big games and meaningful matchups throughout the course of their days as rivals in the Rocky Mountain, Mountain States Athletic, Skyline, Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences.
While the games weren’t always close, there were plenty of tight finishes (15 games decided by three points or less) and legendary performances from some of the best players to ever wear a BYU uniform.
This is the ranking of the best of the best of those performances — the best individual showings against the Cowboys from years gone by.
15. Steve Stratton, 1971
Stratton carried much of the load as the Cougars used a dominating rushing attack to beat the Cowboys 35-17. In the 18-point win, he carried the ball 20 times for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Pete Van Valkenburg also did significant damage on the ground that day with 22 carries for 128 yards and a pair of scores.
14. Lakei Heimuli, running back, 1986
Heimuli had plenty of success against the Cowboys with his best rushing day coming in 1986. In the 34-22 win, he carried the ball 29 times for 177 yards and a touchdown.
A year earlier, he scored three first-half touchdowns while rushing for 137 yards on just 14 carries in a 59-0 win.
13. Jason Buck, defensive line, 1985
Buck had one of the best games of his junior season as the Cougars beat the Cowboys 59-0. In the huge win, he finished with four tackles, including three tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and a forced fumble.
12. Mark Bellini, wide receiver, 1986
Bellini had the most productive day of his senior season as the Cougars beat the Cowboys 34-22. In the win, he totaled seven catches for 159 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown to start the scoring.
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