Wyoming's John Hoyland Named MW Special Teams Player of the Week

*Press release provided by the University of Wyoming.

It is the Fifth Player of the Week Honor of Hoyland’s Career

John Hoyland Kicks a Field Goal. Photo provided by University of Wyoming Athletics, Troy Babbit

Laramie, Wyo. (Sept. 4, 2023) – Wyoming junior place-kicker John Hoyland was named the Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday for his performance in Wyoming’s 35-33, double-overtime victory over No. 24 Texas Tech last Saturday.

Hoyland was a perfect 2 for 2 in field goals against the Red Raiders and was a perfect 3 of 3 in point-after-touchdown attempts.

In the second quarter of last Saturday’s game, Hoyland made a career long 56-yard field goal to score Wyoming’s first points of the game and cut Texas Tech’s lead to 17-3. Hoyland’s previous long was a 55-yarder against Tulsa in 2022 in a game the Cowboys also won in double overtime.

Hoyland’s second field goal in the win over Tech came in the fourth quarter when he converted a 31-yard attempt to give Wyoming its first lead of the game at 20-17.

This week’s Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week honor is the fifth of Hoyland’s career. He won the award three times during the 2022 season in games vs. Tulsa, Northern Colorado and Hawai’i and once in 2020 against Nevada in his first collegiate game.

A junior from Broomfield, Colo., he has been named to multiple 2023 Preseason All-America Teams, including being named First Team by The Sporting News, Second Team by both the Associated Press and Athlon Sports and Third Team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele. Hoyland has also been named to the Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List for 2023 after being named a semifinalist for the award in 2022.

Hoyland is currently ranked No. 2 in the MW and No. 13 in the nation in field goals made, averaging 2.00 field goals per game. He is also tied for No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage (1.000). His 56-yard field goal against Texas Tech ties him with Chase Contreraz of Iowa State for the longest in the nation this season.

Hoyland’s nine points scored vs. the Red Raiders increased his career points scored total as a Cowboy to 228, tying him with former Wyoming All-America wide receiver Marcus Harris for sixth on the Wyoming career scoring list.