The Orlando Sentinel newspaper, one of the best sports sections in the country, is ranking all 125 Football Bowl Subdivision teams throughout the spring and summer.
It has Wyoming at No. 102 (headline says 101). Here is what the paper had to say about the Cowboys.
NFLfuture.com recently ranked the top college quarterbacks according to their class, and Wyoming’s Brett Smith was ranked third among junior quarterbacks.
Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith in action last season at Fresno State.
Here is what the site said about Smith:
“Brett Smith is a name to get to know. I spent about four hours on Smith late last week and see a guy that has the stuff of a good one at the next level. He’s been a starter since stepping foot on the Wyoming campus and will only get better with time. Smith looks a bit thin and would be best served to add a little bulk to his 6-foot-3 frame.”
The only quarterbacks ranked ahead of Smith, among juniors, were Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater and Michigan’s Devin Gardner.
The MW had two of the top four senior quarterbacks according to the site. San Jose State’s David Fales was first and Fresno State’s Derek Carr was fourth.
Here is the link to the site: http://nflsfuture.com/2013/05/15/2014-nfl-draft-quarterback-rankings/
Wyoming released its summer prospectus for the upcoming football season, which included a depth chart heading into fall camp in early August.
No real surprises, but here are a couple of interesting notes:
Omar Stover
–True freshman running back Omar Stover is second behind senior Brandon Miller, who missed the spring recovering from a broken arm. Stover is ahead of sophomores Shaun Wick and D.J. May, who all played and started games last season as true freshmen. Expect Miller, Stover, May and Wick to play this season, but Stover’s move up was impressive.
The most positive aspect of Wyoming’s special teams from the spring was junior kicker Stuart Williams.
In three scrimmages and the spring game, Williams made all 25 of his extra-point attempts and was 20 of 21 on field goals, with a long of 41. Williams also did a lot of kicking during practices, and was accurate then, too.
Stuart Williams
His efforts earned him a scholarship starting this fall.
Williams worked hard in the offseason, and it showed. The ball is getting off his foot faster and higher. I think he is most comfortable from 40 yards and in, but he has the leg to make field goals of up to 50 yards.
The two field goals Williams missed were blocked.
What also made his spring effort impressive was that UW didn’t have a consistent long snapper. Often times the snaps were low and slow, which can mess up the timing on kicks. The Cowboys are relying on true freshman Brendan Turelli to come in this fall and handle those duties.
Spring was a time of experimentation for Wyoming.
Defensive coordinator Chris Tormey looked at a lot of players at different positions. Some moves look to be permanent, others remain to be seen.
UW will show both 4-3 and 3-4 looks. The buck position (combination defensive end and outside linebacker) often will dictate the formation — along with the down-and-distance and opponent.
Don’t get caught up in the formations. UW showed a lot of formations last season, and in the first four since Dave Christensen has been the coach. The goal is to get the best 11 players on the field. Some of those players emerged during the spring. Others already asserted themselves prior to spring, and others still need to be found when fall camp starts in early August.
The Cowboys will try to put more pressure on the quarterback in 2013, after just 14 sacks last season. That could come from a variety of different positions and angles. Those who follow the team also know the run defense must improve (232.3 yards per game last season) as does the third-down defense (51 percent conversion rate).
One thing I drew from the spring that the starting 11 guys should be decent — but not dominant. The depth after that still is a work in progress.
Here is my position-by-position breakdown of the defense, and some thoughts:
Defensive line
Eddie Yarbrough
Projected starters: Patrick Merterns (Sr., DT or NT), Sonny Puletasi (Jr., DE), Eddie Yarbrough (So., DE or DT); Siaosi Hala’api’api (buck).
Who else plays: Uso Olive (R-Fr., DT or NT); Justin Bernthaler (Sr., DE or DT).
Need to see more from: Troy Boyland (Jr., DT); Chase Appleby (R-Fr., DT or NT); James Diamanti (Fr., DT); Sam Hardy (R-Fr., DE or DT).
My thoughts: Expect the starters, along with Olive and Bernthaler (who missed much of spring with an injury) to be in the rotation and all see a lot of snaps. Boyland is a junior-college transfer who is 6-2, 310 pounds, but needs to be in better shape and maybe drop some weight to be effective. Diamanti is a true freshman who did some good things along the line on special teams (blocked a field goal in the spring game), and could this season. He enrolled at UW in January and the time in the program helped a lot. UW would get a big boost if Boyland, Appleby and/or Hardy show improvement in fall camp. Hala’api’api moved from middle linebacker early in the spring, and could be good at the buck. Yarbrough was the team’s most improved lineman after the spring, and I think their best lineman overall. He is best at DE, but got some looks inside as spring went on.
Here are some of Wyoming’s offensive statistical leaders from three scrimmages and its spring game, which was last Saturday.
Passing
Brett Smith
Brett Smith 44-70 (62.8 percent) 661 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
Jason Thompson 51-74 (68.9 percent) 568 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT
Colby Kirkegaard 20-35 (57.1 percent) 259 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Tommy Thornton 15-31 (48.3 percent) 158 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
My thoughts: Smith is hands down the starter. Thompson has a lot of ability and potential, but remember, he has not been in college a full year yet and he came in after running a Wing-T offense in high school. He still has a lot of development to go. Nonetheless, UW has two quality guys at this spot. Kirkegaard should be the No. 3 guy heading into fall camp, and is a senior. Thornton showed good arm strength in the spring.
Wyoming redshirt freshman linebacker Lucas Wacha talks about the Cowboys’ spring game on Saturday, April 27, 2013 in Laramie. Wacha had an interception with the No. 1 defense and eight tackles in the game.
For more on Wacha and the game, see Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and log on to www.wyosports.net.
Wyoming sophomore defensive lineman Eddie Yarbrough talks about the defense’s performance in the Cowboys’ spring game on Saturday, April 27, 2013 in Laramie. The offense beat the defense 92-60 using a modified scoring system.
For more spring game coverage, see Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and log on to www.wyosports.net.
Wyoming football coach Dave Christensen talks to the media after the Cowboys’ spring game on Saturday, April 27, 2013 in Laramie.
For more on the game, see Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and log on to www.wyosports.net.
To me there were some good signs from both the offense and defense in Wyoming’s spring game.
The 92-60 final score in favor of the offense, or the Gold team, is misleading. The modified scoring system heavily favors the offense. But the defense led by one point at halftime.
Senior Marqueston Huff was back at cornerback because junior Blair Burns was held out due for health reasons, but it was nothing serious. Huff returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown.