This is it, so to speak.
Wednesday is the final scrimmage for the University of Wyoming football team before its season-opener Sept. 5 against Weber State.
I’m sure the team will have periods of scrimmage-like action in the practices leading up to the game, but this is the final chance for coach Dave Christensen and his staff to get a look at his guys in a game-like situation before the games count for real.
Here are the top five things to look for Wednesday:
1. Catch the ball!
Will the UW receivers continue to have a case of the dropsies? Ten different guys dropped 12 passes in last Saturday’s scrimamge. It’s hard to evaluate anything with that many drops. That area has to improve. It will be intresting to see just how much progress has been made — in this scrimmage and beyond.
2. Quarterback progress.
Christensen said at the start of camp he won’t name a starting quarterback until Sept. 3. He may hold true to that, but if junior-college transfer Robert Benjamin takes all the snaps with the No. 1 offense for the third straight scrimmage one’s got to believe he will be the starter against Weber State.
But if senior Karsten Sween gets snaps with the starters, this battle looks to continue all the way to Christensen’s Sept. 3 deadline.
In three scrimmages, Benjamin is 27 of 48 for 384 yards with four touchdowns, three interceptions and three fumbles. Sween is 29 of 41 for 283 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions or fumbles.
3. Straight ahead
UW running back continue to struggle with running side-to-side instead of up field. This has driven Christensen crazy . Redshirt freshman James Caraway made some strides here in last Saturday’s scrimamge.
4. Mike Neuhaus
The senior defensive tackle plays behind senior starter and preseason all-conference pick John Fletcher. But it’s hard to argue that there has been a more productive defensive lineman for the Pokes during fall camp.
Neuhaus has picked off two passes from Benjamin. He also recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown on the first day of camp.
In three scrimmages Neuhaus has recorded five total tackles, including two sacks and two interceptions.
5. Great Scott
Inconsistent may be the best way to describe senior kicker Jake Scott, but he was perfect in last Saturday’s scrimmage as he made all six field goals and all four of his extra points.
Scott can go a long way to winning the starting place-kicking duties with another perfect day Wednesday.
Check out this blog Wednesday for live updates during the scrimmage, and for a recap afterwards.
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Crickets
Very curious to see what comes from the scrimmage tomorrow. And if the RB’s and the WR’s aren’t doing what they are supposed to do (catching the ball and running up field)…well it might put the defense back on the field sooner than they should be. Hopefully not the case.
In regards to the RB’s, I wonder how much of their problems relates to the offensive line and no protection? No trust? Just a thought.
I think the WR are all looking to impress DC and that is trying to make big plays so they can move up the list. In do so they are loosing concentration with the ball. A little focus over the past few practices should fix this problem. I see this going away over the next few days. RB now that is a good question, OL has been on Daves list if I’m not mistaken. Not tough enough to get the job done….time will tell.
go pokes