Christensen happy with Crum

Wednesday’s fourth and final scrimmage for Wyoming was dedicated mostly to backups and youngsters.

Senior Dax Crum looks like he solidified his spot as the No. 2 quarterback behind sophomore Austyn Carta-Samuels. As he did in all four scrimmages Crum took all the snaps with the No. 2 offense and was 8 of 11 for 96 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. There was a fumble on a hand-off to true freshman Robert Herron, but Crum recovered.

Crum had a 34-yard pass to junior running back James Davis for the longest play of the scrimmage.

True freshman Emory Miller Jr., was impressive with the No. 3 offense. He was 8 of 9 for 70 yards and ran three times for 10 yards.

“We’re going to still look at it,” said second-year coach Dave Christensen on the battle for the No. 2 quarterback job. ”I think Emory did some good things today. But Dax has had a good camp. He’s progressed quite a bit from the time I arrived until now. He’s done a lot of good things and we’re not going to base anytong on one scrimmage or one practice It will be based upon all the practices. I’m pleased where (Crum) is at.”

The No. 1 and No. 2 offensive and defensive units got about 20 snaps. The only touchdown came from the defense when true freshman defensive back Darrenn White returned a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown. True freshman safety Dylan McElveen forced the fumble after a hard hit on junior receiver Jonathan Aiken.

Christensen said a depth chart for the season opener a week from Saturday against Southern Utah will be released Monday.

Other thoughts and observations from the scrimmage:

–Junior Austin McCoy had a much better day kicking field goals. He was 6 of 7 with a long of 43. In last Saturday’s scrimmage he was 3 of 6. McCoy will kick in the opener as sophomore Ian Watts serves a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules.

–True freshman Nehemie Kankolongo saw his first scrimmage action in a couple of weeks since he re-injured a knee. He had one carry for one yard. Christensen said he will practice with the scout team this week and then get back in the running back mix the following week. Like Watts, Kankolongo was suspended for the season-opener.

–UW ran for only 59 yards on 32 carries. UW also mixed and matched its offensive lines with starters and backups to give certain guys looks with other players.

–As far as who will redshirt, Christensen said: ”We won’t make any decisions until we get closer to the end of the season. Normally with three weeks left in season we don’t want to pull their redshirt, but up until that point we’re certainly going to play who we have to play to win a football game.”

–No injuries were reported from the scrimmage, and Christensen was pleased with how his team made it through camp with no significant injuries to key players.

“A lot has to do with (strength and conditioning coach) Trent Greener and his staff along with (head athletics trainer) Bob Waller and his staff,” Christensen said. “They do a great job of training the kids an rehabbing the kids. The players also are working hard to get in great shape.

“I’m pleased our kids understand what it takes to come out  and practice hard day in and day out. We haven’t had a bad practice yet.”

Game preparation for Southern Utah begins Friday.

“We want to get out there and play someone, and beat up on someone else besides our teammates,” junior defensive end Gabe Knapton said. “I think everyone is fired up about that.”

See Thursday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle www.wyomingnews.com and Laramie Boomerang www.laramieboomerang.com for more on the scrimmage. See my top five things learned from fall camp, along with some bonus items.

And once again, thanks to all those who joined me for the live blog today. Can’t wait to get one going for a real game. Stay tuned here to a live chat coming prior to the opener next week.