1. Line play: How will the Cowboys’ new defensive line look in their 4-3 scheme debut? More importantly, can the defensive tackles get a push inside? I think a lot of people are curious and wondering how the offensive line will play. All five starters got most of the reps in fall camp, which is a good sign. Can this group open up running lanes and protect sophomore quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels? We shall see.
2. Receiver watch: UW is supposed to be faster and more athletic at receiver. Will Southern Utah be a good test to show this? Probably not as good as next week’s game at Texas. But can this group stretch the field deep and get more yards after the catch? Don’t be surprised if UW tries to find this out early in the game.
3. Corner coverage: The Gipson brothers, Marcell and Tashaun, both had great off-seasons and are poised to have big years. There is talk there will be more man-to-man coverage with them. We may see that in this game. Southern Utah does have some good receivers. This should be a good test to see if UW takes a few more chances with its coverages or will still try not to get burned deep.
4. End of the line: This kind of goes back to line play, but watch what junior defensive ends Gabe Knapton and Josh Biezuns do in their debuts. Knapton was an inside linebacker last season and Biezuns was a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end. I got a feeling these two will play well. They also will play a key role in keeping Southern Utah sophomore quarterback Brad Sorensen in the pocket, and possibly dragging him down. Sorensen is a big fella at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds.
5. Showing off Schober: Sounds silly, but one of the most exciting things to watch in fall camp was first-year player and junior linebacker Oliver Schober of Germany boot the ball on kickoffs. His ability to kick the ball into and through end zone was one of the biggest highlights and positives that came from camp. And as a linebacker, he’s not afraid to run down and make a tackle. Kickoffs normally are not that fun to watch, but watching Schober is.
Southern Utah has some good players and UW won’t be picture-perfect. But it still will be impressive and the fans will leave the seventh night game in War Memorial Stadium history happy and hopeful.
Wyoming 38, Southern Utah 16
Join me at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for the live blog for the game. Here is the link http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/09/01/live-blog-wyoming-vs-southern-utah/
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