Here’s the replay of my live chat from the University of Wyoming’s 52-17 loss at Nebraska Saturday in front of 88,895 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
For more UW sports coverage, see the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and log on to wyosports.net.
Quickly, who can tell me who Nick Szpor is?
Hint: He’s a starter for Wyoming’s football team as a true freshman walk-on.
Still no clue?
Nick Szpor
Szpor came to UW this summer as a 6-foot-3, 202-pound true freshman walk-on quarterback from Central High in Fresno, California, right in Fresno State’s backyard.
“One of my best friends from home picked Wyoming to go to school as a regular student, and he offered to bring me out here to check things out,” Szpor said. “My dad found (UW director of recruiting) Gordie Haug’s email address and contacted him.
“We took a trip here. Gordie gave us a tour. We met with (UW offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Brent Vigen and I was offered a walk-on spot.”
The No. 1 think I learned from watching Wyoming beat Northern Illinois 40-34 in triple overtime: You never know what to expect covering college football.
A game that was supposed to start at 8:30 p.m. didn’t start until 10:20 p.m. due to severe weather with a lot of rain and lightning. The lightning was what delayed the game. After redshirt sophomore quarterback Josh Allen’s 7-yard TD run to win he game in the third overtime, it was 2:35 a.m. Sunday when the game ended.
Here are the highlights of UW’s game-winning drive, capped by Allen’s run, and of Northern Illinois kicker Christia Hagen missing a 38-yard field goal in that third overtime.
Some news, notes and quotes for Wyoming’s season-opening game Saturday night at home against Northern Illinois. Kick off is at 8:30 p.m. at Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
First, my No. 1 key for the Cowboys:
Craig Bohl
A good start: Third-year UW coach Craig Bohl said earlier this week he wants his team to start strong and finish stronger throughout the season. The Cowboys must get off to a good start, which was a problem last season as they were outscored 125-28 in the first quarter. Finishing stronger won’t make a difference if UW finds itself in an early hole like it did most of the 2015.
Agree or disagree? For more keys and coverage of the game, see Saturday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and log on to wyosports.net.
Here’s the replay of my first live chat on University of Wyoming sports of the fall season on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Some great conversation and questions on UW football and basketball, along with other topics in sports. I also will host a live chat for the UW-Northern Illinois football game Saturday. The chat will start at 8:15 p.m., and links will be at wyosports.net and this blog.
For more UW and prep sports coverage, see the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang. Log on to wyosports.net, and also check back to this blog.
This is the second of a season-long video series called 40-yard dash.
Myself, along with the help of WyoSports editor Jeremiah Johnke behind the camera, Wyoming football players meet him at the 40-yard line at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. I asked them questions until they got to the end zone.
Hoping to have a little fun with this, and from the looks of it, the players did.
Junior running back Brian Hill is this week’s feature. Having Hill for this week’s feature seemed appropriate since WyoSports’ 68-page UW football preview section was in Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang. Hill was on the cover, and the theme of the section played off his name: “King of the Hill.”
Third-year Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl had a lot of good things to say about Saturday’s final scrimmage of fall camp. However, no statistics or score were kept as there was not much full contact and UW’s top offensive and defensive units went up against the scout team.
But a few highlights included:
Josh Allen
–Redshirt sophomore quarterback Josh Allen threw touchdown passes of 42 and 16 yards to senior wide receiver Tanner Gentry.
–Junior cornerback Rico Gafford returned two interceptions for a touchdown.
–Senior middle linebacker Lucas Wacha returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
Fall camp concluded for Wyoming Saturday with its second and final scrimmage.
Hope you enjoyed the video highlights and interviews I posted throughout camp. I shot a few photos I wanted to share that I though were fun and somewhat funny.
Brendan Turelli and his short shorts.
First, senior long snapper Brendan Turelli is one of my favorite guys on the team. A great guy who does his job well. During the last week of camp, Turelli and senior punter Ethan Wood got some pairs of workout shorts from UW’s equipment guys, and they are very much old school. Here is Turelli showing them off. Sorry for the titled angle on all these photos you are about to see. Both Wood and Turelli said they made them look like your old-school gym teacher/coach. I think that description does it justice.
Wyoming practiced for about two hours Friday morning in War Memorial Stadium, its final tune-up before camp ends Saturday with a scrimmage, which starts around 10:30 a.m. Just a reminder that the scrimmage is closed to the public and media so there will be no live updates.
Some of the early drill work Friday involved tackling. Not live tackling, but with tire-shaped figures. Check some of that out here.
Wyoming practiced once Wednesday for about 1 hour and 10 minutes in War Memorial Stadium. That was planned by coach Craig Bohl, who said the team would lift weights and do some mental work in the afternoon.
UW’s final two-a-day session of fall camp is Thursday. It’s pattern for this was to go with a lighter practice in the morning, and a heavier one in the afternoon. However, Bohl said he will flip-flop that Thursday since Wednesday was a lighter day on the field.
Here are some highlights from the early portions of Wednesday’s practice.