Big Impact Recruits

The 2009 recruiting class was a bumper crop of fresh talent that made huge contributions on the field right away. Names like Carta-Samuels, Alexander, Gary, Muhammad all stepped up big time for the Pokes.

This year the depth is greater for the Cowboys and it will be harder for some of these new roster additions to make an impact. Here is a ranking of the 2010 recruiting class members that will see the field this Fall.

1. Oliver Schober - Came in as a linebacker and found himself handling kickoffs for the Pokes. This German born player has a soccer background and the leg the prove it launching kickoffs several yards into the endzone. Schober should become a special teams dynamo for the Cowboys as well seeing some time at MLB when Brian Hendricks needs a breather.


2. Robert Herron - The last addition to the Cowboys roster joined the team on the second day of practice. This speedster out of Cali started out at WR but also seen reps at RB recently. Herron has big play ability and if he finds any opening in the defense he should find the endzone.


3. Jonathon Aiken - Another late addition to the Pokes roster, Aiken has earned himself a scholarship with work after walking on initially. At 6'4 and 208lbs "Slim" looks to be the big target that ACS was missing last year. He is still adjusting to the speed of the game after playing the last two years at Ellsworth CC in Iowa. Aiken should do a lot for the Cowboys and could have a bigger impact than Herron.


4. Mazi Ogbonna - After coming out of of Snow College last year Ogbonna looks more polished then Herron and Aiken but not sure if he has the game changing ability of either one. Should see plenty of balls thrown his way this season.


5. Justin DiRe - Of the linemen that were recruited for this year Dire recieved the least press while coming out of San Diego. He is a very mobile bigman and great at blocking past the line of scrimmage. DiRe has worked his way onto the second team spot at Tackle and expect him to see several reps on the line each game.


6. Nehemie Kankolongo - Came into camp as the starter at RB but after a one game suspension and a knee injury we're not sure how much of an impact he will make this year. If the knee proves stable (MRI was negative) then he could see time at RB this year.
7. Dejay Lester - Lester came in with Ogbonna but has limited so far this Fall due to a concussion suffered early on. He is back and did participate in the scrimmage grabbing a couple passes. Lester is a solid reciever but he doesn't have the size or speed of those listed above him.
8. Marqueston Huff - Huff will be a playmaker for the Pokes. Whether that happens this year or not is to be determined. Huff is currently second at the CB spot behind the Gipson's so he should see some time in dime formations. Expect him to be a starter next year.
9. Kurt Taufa'asau - The DT from JUCO New Mexico Military Institute has shown improvement during camp but the altitude and competition have slowed down his adjustment. Expect him to see sometime on the DLine this year but not right away.

Back to Wyoming News - Scrimmage #3!

Just two weeks till kickoff and things are starting to come together for Wyoming offense. The defense dominated the first two scrimmages but things finally started clicking this morning.

For the full stats from the scrimamge click here.

Here are few highlights that Robert Gagliardi posted on his site:

• Austyn Carta-Samuels can feel very good about his performance today after going 11 for 13 for 115 yards plus two touchdowns. ACS also added 26 yards on four carries. ACS is really starting to get into a groove with his recievers as evidenced by the TD passes to Aiken (11 yards) and Leonard (15 yards).
• The offense had a total of 345 yards on the day and improved greatly on turnovers and penalties.
• Robert Herron saw reps at RB and showed off his speed and ability to cut back. Herron had 17 yards on 4 attempts plus a 27 yard catch. I expect Herron to be utilized at wideout and running back this year. Should be very dangerous when on end arounds.
• Oliver Schober had an amazing 59 yard pick six off Dax Crum. Schober started in place of Brian Hendricks who dealing with an ankle injury suffered on Wednesday.
• DeJay Lester saw some action for the first time this year catching two passes for 17 yards. Lester has missed several weeks with a concussion suffered at the beginning of camp.
• Austin McCoy was 3 for 6 on field goals with one blocked. McCoy will handle the kicking duties in the opener while Ian Watts sits out a one game suspension.

Stats from the first scrimmage

Want the full break down on the scrimmage. Well the UW Athletic department posted the final stats for fans to check out.

Check out the photo gallery of the first scrimmage. If you want the pdf version of the stats click here.

In other Cowboys news looks like DT Alex Stover has seen his last snapas his nagging groin injury has ended his career. He will stay on with the team as a volunteer assistant. Nehemie Kankolongo got the results back on his MRI and he should be back in time for the September 11th game at Texas.

Passing
Player Comp.-Att Yards TD Interceptions Long
# 5 Austyn Carta-Samuels, qb 9-17 (.529) 89 0 1 17
# 18 Dax Crum, qb 8-19 (.421) 73 1 0 23
# 11 Emory Miller, Jr., qb 3- 5 (.600) 28 0 0 23
# 16 Austin Woodward, qb 2- 3 (.667) 10 0 0 5
# 9 Sam Stratton, qb 0- 2 (.000) 0 0 0 NA
Totals 22-46 (.478) 200 1 1 23


Receiving
Player Receptions Yards TD Long
# 80 Chris McNeill, wr 4 23 0 15
# 6 Robert Herron, wr 3 32 0 14
# 33 David Leonard, wr 3 31 0 17
# 89 Zach Bolger, wr 2 16 0 9
# 81 Brandon Miller, wr 2 3 0 5
# 4 Drew Martinez, wr 1 23 0 23
# 83 T.J. Smith, wr 1 23 0 23
# 2 Mazi Ogbonna, wr 1 16 0 16
# 22 Tedder Easton, rb 1 10 1 10
# 84 C.J. Morgan, wr 1 7 0 7
# 3 Travis Burkhalter, wr 1 6 0 6
# 32 Alvester Alexander, rb 1 5 0 5
# 35 Vincent Bobbitt, rb 1 5 0 5
Totals 22 200 1 23


Rushing

Yards Yards Net
Player Attempts Gained Lost Yards TD Long Fumbles
# 35 Vincent Bobbitt, rb 16 81 12 69 0 49 0
# 5 Austyn Carta-Samuels, qb 8 70 7 63 0 16 0
# 32 Alvester Alexander, rb 10 69 8 61 0 39 0
# 18 Dax Crum, qb 6 32 4 28 0 12 1
# 25 James Davis, rb 6 29 6 23 1 10 0
# 22 Tedder Easton, rb 14 27 11 16 0 5 0
# 16 Austin Woodward, qb 1 7 0 7 0 7 0
# 9 Sam Stratton, qb 4 12 5 7 0 7 0
# 11 Emory Miller, Jr., qb 4 0 16 - 16 0 - 2 0
Totals 69 327 69 258 1 49 1



Defensive Highlights

Player UT AT TT Sacks TFL Broken Up FF FR Int
# 1 James Caraway, cb 2 0 2 2
# 2 Marcell Gipson, cb 0 1 1
# 3 Patrick Hartford, lb 1 1 2
# 4 Tashaun Gipson, cb 1 0 1 1
# 6 Alex Toney, lb 3 3 6 1 1-16
# 7 Shamiel Gary, ss 0 1 1
# 8 Brian Hendricks, ilb 4 3 7
#11 Dylan McElveen, fs 1 1 2
#14 Marqueston Huff, cb 3 1 4
#15 Ben Durbin, dt 0 2 2 0.5-0.5
#17 Keith Lewis, lb 1 0 1 1
#23 Ghaali Muhammad, lb 2 4 6 0.5-1.5 1
#24 Chris Prosinski, fs 2 1 3
#27 Todd Knight, lb 0 2 2 0.5-0.5
#29 Luke Ruff, cb 3 1 4 3-6 1
#31 Jeff Roueche, lb 0 1 1 1
#34 Matt Birkeness, de 1 1 2 1-2 1-3.5
#35 Oliver Schober, lb 0 2 2
#36 Eric Mitchell, fs 1 0 1 1-1.5
#38 Julian Hawkins, db 1 0 1 1-2
#41 Andrew Meredith, cb 3 0 3
#43 Devyn Harris, lb 4 0 4 1-2
#44 Josh Biezuns, de 0 5 5 1
#45 Bryson Studnicka, dt 2 0 2 2-4
#50 Mike Purcell, dt 2 2 4 0.5-0.5 2.5-2.5 1 1-0
#52 Gabe Knapton, de 0 3 3 0.5-1.5
#54 B.J. Sumter, dt 1 1 2
#55 Sonny Puletasi, de 2 0 2 2-12 2-12
#59 Reece Hall, lb 2 1 3
#90 Tyler Strong, dt 0 2 2 1-2.5
#91 Riley Lange, de 2 0 2 1-2 1-2
#92 Spencer Bruce, de 0 2 2 0.5-1
#93 Eric Brooks, dt 1 3 4 1-5 1.5-6
#95 Patrick Mertens, dt 3 3 6 0.5-0.5 1.5-3.5
#96 Brian Caggiano, dl 1 1 2 2-8.5
#98 Kurt Taufa’asau, dt 1 2 3 1-5 1-5
Totals 50 50 100 7-27 24-66 10 0 1-0 1-16

Defense dominates in first scrimmage!

Robert Gagliardi did a live blog of the Cowboys first scrimmage this morning in which the defense showed it's preparedness. Last time the score was updated the Defense led 48-25. How can a defense score points you ask?

Here is how the scoring works in the scrimmage courtesy the UW press release:

A scoring system will be utilized that will award the offense and defense points
based on certain plays. The offense will earn a normal six points for a
touchdown, one point for a point-after-touchdown, two points for a two-point PAT
and three points for a field goal. In addition, the offense may earn one point
for each play of 20+ yards and one point for each first down.

The defense may earn five points each for an interception or a recovered fumble. If
they return an interception or fumble recovery for a TD, the defense will
receive 12 points. The defense will earn three points for forcing a punt,
blocking a field goal or by stopping the offense on a fourth-down play on the
offense's side of the 50. Two points will be awarded to the defense for a
safety, a quarterback sack, stopping the offense on a fourth-down play on the
defense's side of the 50 or stopping a two-point conversion attempt. Finally one
point will be earned by the defense for forcing a missed field goal, tackling a
ball carrier for a loss of yardage, blocking a point-after-touchdown attempt or
when holding the offense to a field goal after the offense began its series in
the red-zone (inside the defense's 20-yard line).

The scrimmage paired the #1 offense versus the #2 defense, #2 offense versus the #1 defense. The third and fourth teams matched up against their equals.

MVP for the defense would most likely be Mike Purcell who had a couple sacks as well as several tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. The experience of the secondary showed as it was hard to complete passes for any of the quarterbacks.

ACS had a fairly decent day but focused mainly on shorter passes. He did have one interception that due to throwing into double coverage.

Oliver Schober booted two of his three kickoffs into the endzone. Austin McCoy could only reach the 10.

McCoy also took some reps at kicking field goals, he will be assuming those duties for the first game while Ian Watts sits out due to a one game suspension.

Backup DE Mark Willis blocked two consecutive field goals after the first one was called back due to a penalty.

DE Sonny Puletasi got a sack by simply pushing his blocker into the QB.

Alvester Alexander had a 39 yard run from scrimmage. Walk on RB Vincent Bobbitt had the longest play of the a day a 49 yard run. First time I'd heard his name mentioned this season.

James Davis had a 10 yard touchdown run. Dax Crum found Tedder Easton for a 10 yard score late in the scrimmage.

Kurt Taufa'asau seems to be developing the quickest of any of the defensive linemen though he didn't make any standout plays today.

The next scrimmage will be on Tuesday the 17th. Hopefully the offense will be able to pick things up in the weeks to come.

Here is an article on new WR's Aiken and Herron who have labeled themselves "Thunder and Lightning 2.0". The original Thunder and Lightning were running backs Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon. Hopefully they can have similar success.

First Scrimmage is tommorow

After a week of practice it is time to stop drills and see what some of these players can really do. Wyoming will have it's first scrimmage on Friday, August 13th starting at 8:45am.

Check out Robert Gagliardi who will be posting live during the scrimmage.

So what are we hoping to learn from this first scrimmage?


Here are a few key things to focus on:

The defensive line. The bookends are set at DE with Greg Knapton and Josh Biezuns. The backup DE spots are up for grabs with RS Freshman Mark Willis having the inside track to backup Knapton.

Who will fill the middle of the line? Alex Stover was expected to start but is already hitting the medical tent with his recurring groin issues. Mike Purcell, Patrick Mertens and Burbin are fighting for a starting spot at DT.

Will any of the newcomers make an impact on the line? Kurt Taufa'asau has been getting some reps with the second team. There hasn't been much news on BJ Sumter or Tyler Strong yet. Sonny Puletasi and Riley Lange are two freshman DE's that have been staying low on the radar so far.

With David Tooley gone that leaves T.J. Smith to take over as the #1 TE. Who will take over the #2 spot. Jonathon Aiken has the size at 6'4 208lbs but can he block when needed?

There hasn't been much news on the O-Line so far. Freshman Skyler Hinton and Justin Dire have been seeing some time with the second team at center guard respectively.

Who sees the most reps at running back. Kankolongo will miss the opener against Southern Utah but does that make Alexender the starter in week 2 as well?