Counting down the days

We're down to single digits days before the Cowboys kickoff their season on September 4th. The actual college football season starts off on Thursday with 18 games with the highlight being Utah visiting Pittsburgh and USC flying out to Hawaii.

This has been a very long offseason and all of the conference realignment drama is starting to wear on everyone. After the June craziness settled down it seemed we could focus on football. Then BYU and the WAC started courting each other till the Mountain West snagged Nevada and Fresno State. BYU has till September 1st to decide if they are leaving the Mountain West to go independent or otherwise.

So playing some football would be a really nice change of pace right now. And that wish is finally going to come true.

So what to expect this week on Cowboy Altitude?

Monday - Mountain West News

Tuesday - Preview of Southern Utah @ Wyoming

Wednesday - Wyoming Offense Breakdown

Thursday - Wyoming Defense Breakdown

Friday - Pre Game Information

Saturday - Game Time!

Also, incase you missed it Eric Schmoldt of the Casper Star Tribune did a great job of the season preview that debuted today featuring articles on several great topics. Here are the links to each story: stadium upgrades, crazy summer for mwc and uw, offense is expected to rise up, new team slogan, veteran secondary, schedule breakdown, o-line says they aren't weak, new 4-3 defense.

Cowboys schedule four game series with Utah State starting in 2011

The University of Wyoming renewed their "rivalry" with the Utah State Aggies by scheduling four games start next season. In 2011 the Cowboys will travel to Logan on October 8th, after a two year break the Aggies will then head to Laramie in 2014. Following games will take place in 2015 and 2016.

Utah State finished 4-8 last year in the WAC but everyone seems high on second year coach Gary Anderson and hope that he can turn the team around. Former Poke standout WR Jovon Bouknight is now the WR coach for Aggies after spending last year as the Offensive Grad Assistant.

This now completes the Cowboys 2011 OOC schedule with home games involving Weber State and Nebraska and road trips to Bowling Green and Utah State. This sets up much quite nicely for Wyoming to have a breakout season with ACS in his junior year and Knapton and Hendricks will be seniors.

"The Cowboys have won the last four meetings with Utah State--games in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2007. However, Wyoming trails in the all-time series 24-34-4. Wyoming and Utah State first played one another on Nov. 21, 1903."

The only question is what conference will Utah State be a member of next year? Or will they even have a conference.

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.

Second Scrimmage and DC on the SVP Show!

Coach Christensen appeared on the SVP show today and did a great interview with Scott and Ryen. If you missed it earlier here is the full interview.

Throughout the interview they played footage from the New Mexico Bowl.

A few highlights topics were the tough schedule, benefit of making to the New Mexico Bowl, the helmet on the desk and the possible formation "Wild Crum". If the Pokes are up big in a few games and need to deploy the Wild Crum I would be very excited.

Speaking of Crum he had a 48 yard touchdown pass to WR Jonathon Aiken in the scrimmage this morning. The defense was the big winners again today but they offense did show a few more signs of life.

Here are some of Eric Schmodlt's thoughts from the second scrimmage.

A few key points:

• Brian Hendricks suffered an ankle injury. It most likely just a sprain.
• Marcell Gipson had a pick six off Crum on the final play of the scrimmage.
• TE David Tooley is back with the team after leaving the team last week.
• Justin Dire maybe making a move at starting spot on the O-Line.

Let there be light!

Image courtesy of KNOE.com

There is a rarity happening in Laramie this season. Not just one but two football games that will played in the evenings and under the lights. There have been only three games played underneath the lights since the Wyoming joined the Mountain West back in 1999.

Robert Gagliardi broke down some history on the lights at War Memorial. The season opener on September 4th versus Southern Utah kicks off at 7pm and will be untelevised. Two weeks later the Cowboys return home to host Boise State with a 6pm kickoff that will be aired on CBS College.

According to the article AD Tom Burman has been pleased with ticket sales so far. But some fans are concerned about travel times after the game. Heading back to Casper can take around 3 hours and conditions could be tougher at night. I'm glad that the Boise game will be on CBS C and I'm sure that every hotel in the area will be booked that weekend.

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?

New WR shows up in Laramie

New players keep popping up in Laramie and I guess you never know what to expect Coach Christensen and his crew. After JUCO WR Jonathon Aiken was reported on the practice field on Sunday, news comes out that a true freshman wideout out of Los Angeles had accepted a scholarship with the Pokes.

Robert Herron a speedster WR/KR out of Dorsey HS. There is not a lot on info on Herron or how he ended up in Wyoming. The main thing is he has plenty of speed and could be a dangerous weapon for the Pokes. On the track Herron has run 10.81 for the 100 meters and 21.93 for the 200. Herron could a tremendous weapon on kick returns and end arounds as well as stretching the field on passing situations.

So does this fall in the category of "early" Christmas present to Pokes nation OR late arrving gift? Either way I'm happy.

Below is his highlight video from Youtube. Here is a photo gallery from his Senior Year.




In other news....

What started out as a two man competition at RB just increased as Junior RB James Davis has started taking some reps from the first and second team. Freshman Nehemie Kankolongo and Sophomore Alvester Alexander were initially battling for the starting spot. Coach Christensen is staying mum on his plans for the position. They could end up with aa running back by committee situation if everyone steps up the challenge. There is still plenty of time for things to work themselves out. We'll keep you posted on any changes with the depth chart.

A new WR in the midst

Wyoming seems to have landed a walk on JUCO WR named Jonathon Aiken out of Ellsworth CC in Iowa. It was orginally reporteded on Cowboy Altitude that Aiken had signed with Wyoming but this later changed when the two wideouts out of Snow College signed. It seemed that Aiken would be headed to Akron where his other offer came from.

No mention was made of Aiken being on campus until today when Robert Gagliardi reported that Aiken made an impressive catch in the team's first full practice in pads.

At 6'4 205 lbs with a 4.4 time for the 40 I full except Aiken to become a dangerous weapon for the Pokes this year. Ranked three stars by Rivals, Aiken should see plenty of balls thrown his way. The blend of size and speed will be a great asset to ACS when he is looking downfield. I was bummed when Aiken didn't sign with the Pokes earlier but now that he is onboard it helps take away some of the sting of RB Evan Williams not qualifying.

From Deutschland with skill

Picture from WyomingNews.com

Back in the winter the Cowboys landed a very unique recruit out of Germany, 23 year old LB Oliver Schober (#35 in the picture). The true freshman never lived in the United States but played football for the local Munich Cowboys team and German national team.

At 6'0 240 lbs Schober is an intimidating figure that will has all the intagibles that coaches look for in a player. Size, strength, skill, instinct and smarts. Originally thought to be competing for the backup spot at MLB, Schober may have also earned himself a spot on the kickoff team. Special teams tackler? Nope. Actual kickoffs.

Christensen was looking for anyone who wanted to give it a shot in the second day of practice and Schober routinely knocked kicks "6 or 7 feet" deep into the endzone.

Most kick returners are probably happy when the kicker is trying to tackle them. With his size and strength this may be the exact opposite with Schober.

For more info on Schober check out this article that appeared in WyomingNews by Robert Gagliardi.

Spring Football Dates

Rivals has all the FCS spring football schedules categorized. I've posted the Wyoming info below. If you want to check out the rest of the Mountain West click here.

The beginning of spring practice will be great to checkout the JUCO transfers in action as well as the High School players that graduated early. Plus it will mean something to focus on besides the dismal state of Cowboy basketball.


WYOMING
Practice begins: March 6.
Spring game: April 17.
Biggest task: Wyoming is loaded in the back seven on defense, but the Cowboys must replace three starting linemen as well as a fourth senior who earned plenty of time in a reserve role. Wyoming is seeking to upgrade its speed in the receiving corps and is looking for No. 2 and 3 receivers.

Wife of Jay Novacek found dead this morning

The wife of former UW great Jay Novacek was found dead this morning in a relatives home in Burleson, Texas. LeAnne Novacek, 45 is pictured above with her husband at a fundraiser circa 1997. Foul play is not suspected at this time.

Jay Novacek was a great TE for Wyoming and then went onto a Pro Bowl career with the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Cardinals. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Truly a terrible tragedy for the Novacek family and all of those that know them.

An autopsy is planned for Tuesday morning. There has been no official release from the Novacek family.

UPDATE 11PM MST: Burleson Texas police are now saying that the incident appears to be a suicide caused by a gunshot wound. Here is the update from Dallas News.

Love for DC and Wyoming from ESPN

Graham Watson a blogger from ESPN wrote a nice article on the Cowboys under first year head coach Dave Christensen.

“It really solidifies what we’re trying to do,” Christensen said. “I don’t
have to sell on my philosophy and my vision because now it's there. And now [the
current players] are going to sell it because they got through it and they know
how it works.”

The success from the 2009 season will hopefully create a snowball effect. The Cowboys have a very bright future thanks to Christensen.

Read the full article.

23 and 24

Wyoming received two more commitments from athletes that visited Laramie over the weekend. These are two key recruits for the Pokes who could help right away in 2010. These commits are #23 and #24 for Wyoming with less than 10 days remaining until the February 3rd signing date. The Pokes are looking sign one more recruit to make their class a NCAA maximum 25 recruits.




QB Emory Miller - Mesquite, TX (HORN HS)

At 5'10 190 pounds Miller isn't the largest QB in the land but that isn't the end of the world. As the Pokes found out with ACS last year good things can come in small packages. Miller is a dual threat QB like ACS and should fit the the offensive scheme better than CJ Bennett who had previously committed to Wyoming.

Bringing in another QB for the Pokes is vital with backup QB Robert Benjamin transferring this semester. Dax Crum would have been the backup QB to start the year and I don't think anyone really wanted that except Crum. QB Sam Stratton has also commited this year but he is coming off a major knee injury suffered in the Fall and will most likely red shirt his first year in Laramie.

Playing in Texas where high school football is life is great for building players that can handle pressure. The Pokes now have four recruits in the last two years who hail from the Lone Star State. Air Force and Navy had also offered.




DT BJ Sumter - Roswell, NM (New Mexico Military Institute)

The Defensive Line was a worry with three starts lost to graduation but things are looking up now. After visiting on Saturday Sumter committed on Sunday. Along with fellow linemen from New Mexico Military Institure Kurt Taufa'asau the D line should be in much better shape in the Fall.

Sumter is originally from Columbia, SC and will have two years of eligibility left when he arrives in Laramie.

KWGN interviews WR Coach Derek Sage

A nice interview by KWGN TV in Cheyenne. Phone interview with game video included. Sage says he wants to the Seniors to step up and become leaders for the younger receivers on the team.

The more I learn about Sage the more I like about this hire. Sage has worked at several successful programs and with some great coaches. Can't wait for next season to start.

Interview.

Happy Birthday Coach Christensen

On this day in 1961 Dave Christensen came into the world. He's grown a bit in the past 49 years and is now the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys. Have a great one Coach!

Next year is the big 5-0. Watch out!

Sage hiring as WR Coach now official

It just took awhile to get the lengthy press release typed up but Dan Sage is now officially the newest member of Wyoming Football Coaching staff. Check out the full release from UW.

With his Nevada roots would Sage try and help recruit 3 star WR Evan Weinstock from Henderson, NV? He doesn't appear to be on Cowboys radar but at 6'4 185 he could bring some nice size to receiving corp.

Updated Rivals commit list

Rivals came out with their updated 2010 commit list for Wyoming and things are looking up for the Pokes! This class looks even better than the 2009 class that producted several starters last year.

Riley Lange and Mazi Ogbonna were both upgraded to three stars from two. DB Marqueston Huff was previously ungraded and came in at three stars.

New to the list are DT Travis Bogard, OL Justin Dire and LB Oliver Schober. Bogard played on both sides of the ball in HS and it is nice to see that he will be helping out on defense for the Cowboys. He also setup his own site to help his recruiting last Fall.

Wyoming has seven recruits with a 5.4 rating which is just .1 shy of earning three star status.

With 19 spots filled the Pokes have 20 days to fill out their recruiting class with the six spots remaining. Coaches have stated they plan on filling all 25 available scholarships this year.

SIGNED LETTER OF INTENT	Pos	Stars	Ht	Wt	40	RR
Mazi Ogbonna	WR	***	6'1	195	-	5.5
DeJay Lester	WR	**	6'2	200	-	5.4
Nick Puetz	OL	**	6'2	315	5.2	5.4
COMMITTED/UNSIGNED	Pos	Stars	Ht	Wt	40	RR
Nehemie Kankolongo	RB	***	5'11	200	-	5.6
Marqueston Huff	DB	***	6'1	180	4.53	5.5
Riley Lange	DE	***	6'4	230	4.65	5.5
Darrenn White	ATH	***	6'0	180	4.5	5.5
Greg Barksdale	LB	**	6'3	210	4.6	5.4
Travis Bogard	DT	**	6'4	265	-	5.4
Daniel Fleischman	OL	**	6'1	275	5.06	5.4
Drew Martinez	WR	**	6'1	165	-	5.4
Dylan McElveen	DB	**	6'1	185	-	5.4
Sonny Puletasi	DE	**	6'3	215	4.73	5.4
Sam Stratton	QB	**	6'0	185	4.56	5.4
Justin Dire	OL	**	6'0	280	-	5.3
Skyler Hinton	OL	**	6'4	307	-	5.3
Oliver Schober	LB	**	6'0	240	4.57	5.3
Tyler Strong	DT	**	6'3	268	-	5.3
C.J. Morgan	WR	**	5'10	170	4.45	5.2

Sage tabbed as new WR's Coach

According to FootballScoop.com Wyoming has found a new WR coach for the 2010 season. Dan Sage from the University of New Hampshire will fill the spot formerly manned by Dan Hammerschmidt.

Here is his bio from UNH's team website.

Derek Sage enters his fifth season as the coach of the UNH wide receivers. He was instrumental in the development of All-American and All-Conference receivers, including All-American wide receiver David Ball. Ball is UNH’s leader in career receptions (304) and receiving yards(4,655). Ball also went on to become the NCAA leader in TD receptions with 58 in his career, breaking Jerry Rice’s previous record of 51. Sage also worked with 1st Team CAA selection Keith LeVan, who is second all-time (201) on UNH’s receptions list and led the CAA in touchdowns receptions in 2007. He also mentored 1st Team CAA selection Mike Boyle, who led the CAA in touchdown receptions in 2008 and finished his career with a 16 yard-per-catch average. Sage came to UNH from Nevada, where as a graduate assistant he helped coach the defensive backfield in 2003 and the wide receivers in 2004. Under his tutelage, Nicheron Flowers was ranked sixth in the nation in receiving with 91 catches for 1,136 yards and six touchdowns. A native of Nevada, Sage played for Sacramento City College for two years (Conf. & Bowl Champions) and then transferred to Cal State Northridge (CSN), where he was a two-year letterman at tight end. A graduate of CSN (2002), Sage earned a degree in Kinesiology and coached his senior year at Moorpark College (Calif.) working with the offensive line and tight ends. Moorpark won a conference title and was a bowl champion.

I really like that he is a Nevada native and can help recruit kids from an area where Wyoming has had a hard time recruiting and UNLV gets a lot of talent. The fact that he coached in New England for 5 years doesn't hurt when going after recruits from that region.

In 2009 the Wildcats top reciever was Senior TE Scott Sicko with 57 reception for 757 yards and 9 touchdowns. His third consecutive year with 50+ receptions in which he also earned All American honors this year.

Sage worked at UNH with current Pokes Secondary Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Alex Grinch. Grinch spent two years at UNH prior to arriving in Laramie.

This year New Hampshire averaged 31.8 points and 201 yards passing per game finishing 7th in the polls for FCS. In 2008 the Wildcats averaged 35.6 points and 243 yards passing.

Ghaali predicted to have breakout 2010 season

Steve Megargee from Rivals.com is doing a season recap of each conference in college football and Wyoming certainly got some love in his recap.

ACS was named Freshman of the Year, Cowboys were the biggest surprise and Ghaali Muhammad is high on his charts.

Next season's breakout defensive player: Wyoming OLB Ghaali Muhammad. As a true freshman, he showed a knack for making big plays. Muhammad returned a blocked punt for a touchdown against Texas and made a game-clinching interception in a 17-16 victory over Colorado State that made the Cowboys bowl eligible. Muhammad could move into the starting lineup next fall and will get a chance to develop into even more of a playmaker.

I can't agree more. Ghaali just has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and coming up with the big play. Very excited to see what he does next year at OLB. Muhammad has the inside track on the LB spot vacated by Senior Weston Johnson.