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.

Cowgirls take down No. 22 TCU

Cowgirls get there first win over a seeded program since 2008 and improve to 11-4 (2-1 MWC) on the season. This a huge win for the program as they vie for the NCAA tournament and a Mountain West Championship.

Hillary Carlson had a career defining game with 29 points and 11 rebounds in the 73-67 win. For a complete story and photo gallery check out the Wyoming Athletic page.

The Cowgirls head to New Mexico on Saturday to tangle with the Lobos.

Around the Mountain West

News from around the Mountain West Conference.

As seen on Mountain West Connection.

Air Force: The Academy was chosen as one of the top 100 "best values" among colleges by the Princeton Review.

BYU: Jonathon Taverani got his groove back for the Cougs.

Colorado State: TE Coach Mark Lubick has added recruiting coordinator to his duties.

New Mexico: New Mexico has struggled lately but look to get on track tonight when they host Utah.

UNLV: The Rebels have a new indoor natorium. Previously they had to practice outdoors during the winter.

Utah: The Utes hope to break their 7 game losing streak at The Pit.

TCU: Clint Gresham will play in a collegiate all star game as well attend the NFL combine.

San Diego State: A lawsuit against the Aztecs Athletic Department has been reopened.

Wyoming and Mountain West get some love from ESPN

Graham Watson is the Non AQ College football blogger for ESPN. The Mountain West gets a couple nice mentions and so does Dave Christensen in her latest update.

Interesting fact: Dave Christensen and Bowling Green's Dave Clawson were the only first time head coaches to finish with winning records this season. Niiiiiiiice!

WHITE OUT GAME VS NEW MEXICO

This game will be much better than the movie

Saturday's game against the New Mexico Lobos will be a "white out" game in Arena-Auditorium. How does this work? Well you came to right my place. Read on!

Step 1: Find a white shirt

Step 2: Find a different white shirt because the first one had nasty pit stains and no one wants to see that.

Step 3: Put head and arms into clean shirt and then pull down.

Step 4: Grab your buddies (all in matching white shirts) and head to the game.

Step 5: Don't let Dave pull that "left my wallet at home" trick when you get to the ticket office. He pulled that one on you twice already this season.

Step 5: Yell like crazy and help the Pokes give the Lobos a rude welcome.

Step 6: Tell any New Mexico fans you see what a great time you had their Bowl game this year.

For the whole scoop from the UW Athletic program click here.

Lightning doesn't strike twice for Pokes

Edvinas Ruzgas was on fire for TCU

Wyoming certainly had opportunities tonight but in the end TCU defended their home court and came away with a 62-59 win. The Horned Frogs improve to 9-8 (2-1) while Wyoming drops below .500 once again and sits at 8-9 (1-2). TCU led the entire first half and took a 36-30 advantage to the locker room. Led by Afam Muojeke the Pokes picked up their game and took a 40-39 lead with 13:50 remaining. The next eight minutes were back and forth and Wyoming held a 52-50 lead with 5:38 left.

Down the stretch Wyoming just couldn't find the magic that they used on Saturday night to slay the San Diego Aztecs. TCU jumped out to a five point lead and the Pokes slowly chipped away. In the final minute Wyoming took six shots but only hit one as TCU held on for the three point win.

This was not the prettiest of games as both teams shot below 40% from the field. Ronnie Moss showed no restraint as he unleashed 18 shots but sunk only three - all three pointers. Five free throws gave Moss 14 points for the game. Edvinas Ruzgas was impressive for the Horned Frogs totaling 22 points and hitting four treys. Bigman Zvonko Buljan pulled down a game high 12 boards.

Only two Pokes had much success shooting the ball: Muojeke put a game high 24 while Adam Waddell had 15 points plus eight rebounds. Waddell played nearly the entire for a short two minute break. Wyoming had 15 turnovers which turned into 20 points for TCU. No Cowboy had more than two turnovers. Improvement from 3pt range was shown again as Wyoming hit 6 of 14 (42%) but struggled from the charity stripe with a 15 of 24 (62%) performance.

The Pokes remain winless on the road this season. Wyoming heads back home and will host the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday at 1:30pm mst. Saturday's game is a "white out game" where everyone is encourage to wear plain white t shirts.

AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: Adam Waddell played nearly the entire game and put 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Cowboy Low: It was bound to happen sooner or later. Arthur Bouedo had an off night going 0-7 for the game. Did play tough however and added two rebounds and three assists.

Cowboy Foe: Edvinas Ruzgas hit four treys on his way to 22 points. Also grabbed 5 boards.

The Road

Nothing to do with the Wyoming Cowboys but the title of this book and now Movie "The Road" is the same as my blogger name so thought I'd just add in this today.

I read the book in one sitting a couple days after Christmas and really enjoyed it. The fact there are no chapters also helps. The movie is now in theaters and follows the book pretty very closely. Not a "happy go lucky" story by any means it is still a powerful one that will make you appreciate everything that you have in your life.

Pick up the book or checkout the movie if you have the chance. Let me know what you think.

Men's Hoops Standings: 1/12/09

Mountain West Conference Standings

	Conf	All
Colorado St.	2-0	11-5
BYU (18)	1-0	16-1
Utah	1-0	8-7
UNLV	1-1	13-3
San Diego St.	1-1	12-4
Wyoming	1-1	8-8
TCU	1-1	8-8
New Mexico	0-2	14-3
Air Force	0-2	8-7

Deep Thoughts: CSU leads the conference at 2-0 but lets see how they do against BYU, UNLV and New Mexico in the next week. BYU has only a single loss but can they keep it up without their leading Jimmer Fredette who is out with mono.

Very interested to see how Wyoming does against TCU on the road tonight. If the Pokes put together a solid effort for 40 minutes they can be really dangerous down the stretch. We've seen what they can do for one half on multiple occasions.

Pokes head to the heart of Texas

Wyoming Cowboys at TCU Horned Frogs
5:30 PM MST
TV: The Mtn

The Wyoming Cowboys are coming off their most impressive win season, a come behind victory over San Diego State last Saturday. Meanwhile the Horned Frogs of TCU got embarrassed on their trip to Salt Lake City in a 65-45 loss to the Utes. Both teams come in with records 8-8 for the season and 1-1 in the Mountain West. So looks this should be a fairly even match up.

The Pokes have two solid wins over Northern Colorado and San Diego State while TCU has cherry picked weaker opponents for most of their victories. If Wyoming wants to get their record above .500 for the first in a month they will need the continued effort of Afam Muojeke and Jaydee Luster. Muojeke is coming off a 30 point performance and looks to be improving his shot selection. Luster shied away from shooting the ball for most of the season but has found his stroke from long range recently. Arthur Boeudo has been impressive in his first two games this season.

TCU has a force with Senior F Zvonko Buljan, the Croation is averaging over 14 points and 9 rebounds a game. Despite his size at 6-9 235lbs Buljan has only a single block this year. Wyoming has had trouble with rebounding this year and Buljan can give TCU a big advantage in the paint. Sophomore G Ronnie Moss hails from Fort Worth and has yet to find a spot on the court where he isn't willing to shoot one up. Moss averages 14 points and 6 assists a game while leading the team in shot attempts despite hitting only 38%. He is a threat from long range as he averages 5 attempts from 3pt land and hits two a game. Edvinas Ruzgas is another Croatian at TCU and like Moss is a threat to sink a three.

With Wyoming's full court press and TCU's "huck a shot" mentatility this could be an interesting game to watch.

These teams split the series last year with the home team winning both times.