Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

[RoundingThird]

Re: 2021g4: Wyoming @ San Jose State

Wow, looks like you juuuuust snuck out of Spartanville with a win. But, hey in the eyes of the polls, a win's a win.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g5: Wyoming @ Colorado State

Wyoming CB Tommy Wong (#33) gives a Colorado State lineman (#69) the business

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- It was a wild and wacky weekend of college football. #1-ranked Notre Dame got blown out 42-11 by Army in South Bend. #4-ranked Louisville got shellacked 52-38 by the Hoos right in front of Papa John himself. #3-ranked Oklahoma, the reigning champeens of college football, lost 31-24 to #7-ranked Texas in the Red River Rivalry game in Norman. Even reigning MWC champ Boise State wasn't immune and dropped to 2-3 after an unexpected 32-29 loss at UNLV.

But the Pokes of Wyoming were unaffected by the upset-itis that was going around. Coach Bohl's ballclub went into Fort Collins and destroyed a weak, winless Colorado State team 45-17 for yet another rivalry win. And they did so with extreme prejudice, running up the score with a bunch of CSU recruits taking their OV to Fort Collins (including the #1 OLB in the nation 5* Jed Williams and the #1 OG in the nation 4* Anthony Wade). Suckers. Wyoming now stands at 5-0 (3-0) with a bye week before a trip to Death Valley in Clemson, SC.

It certainly turned out about as expected with Wyoming's 18th-ranked scoring offense and 26th-ranked rushing attack matching up with CSU's 122nd-ranked scoring defense and 71st-ranked rushing defense. Coach Bohl even remarked to his coaches during the leadup to this game: "that Colorado State defensive line is weak. If it dies, it dies." Wyoming gashed the Rams with a season high 51 carries for 319 rushing yards (6.3 YPC). It's becoming more and more clear that Wyoming's ground game is more than just senior HB Weldon Adler. Sure, Adler carried the load with 29 carries for 176 yards and two TDs. But, his understudy Kelvin Mack Jr. continues to impress (15 carries for 144 yards and a TD). Adler's 2nd TD scamper came as time expired in a 38-17 game from 75 yards away on an I-Form Tight Heavy power right. Certainly Wyoming could've kneeled, but a simple rushing play was run instead and it just broke out. Mack Jr.'s longest was a 67-yard rush on an I-Form Twins stretch play left for a TD near the end of the 3rd quarter which gave Wyoming their first lead of the game. It also ignited a 28-0 Wyoming run to end the game. A run that turned a BORDER WAR into a border massacre.

WYO QB Terry Brooks committed what was just the team's 2nd turnover of the season. But, it wasn't even a "bad" interception. It clanged off the hands of an open receiver, was tipped, and then junior CB Jack Lundy made a shoestring catch on it. Brooks completed 11/21 for 159 yards with a TD (122.1 QB rating).

The interior of the offensive line was excellent. LG Kurtis McCann steamrolled for four pancakes as did C Donald Young. Luther Paul, the OT-turned-temporary-FB, added a pair of pancakes, too.

Wyoming's defense tightened up considerably after allowing an early TD. Wyoming allowed just 26 rushing yards and only 272 yards of total offense with a pair of takeaways. The Cowboys sacked CSU's Jerome Ross four times and MLB Cedric Farmer added a pick and a tfl to go with his six tackles. Beware of #50.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g6: Wyoming @ Clemson Preview

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g6: #22 Wyoming @ #5 Clemson

Wyoming WR Lamar Haynes (#86) celebrates a shocking road win over previously undefeated Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Before getting into just exactly how Coach Bohl obtained the best win of his Wyoming tenure @ #5-ranked Clemson, it's important to review a little bit.

The last time Wyoming was ranked was heading into the 2019 MWC Championship Game against Fresno State. The Pokes overcame a tough 0-2 early season mark with a massive winning streak and entered the rankings at #25 only to lose to Fresno State at home in OT. Before that, the Cowboys were ranked at the end of their 2018 conference championship season where Wyoming finished at #18 in the polls. This year's undefeated Pokes just debuted in the rankings at #22 Coach/#20 AP after a convincing win over Colorado State.

The last time Wyoming beat a ranked opponent was a 2018 win over #24-ranked Air Force. Hardly a signature win. The last time this program had a win over a Top 5 team? Never.

So, suffice it to say that going on the road to beat #5-ranked, 99-OVR, undefeated Clemson with their Heisman-contending dual threat QB came as a shock. This Clemson outfit had been crushing teams. Before this game, Clemson hadn't lost a game and hadn't won by less than two TDs. Naturally, the pundits were taking their shots at Craig Bohl's team before this game. Unsportsmanlike. Soft. Untested. 74-OVR offense. One-trick pony. Bald head coach. Does not know the difference between Fresno and San Jose. Weak conference. Blowout.

Dabo Swinney's team was led by 93-OVR redshirt junior QB Erik Marshall, a 6'2" 236-pounder with great ratings in mobility (81 SPD | 83 AGI | 89 ACC), beastliness (70 STR | 87 BTK | 90 TRK | 89 CAR | 89 SFA), and throwing (91 THP | 91 THA | 75 AWR). And of course, there was 95-OVR senior HB Aaron Holt. And a quartet of defensive backs with 96+ SPD and 90+ OVR. And....you get the idea for how loaded this Clemson team is.

So, what about the game?

Both teams started a bit slowly--a feeling out period if you will. Oh, I will. It was a 7-0 Clemson lead at the end of the 1st quarter. QB Erik Marshall got Clemson on the board with a 1-yard keeper with :22 remaining in the period. At the time, Wyoming was somewhat happy to just be making it hard on Clemson.

In the 2nd quarter, Wyoming took their next drive all the way down the field in about three minutes as QB Terry Brooks hit 6'6" WR Todd Bennett on a four-yard crossing route. Both defenses would assert themselves a bit until Clemson got another Marshall TD pass, this time to WR Jonathan Johnson. Johnson had himself a ballgame: six catches for 125 yards. The Pokes would answer with a 38-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 Clemson halftime lead. Clemson outgained Wyoming 191-146, but the Pokes were somewhat dictating the pace of the game with a 12:23-7:37 edge in T.O.P.

Coming out of halftime, Wyoming would get the ball and would press on to score a TD. Backup QB Darrin Green scored on a naked bootleg on 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard-line as Clemson was looking for the read option instead. The score gave the Pokes their first lead at 17-14.

Then one of the stranger glitches in the game cropped up on Clemson's subsequent drive. Marshall, the do-everything QB, drew Clemson inside Wyoming's 5-yard-line. And on a quick snap, Clemson's center Chase Davis treated it as a direct snap to himself and the 6'0" 278-pounder powered in for a TD as Clemson re-took the lead, 21-17, midway through the 3rd quarter. Craig Bohl was all up in the officiating crew's face as to how they could miss the oldest trick in the book and was nearly ejected.

After the 500th cutaway to that damn Howard's Rock piece of ****, Wyoming kept coming at Clemson's beleaguered defense. Kelvin Mack Jr. found the endzone on a nine-yard run with 1:53 left in the 3rd. 24-21 Pokes.

It was a glorious rushing explosion for Wyoming. Clemson came in as the 3rd-ranked rush defense in the nation (132.4 YPG), but got annihilated. WYO racked up a new season high with 346 yards on the ground on just 41 carries (8.44 YPC). The key to the performance was discovering that Clemson was quite susceptible to edge rushes. Using formation shifts, motion, zone stretches, power plays, moving TE's and WR's around like chess pieces, and heavily rotating running backs the Wyoming offense consistently found mismatches against Clemson's front seven. It was a hat on a hat over and over, play after play. HB Weldon Adler shredded Clemson with 18 carries for 158 yards; Kelvin Mack Jr. did likewise: 15 carries for 134 yards. Good thing, because the Pokes couldn't pass against Clemson to save their lives; QB Terry Brooks was bottled up, completing 13/24 for just 84 yards and a TD (105.8 QB rating).

Coach Bohl's squad would add a Joe Bennett 23-yard FG at the beginning of the 4th quarter to make it a 27-21 game on full upset alert and hold on for dear life.

After Clemson re-took the lead at 28-27 on the strength of an Aaron Holt TD run, Wyoming was almost ready to deem their performance good enough. Almost.

The visiting squad got the ball back at their own 38-yard-line with a little under two minutes and went to work, pushing back against a sea of orange and noise. The first play of the drive saw the Pokes try to exploit the off-tackle run again, but Adler was stopped for a two-yard loss. On 2nd down, Wyoming hit Clemson again with the backup QB rollout scramble play. This time for 20 yards and a 1st down. Another five yards came on a power play to Adler to the right side. Another 1st down with Mack Jr. toting the pigskin this time for six yards. Then another three yards with Adler back in. Then the key play to the whole drive, and a slight bit of trickeration.

There's plenty of tape on backup QB Darrin Green coming in for a series here or a play there and running a pretty high yielding read option. So, the tell is if Green is in, it's something like an 80% probability a run is coming. However, with Brooks in the Pokes haven't been running any option plays. With that in mind, starting QB Terry Brooks took the next snap, offered the ball to Adler, pulled the ball back out as the defense flowed to the HB, and Brooks skedaddled around RT for a 15-yard rush to the Clemson 15-yard-line. After 3rd string HB/return man Justin Lee took a carry to center the ball between the hashes, Coach Bohl called timeout with :02 left. Dabo Swinney iced the kicker. And Joe Bennett placed the 29-yarder just inside the left upright to deliver the 'W'. As Stuart Scott would say: boo ya!

Cowboy MLB Cedric Farmer made eight tackles, but the key defensive play was an interception by Tory McCollum in a 24-21 game with Clemson driving. Beware of #50 anyway.

[xboxxerx]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Very nice showing against Clemson WTNY. This might be the season that Bohl and the Pokes pull something off. Look forward to seeing how this plays out and where you guys rank after.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g7: Utah State @ #15 Wyoming

Wyoming LB Cedric Farmer (#50) makes an appearance for a defense that was otherwise on the side of a milk carton

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- The Pokes came home conquering heroes after usurping a win at Clemson. Perhaps the Pokes' defense was a little tired after rumbling with some big time talent, but the offense was more that up for preventing a let down. Wyoming continues to kick rival Utah State's fanny. A 60-42 win makes it five straight Bridger's Battle victories. Still undefeated in those home golds.

The 60 points were a season high for Wyoming, as were the 449 yards rushing and 678 yards of total offense. Wyoming hadn't scored this many points in a game since losing 67-63 to Wazzu a little over two years ago.

So where to even begin? The Pokes actually had three 100-yard rushers in this game. A dynasty first. Weldon Adler rushed 25 times for 150 yards and three TDs; Kelvin Mack Jr. carried 15 times for 192 yards and three TDs; Darrin Green had seven carries for an even 100 yards and a TD. Yup, that's seven rushing touchdowns. Wyoming broke five runs of 20+ yards, including another explosive 72-yard rush for Mack Jr. The Wyoming offensive line is the unsung MVP of this team.

The defensive side of the ball was certainly a struggle for both teams. 102 points combined.

Wyoming's defense was often caught out of position and would hold Utah State down for a play or two only to get hit with a huge play. Wyoming got beat badly on USU's 2nd score of the game, when QB Jamal Sarria connected with WR Chris Kilpatrick as the inverting coverage was exposed on a 79-yard go route. Then there was a 56-yard screen pass to HB Thomas Felder on 3rd and 19. At times, it was almost like the Aggies were trying to get into 3rd and 20 only to rip off a 50-yard conversion play. Even though the big number in this game was Wyoming's 60 points, USU put up numbers of their own. Sarria completed 25/36 for 390 yards and 3 TDs. Felder rushed 14 times for 132 yards (9.4 YPC) and a TD and caught two balls for 61 yards.

Fortunately, the Utah State QB was a bit careless with the football. Tommy Wong, Quincy Perryman, and Tory McCollum all picked him off. It's a sobering thought to think how many points Utah State might've scored otherwise. Outside linebacker Roderick Sharp contributed eight tackles and two of Wyoming's five sacks of Sarria. Star MLB Cedric Farmer also made eight tackles and deflected a pass. Good thing the Aggies activated that Big Game Skill at the beginning of this one, huh?

And while the Pokes may have gone for two in a 58-42 game with :50 left, it may have had something to do with them having about ten recruits taking their official visits to Laramie. Big recruiting haul. Seven commits. I ain't mad atcha Coach Bohl. Picture Coach Bohl rollin'.

[xboxxerx]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Lol at the closing of the post WTNY with Coach Bohl. 😂😂😂😂😂 Nice shoot out there even though it was your running game. The year is looking good so far.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Midseason Recruiting Update

The Wyoming Cowboys entered the 2021 recruiting fray as one of the bigger dogs in the Mountain West Conference. No small feat considering prospectives fully understand they're agreeing to live in Laramie for 3-4 years. As a testament to that, Coach Bohl pulled his first 4* recruit last recruiting cycle. For the present recruiting class, Coach Bohl made a hand-written shopping list that read like this: HB, WR, TE, eggs, milk, OT, C, 3 DE, DT, ginger ale, sardines, MLB, DB. Normally there will be 2-3 other spots for talents who strike coach's fancy. Long story short, Wyoming looks to take about 13 recruits in this class. The status of said efforts is shown below.

Of the 13 spaces available, the Pokes have received firm commitments from 11 youngsters, all 3* talents. Two are Top 500 recruits. One of the DBs remaining on the board will be left out, so it's a race to see who commits first.

For the most part, this is a uniformly 3* class, with a 2* Canadian OG/C prospect thrown in for good measure. GEM recruits include wild card, Mississippian Brendan Cook. Cook is a 6'5" 310-lb DT prospect who scouted up to a 75-OVR and could start as a true freshman. Wyoming line-play code dictates that he must redshirt (thou shalt not start a true freshman on the OL or DL unless injuries make it unavoidable), and this makes sense anyhow because incumbent NT Milo McNeil is only a junior. The reason that Coach Bohl has a ****-eating grin on his face is that he just had a very satisfying bowel movement. The other reason, though, is because he plucked Cook out of the Deep South before schools like Alabama, Michigan, USC, Miami, and Georgia Tech could ramp up their pursuit of the 3*. Some of Cook's most relevant scouted attributes: 82 STR | 75 ACC | 84 PWM | 78 FMV | 78 BSH | 80 PRC | 75 TAK. Oh, how he will be USER'd.

Perhaps the 2nd most intriguing talent on the board is 79-OVR JUCO 3* OG/OT prospect Alphonso Stephens. While Coach Bohl is not a fan of using precious spots on JUCO guys in most cases, this 6'5" 306-pounder from Miles City, MT was an exception that felt worthwhile. Stephens also had a schollie from Nebraska. In addition to the Huskers, Boise State (gross), Washington, Minnesota, USC, and Texas were all monitoring the situation. What likely sold Stephens on the Pokes--other than Coach Bohl's demonstrated run-heavy aspirations--was that he wanted to be near home and was essentially guaranteed to start at either guard or tackle next season. The entire left side of the offensive line is graduating (including the center), so Stephens will come right in as a starter with nice attributes: 61 SPD | 64 AGI | 91 ACC | 86 STR | 80 PBK | 86 RBK | 75 IBK. He is also the main beast of this class with a 465-lb bench and 670-lb squat.

The second of Wyoming's allotment of 2021 wild card recruits is another Mississippian, 6'5" 240-lb 3* TE Avery Bowen. Wyoming didn't add a whole lot at tight end last cycle despite graduating their top two TEs (program all-timer Alec Stewart among them). Thus, adding this #47 TE recruit was a priority for the Pokes. Bowen held a scholarship from Navy, of all places, but Auburn, Texas, Stanford, Clemson, Oklahoma, Central Michigan, and Army all had some interest as well. The main selling point for Bowen was the fact that he believes Coach Bohl is a fixture at Wyoming and he craves that stability. Although Coach Bohl would much rather redshirt a new TE recruit as a true freshman, the state of the depth chart makes that all but impossible. Bowen gemmed up 7 points upon scouting and his best selling points include: 77 SPD | 72 AGI | 74 ACC | 75 STR | 71 CTH | 67 CIT |
67 PBK | 66 RBK | 69 IBK | 81 BTK | 83 TRK.

Behold.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Lol at the closing of the post WTNY with Coach Bohl. ���������� Nice shoot out there even though it was your running game. The year is looking good so far.

Yeah, anything I can do to sprinkle in some subtle 2Pac references. I went so far as to Google Coach Bohl's wife to see if her name was "Brenda." Sadly, it's actually Leia.

I would like to get back to playing defense, but my run game has been overpowering these past 3-4 games. The schedule will be getting easier as well after Boise State, which is up next.

[xboxxerx]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Liking the Cook pick up. Haley and Manson stand out to me for your DB's. Manson is on the short side but skills can make up for that. Also interested in seeing what Warren brings to the table for you. For being a "speed back". He has good size on him at 5'11 and 200lbs. Nice class so far WTNY.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g8: Boise State @ #11 Wyoming Preview

[moose141]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

That Clemson write up was magical. BALD HEADED COACH! Hahahaha. The Howard's Rock cutaways are definitely brutal, and that Center Fumblerooski play happened to me once last year in my dynasty against North Carolina and it was infuriating. That said, glad to see that you fought through all of that adversity and came away with a win. The running game was stellar, and I love seeing Darrin Green making some huge plays; I remember when he came in as a recruit thinking that he was the truth and then got hit by that absurdly large downgrade in the offseason. He's finally made it his time to contribute and is in a big way.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g8: Boise State @ #11 Wyoming

Wyoming WR Cedric Weaver (#89) settles into a soft spot for a 5-yard TD catch right before halftime

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- They don't all have to be epic. But the hits keep coming regardless. Wyoming is now officially on fire NBA Jam-style. BOOM SHAKA-LAKA!!

Coach Bohl's student-athletes push their record to a healthy 8-0 (5-0) with a 42-30 victory over Boise State. These Pokes are not just in good shape to play for a conference title, but are threatening to crack the actual FBS Top 10.

Sure, it was a two-score margin that didn't feel particularly in doubt, but Boise State actually held a 17-14 halftime lead. Contributing to that, Wyoming turned the ball over on downs at the enemy 39-yard-line on their very first possession thanks to a comical overthrow by QB Terry Brooks. Brooks was quite horrible early (for a change). The Pokes would suffer a sack-fumble in the red zone on a later drive and another turnover on downs at Boise's 27-yard-line a bit later in the half. Being at home and doing a decent job at holding the Broncos down, there wasn't a lot of panic. Things looked uncharacteristic for this high octane offense, however.

Thankfully, Boise State was doing its best to not pull too far ahead while Wyoming worked through some things. Boise State QB Dan Horner was intercepted on two of Boise's first three drives, including on his first pass attempt of the game. The more Horner changes, the more things stay the same. Coach Bohl still has fond memories of Horner starting as a freshman and putting up 99 yards of total offense while single-handedly destroying Boise State from within. Though a 98-OVR senior now, he's still a motorboating S.O.B.

What little competent offense there was in the first half included Horner finding speedy WR Johnnie Harrington for a 27-yard TD pass for a 7-0 lead; Wyoming getting even on a 31-yard TD pass from Brooks to WR Todd Bennett; a Horner four-yard TD rush and a Boise State 46-yard FG. Of course, that was until things "clicked" for the Pokes and they rode their two-minute offense for an eight-play 85-yard drive in :42 right before halftime.

In the second half, things played more true to form as Wyoming outscored Boise State 28-13. Even those 13 points felt cheap, one TD coming on a botched coverage against a go-route and the other being a lucky strike into triple coverage and a failed two-point conversion.

Offensively, QB Terry Brooks and his run game rounded into form quite nicely. Brooks shook off a shaky start to end the day completing 17/25 for 295 yards and two TDs against no picks (192.5 QB rating). HB Weldon Adler continued his march toward some special things; he cracked 1,000 rushing yards on the season after 24 more carries for 153 yards and two TDs. The former-ATH-turned-WR-turned-HB has a near slam dunk of a chance to erase the Wyoming career rushing record and write his name instead. Sort of improbable for a 243-pound bald white guy named "Weldon" from Lander, WY who has played multiple positions, but a very productive player indeed. Adler has 187 carries for 1,014 rushing yards (5.42 YPC) and 13 TDs (and a healthy amount of #45 pics going over the pylon) thru eight games.

Kelvin Mack Jr. continued his good play with 15 carries for 87 yards for the Pokes; Darrin Green toted six times for 41 yards and a touchdown. Green's four-yard TD run (the first of four 2nd half TD rushes for various Wyoming running backs) put Wyoming ahead 21-17 never to relinquish the lead.

Star linebacker Cedric Farmer didn't necessarily have an off game, but he was a bit quieter than usual. Farmer notched seven tackles and nothing else. Still, 71 tackles | 8 tfls | 4 sacks | 1 INT isn't exactly bad for the 97-OVR 'backer thru eight games. So, you should beware of him. And his number is fifty.

[xboxxerx]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Nice game WTNY. Brooks is looking really good. Ever think of having Adler do both WR and RB?

[WaitTilNextYear]

2021g9: #8 Wyoming @ Air Force Preview