Fall Camp Central
The Cowboys opened the third week of fall camp on Monday morning with a full padded practice inside War Memorial Stadium.
The Cowboys worked on their two minute offense to close out the day. Both the offense and defense triumphed during the important reps. Wyoming also worked on the kicking game on Monday with live kicking drills during practice.
Practice Notes
- The defensive line continued to ramp up the pressure on Monday. Sophomore defensive end Josiah Hall was in the backfield along with juniors Carl Granderson and Kevin Prosser among others. The Cowboy defensive line recorded 20 sacks a season ago.
- The Cowboy wide receivers continued to haul in passes as well. In a red zone team drill junior Josh Allen connected with redshirt freshman Dontae Crow and sophomore Austin Conway. Later in practice during a two-minute drill Allen found freshman Jared Scott, who made a one handed grab inside the five yard line.
- Running backs junior Nico Evans and sophomore Milo Hall continued their progression on Monday. Both runners found nice holes during the team session of practice.
- The Cowboys depth in the defensive backfield continues to grow with each practice. Esaias Gandy, a true freshman from Aurora, Colo. (Denver South) continues to impress. He made a diving interception off of a tipped pass during the team portion of practice.
- The Cowboys once again worked on their two-minute drill on Monday. Sophomore linebacker Logan Wilson made a nice interception, as he recorded three a season ago. Junior quarterback Nick Smith hooked up with Tyree Mayfield on an impressive 40 yard touchdown pass. Practice closed with Jared Scott’s one handed catch from Allen followed by a field goal from sophomore Cooper Rothe.
Quoting the Coach (Quotes from Head Coach Craig Bohl)
“Nick Smith is throwing the ball a lot better,” Bohl said after practice. “Jared Scott made a great play late in practice. We are in the process of deciding whether to play him or redshirt him. Some of that will be unfolding the next several practices. None the less we did some good things today. We will continue to work in some of our young defensive players. We are about done adding all of our offense, defense and kicking game. We just need to refine some things.”
Who is in the mix at tight end for the Cowboys alongside your returners?
“Sam Maughan is definitely in the mix,” Bohl said. “We have great depth at tight end and these guys are really playing well.”
How is the competition at backup quarterback?
“Right now Nick (Smith) has done a good job and has a pretty good command of the offense,” Bohl said. “We are working Tyler (Vander Waal) in and seeing where he is at. He certainly has tremendous physical abilities and we are pleased with that. Nick is a bright guy and it may be hard to unseed him, but we will continue to look at that.”
The media stated that wide receiver James Price has taken over a leadership role according to wide receivers coach Mike Grant. Bohl agreed with the statement.
“I think that is accurate,” Bohl said. “James (Price) has always been a contentious player. When you look around the room and you see some senior players that have gone and who will become a leader. James is very competent and he works hard and has a good influence on other players.”
The media also asked about Cooper Rothe’s progression.
“He has been kicking really well,” Bohl said. “We did some live kicking action today and we will look at the tape. We are pleased with his field goal kicking and his kickoffs.”
Position-by-Position
Defensive Backs
Another area of the Wyoming defense that returns a great deal of experience is the secondary. Every Cowboy who started a game at cornerback or safety in the 2016 season returns, including the junior safety tandem of Andrew Wingard and Marcus Epps. The tandem has started the last 24 consecutive games together, with Wingard starting 25 straight and Epps starting 24 in a row. Providing additional quality depth at safety is sophomore Alijah Halliburton, who played in all 14 games in 2016 as a true freshman and had an outstanding spring.
The depth is even more impressive at cornerback, where senior Robert Priester came out of spring practice No. 1 at one corner spot and sophomore Tyler Hall was listed atop the other cornerback position. Priester has started 19 career games, and Hall was a valuable special teams performer as a true freshman last season. Also returning is senior Rico Gafford, who started all 14 games in 2016 after arriving at UW from Iowa Western Community College, and junior Antonio Hull, who started 11 of 14 games as a sophomore in 2016 and has 20 career starts to his credit.
“I feel really good about the safety spot,” said Bohl. “Andrew Wingard and Marcus Epps are good players, very experienced and provide us a lot of leadership. The other young player who I thought showed great promise during the course of spring was Alijah Halliburton. He has really good tackling ability and good range.
“At the corner position, Robert Priester has played a lot of football here. He’s anchoring down one side, and Tyler Hall is anchoring down the other side. Tyler, who will only be a sophomore this year, really made a lot of plays from the cornerback position after we watched all the tape from spring ball.”
“Antonio Hull has also played a lot for us and will be competing for playing time, as will Rico Gafford. We are better and deeper at the corner position than we’ve ever been.”
