Fall Camp Central
The Wyoming Cowboys conducted their first full-padded practice of fall camp on Friday. Along with a more physical practice, there were two periods of Friday’s practice where the score was kept between the offense and defense.
In a third down and long period, the defense pulled out a narrow 7-6 win over the offense. The Cowboy defenders prevented the offense from gaining a first down on seven possessions, while the offense converted six third-down plays into first downs. Following that, a one-on-one tackling “Challenge” drill saw the defense win again by one point, 5 to 4. The most memorable matchup in the “Challenge” drill came when freshman offensive center Logan Harris from Torrington, Wyo., was matched up against freshman defensive tackle Javaree Jackson of Wauwatosa, Wis. Harris was given the ball to try and gain a first down, with Jackson’s challenge being to tackle Harris one-on-one before he gained the first down. The two were locked in a stalemate for a few seconds before Harris broke through, with both the offense and defense cheering on the two freshmen. Combining the scores from the two periods, the defense won 12-10 and earned the right to have ice cream bars on Friday evening.
After the conclusion of Friday’s practice, head coach Craig Bohl was asked what it meant to him to see that the Cowboys received votes in the 2017 Amway Coaches Preseason Poll that was announced yesterday. Wyoming was included among the other teams receiving votes in the first coaches poll of the season. The Cowboys received a total of nine points in the preseason poll.
“I think it is an indication of where we ended last year, and also is an indication of where we are at as a program. It’s a start,” said Bohl. “I think we’re now on the radar nationally. But last year we weren’t on the radar, and we had a good year. What is really going to be important is we have to take one day at a time, but I think it is rewarding to see that we are garnering some national interest.”
Here are some other highlights from Friday’s practice, along with additional quotes from the head coach.
Friday’s Practice Notes
•Several big plays in Friday’s practice were made by Wyoming natives. Former Sheridan Broncs Dontae Crow and Riley Sessions both factored into big plays. Crow, a redshirt freshman wide receiver, had multiple catches throughout the two-and-a-half hour practice. Sessions, a redshirt freshman free safety, intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown during the final team period of practice.
•Gillette, Wyoming’s own Austin Fort continues to have a strong fall camp at tight end. The junior has emerged as a favorite target of Cowboy quarterback Josh Allen this past week. Fellow junior tight ends Josh Harshman, from Casper, Wyo., and Tyree Mayfield, from St. Joseph, Mo., were also both seen making catches downfield on Friday.
•Freshman cornerback C.J. Coldon , from Belleville, Ill., made back-to-back big plays in the third-down competition between the defense and the offense. He intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown and then broke up a pass in the offense’s final third-down attempt to help give the defense the 7-6 win.
•Senior strong-side linebacker/nickel back Jalen Ortiz was signaled out on multiple occasions by Cowboy coaches on Friday for his strong play. Ortiz transferred from UCLA prior to the 2015 season. After sitting out the 2015 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, Ortiz played in all 14 games for the Cowboys in 2016, primarily on special teams.
•Two Cowboy seniors returned to practice on a limited basis Friday. Fullback Drew Van Maanen was allowed to begin running after suffering a hamstring strain earlier in the week. Nose tackle Sidney Malauulu was suited up again and participated on a limited basis as he works his way back from a back strain.
•Sophomore defensive end @Shil was in street clothes Friday. Bohl announced to media that Windsor was going through concussion protocol.
Quoting the Coach (Quotes from Head Coach Craig Bohl)
“It was a good first day in full pads,” said Bohl. “We worked on third-down situations, and put some pressure on the line of scrimmage. I saw some encouraging things out of that, but we’ll take a look at the tape.
“We also did some full-speed tackling drills, and we were able to come through today without any injuries. You always kind of hold your breath as a head coach when you tackle full-speed, but we need to see how our players perform in those situations and you’re not going to really test that until you do some live work. We’re taking a workmanlike attitude here to continue to mold this football team to get better.
“A couple young guys that we’re taking a hard look at are Patrick Arnold, who is a true freshman (center) that we’re looking at in the offensive line, and Avante’ Cox (true freshman wide receiver) is showing some good things. We’re also taking a look at Ravontae Holt (true freshman defensive tackle) as a depth guy in the defensive line. That is an indication -- one -- that we think they are pretty good players and -- two -- we probably don’t have as much depth at those positions as we’d like.
“I thought Josh (Allen) threw the ball well again today, and a couple of receivers made some big plays.”
Asked About Who He Thought Won the Day Between the Offense and the Defense
“We kept score and the defense won, so they get ice cream bars tonight, including the coaches,” said Bohl. “I decided I’m a defensive coach today.”
Bohl was Asked if it was a Fun Day for the Coaches to Finally Get to See the Freshmen in Full Pads
“It is really enjoyable, and the one thing you can always count on is you’re going to have a couple surprises,” said Bohl. “What’s important though is we really believe in this freshman class. How many we play and how many we redshirt, it’s too early to tell. But I think the arrow is significantly pointed up with this group.”
With the Depth at Cornerback, Bohl was Asked if There was Much of a Gap Between the No. 1s and No. 2s on the Depth Chart
“Great question. It’s pretty close,” said Bohl. “One thing that we believe in is the competition when you go out there on the practice field each day is really important. Depth at that position is going to be important. The best pep talk I can ever give is ‘hey, one guy isn’t doing the job, put the other guy in.’ There is open competition, and we’re evaluating that every day and every play.”
Position-by-Position
Linebackers
Young Linebacking Corps Led by Sophomore Logan Wilson
Leading the way for the Wyoming linebacking corps this season will be 2016 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year Logan Wilson. Wilson also earned Freshman All-America honors in 2016 from both the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and USA Today. He played weak-side linebacker as a freshman. This past spring, Wilson moved to middle linebacker. He was recently selected to the 2017 Preseason All-Mountain West team in voting by conference media members.
He will be joined by fellow sophomore Cassh Maluia, who started the final two games of his true freshman season at strong-side linebacker. Maluia also switched positions in 2017 spring practice, taking over Wilson’s weak-side spot. The strong-side linebacker/nickel position has senior Jalen Ortiz atop the depth chart entering fall camp. Ortiz has the ability to play both the strong-side backer spot and nickel back in passing situations.
Junior Adam Pilapil is listed No. 2 behind Wilson at middle linebacker. Another junior, Chavez Pownell Jr., is listed as the backup at the strong-side spot behind Ortiz. Sophomore Ben Wisdorf came out of spring as the back-up behind Maluia at weak-side linebacker.
“The linebacker crew is a little bit young, but we think we have some good athleticism there,” said Bohl.
“We moved Logan Wilson from the WILL to the MIKE position in the Tampa-2 defense, which is such an important position. He did some really good things this spring, but he is still learning and it will be helpful for him to have a good fall camp to make that transition. Logan of course had an outstanding redshirt freshman season a year ago for us.
“Cassh Maluia has done some really good things at the weak-side spot.
“Jalen Ortiz is a senior who has played a lot of different positions. He is a smart player, and we believe he can play both strong-side linebacker and stay on the field as our nickel. Jalen has the lead at the position heading into fall camp.
“Adam Pilapil is a guy who can play multiple linebacker positions. He is an intelligent player, and that allows us to move him around where needed.
“We’re pleased where we’re at in terms of the talent and intelligence of the players we have at the linebacker positions, but we have some unproven players and players playing different spots than they did in the past. Losing two senior leaders like Lucas (Wacha) and D.J. (May) is never easy, but we like the mix of young talent we have at linebacker.”The Wyoming Cowboys conducted their first full-padded practice of fall camp on Friday. Along with a more physical practice, there were two periods of Friday’s practice where the score was kept between the offense and defense.
