Keegan Cryder wasn't sure that it was going to work.

He wanted to play football at Wyoming and he wanted to study engineering.  During some of his early days on the Laramie campus when he wondered if it was all going to work out.

"I came here weighing 240 pounds as an offensive lineman, and was trying to put on another 60," the junior from Littleton, Colo., says. "I knew I would be looking at a new position.  I was in a math class that I had never heard of.  It was pretty taxing.  But I can't tell you how glad I am that I've stuck with it.  I love the football experience and I've made so many good friends in engineering who I know are rooting for me."  

Cryder is a special guy. He is highly successful on the football field, and in the class room. He balances everything beautifully. Not only did he move from offensive guard to center without having ever played the position, but he has started 23 straight games there and is a candidate for the Rimington Trophy honoring college football's best center.  He makes all of the line calls for the Cowboys.  Did I mention he's a team captain too?

Playing center is not all that difficult when you compare it to juggling the daily football routine with an academic schedule in the College of Engineering.  Keegan is in his third year of Engineering school.  

"It's a challenge," he says.  "You spend six or seven hours at the (football) facility, then attack the academic side of things.  The fact that so much of it has to be virtual makes it an even bigger challenge.  I think for a lot of us it has been difficult to grasp concepts virtually.  But I think it's just as hard for our professors to teach it.  It's tough on all of us.

"But you don't grow unless you are challenged.  It boils down to this, are you just interested, or are you committed."

Keegan is concentrating on civil engineering, and is leaning toward the management area. "The beauty of engineering is that you have the luxury of going into many different areas.  

"I want to build things," he says.  "My football experience, and especially as a captain, has given me confidence to lead a management team.  Every time I go into the HAPC (High Altitude Performance Center) I think about what a great project this would have been to work on.  They did such a great job with it.  I think it would be fun to get up in the morning with the passion for doing a project like that.  I want to build things that will benefit people, have an impact on a lot of people.  It would be terrific if that impact was on student-athletes."

Currently, there are eight Cowboys on the football roster who are in engineering, one architectural, two chemical, two mechanical, two petroleum and Keegan in civil. That is impressive!

While his size would indicate that he was destined to be a lineman, Keegan did compete in other sports.  While he may not have always been the heaviest in class, he was certainly one of the tallest. He played in the interior line on both sides of the ball in high school.  But he also played rugby up until his sophomore year, and basketball.  

"I loved rugby because they actually gave big guys an opportunity to carry the ball.  That's not going to happen in the game of football.  But I quit playing rugby after my sophomore year of school to concentrate on football. By the way I did try basketball for awhile, but I kept fouling out," he laughs.

Keegan started getting a lot of looks from colleges and university during his junior year as an offensive lineman, but he was on the lighter side.

"I was a 240-pound tackle who knew I would have to add weight if wanted to play college ball."

While he thought his natural collegiate position would be guard, when he came to Wyoming he was moved to scout-team tackle, and asked to put on weight. 

"I was just happy to be involved, but the weight-gain was tough." he says. "It had to be an experience to follow me or any of us (offensive linemen) around the grocery store.  The first thing I'd grab when I get into the store is a big bag of bagels.

"When you hear this you have to understand that my goal was to add 60 pounds," he continues.  "But I would have a huge breakfast, followed by two bagels and a protein shake.  Then in the afternoon at our position meeting I'd be eating more bagels.  I'd have a huge dinner, and then two more bagels and a shake.  Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night, and I'd have a half-eaten bagel sitting on my chest."

At his largest, Cryder weighed 320 pounds.  At the present time he's around the 310 mark.

"I don't think bodies were made to weigh 320," he chuckles.      

Keegan is as surprised as anyone that he ended up playing center. "I never dreamed I would be a center," he says. "I'd never snapped the ball in my life when one day the coaches said they wanted to take a look at me at center."

He was happy to help, so he moved to the position during the 2018 season as a redshirt freshman.  That was his Mr. Versatile season.  He started the first four games of that year at guard--three at left and one at right guard.  He moved to center in game five and never left.  He started the final eight games of the season there.  He was named a Freshman All-America by the Football Writers Association of American, and was named to the Mountain West Academic All-Conference team.

As a sophomore in 2019, he was the anchor of the offensive line, starting all 12 games at center.  During the entire season, he allowed just one sack and was called for one penalty over more than over 800 snaps!  Remarkable.

"Believe me, each of the positions have their challenges, and their benefits," he says.  Playing tackle and trying to block those quick and athletic defensive ends is not an easy job.

"Making the line calls, snapping the ball and getting your blocks is not easy either.  Making line calls is stressful, and I make mistakes sometimes.  But I really love the challenge of doing all of those things."

In his view, what's the biggest challenge for a center? "The position requires a lot of calmness.  You can't lose your head.  There are defenses we've faced that give you a lot of different looks, all designed to confuse.  The guy making the line calls can't afford to lose it, to panic.  He has to be under control.  I really like that about my position.  Having played it for as long as I have, I really appreciate those who play that position."

There's no hesitation with Keegan when asked whether he would rather run block or pass block.

"Run block," he says.  "As they say moving somebody from point A to point B against his will is fun to do.  Offensive lineman move people, that's what we do. That's what makes it is so much fun.  Pass blocking is a different deal, and the toughest thing for an offensive lineman to do in my opinion."

It's obviously been a tough start for the Cowboys especially after they entered the season with such high expectations.  The Cowboys are 1-2 and have had two games cancelled.  Everyone is hoping they have the opportunity to play this week.  The Pokes are scheduled to play UNLV at Vegas on Friday.

"It's been tough, especially the CSU loss," Cryder says.  "That's a game that means a tremendous amount to all of Wyoming, not just us.  It's really important to everyone, so it's hard to lose that boot.  That's why we really want to play another game, get the bad taste out of our mouths.  But we haven't been able to do that, and it's really been frustrating."

Understandably, Keegan is very proud of appearing on the Rimington Trophy Watch List. The Trophy has been presented annually since 2000.  "I know there are a lot of outstanding centers in collegiate football so I'm just proud to be mentioned, and that all the hard work is being noticed."

Cryder would love to follow in the footsteps of Chase Roullier, the Cowboys' center who now plays for the Washington Redskins.  "That's the dream," he says.  

He certainly has something to fall back on if that doesn't work out.  Whether he's playing in the NFL, or building an athletic complex, he's going to be very good at it.