Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 11, 2023) -- The Wyoming Cowboys will conduct their first major scrimmage of 2023 Fall Camp on Saturday morning Aug. 12 in War Memorial Stadium. It will also be the 10th practice of the fall for the Pokes, marking the midway point of 20 fall practices leading up to game week versus Texas Tech. Saturday's scrimmage will be closed to the public.
Head coach
Craig Bohl met with media after Friday's practice to talk about what he has seen thus far in fall practices and what he hopes to see in Saturday's scrimmage. Before he commented on the scrimmage, he delivered some sad news regarding a knee injury to junior running back
Dawaiian McNeely. McNeely injured his knee in this past Wednesday's practice and had an MRI shortly after that.
"It's a torn ACL," said Bohl. "Dawaiian (McNeely) will be done for the year, so a major surgery. We were concerned about that. We're going to support him. He'll get his surgery, will get into rehab and hopefully he'll be back for next year."
Running Backs
McNeely was Wyoming's projected starter at running back entering fall camp. With him out, Bohl said that he and his coaching staff were in the process of evaluating the remaining talent at the running back position.
"We're working through all that right now," said Bohl. "
D.Q. (James) has done some things well. He's not quite 100 percent. We think he will be. He's been slowed by some rehab, but he's making some progress. I think
Jamari (Ferrell) is doing some good things as is
Sam Scott. I was encouraged to see
Harrison (Waylee) run up and down the field today. I think he was running up to 3,000 yards today. Whether we'd have him for the first game or not I think is somewhat doubtful. But we're going to get a couple guys ready to play against (Texas) Tech."
When asked if he still felt good about the depth at the running back position, Bohl replied, "When you lose a player like Dawaiian, who we were counting on, that is a concern. It's less than ideal, but it's not like we're going to alter our offense. I think we have a pretty deep group of running backs and we'll sort those out. I think Harrison (Waylee) has got excellent ability and we're finding out more about Jamari (Ferrell). D.Q. (James) has done some good things. L.J. (Richardson) and
Sam Scott are working hard.
"A lot of those guys are going to be able to show what they can do as a running back in Saturday's scrimmage. You can practice all you want but who can break a tackle, who can make somebody miss, who goes down on the first contact. It will start separating itself out."
Saturday's Scrimmage
Wyoming's 10th-year head coach broke down the scrimmage plan for media and provided an idea of what he hoped to see on Saturday.
"We will scrimmage 84 plays tomorrow," said Bohl. "I want to see who can make plays, who can finish off that last 10 percent, who can finish off a block, who can get off a block, who can tackle, who can come up with a contested catch, who can knock the ball down. All those fundamental things. It won't be a deal where we're trying to out scheme one side of the ball or the other."
Some time will also be set aside on Saturday for special teams work.
"We're going to do some live kicks and start to work on our kickoff coverage, kickoff returns, punting, punt return and punt block," said Bohl. "Practice helps, but there's nothing like the exposure of a special teams' play when it's in wide-open space. It's the most challenging thing we have in college football. Until you do that (special teams) live it's hard to evaluate. We can get some gauge on kicks.
John (Hoyland) has been kicking well. He hit a 57-yarder (field goal) yesterday.
Clayton (Stewart) has been punting the ball well, and
Carson (York) has been snapping the ball well. But as far as the coverage units, it's going to be so important tomorrow to get some live work."
Quarterback Competition
In terms of the quarterback competition, graduate
Andrew Peasley returns this season as the projected starter for the second consecutive season. Sophomore
Evan Svoboda entered fall camp listed No. 2 on the depth chart ahead of last year's backup, junior
Jayden Clemons, meaning that Svoboda has received more reps this fall. Bohl was asked if he has seen Svoboda's development accelerate because of those increased reps.
"The guys have really worked hard," said Bohl. "It's not that we don't like Jayden (Clemons), but he had such a library of experience last year that we decided to tilt the rep count for Evan (Svoboda) this fall. He's much further along than where he was. He has always had a strong arm, but I think he's learning to play quarterback better."
Strength up the Middle
Along with having Peasley back as the Cowboys' starting quarterback again this year, Bohl was asked the significance of also having starting center
Nofoafia Tulafono returning.
"Continuity comes into play," said Bohl. "It's kind of like in baseball -- if you're strong up the middle you have a shot to be pretty good. Certainly that experience and continuity is going to be important for us."
Defensive End Depth
Wyoming returns three talented defensive ends in junior
DeVonne Harris and sophomores
Sabastian Harsh and
Braden Siders. Harsh is not practicing currently due to having a minor surgical procedure to clean up a knee, but is expected back before the season opener. After those three, there are a couple young players who are battling to earn playing time at the defensive end rotation.
"
Tyce (Westland, sophomore) is a guy we're taking a look at and
Kevin (Sjogren, redshirt freshman)," said Bohl. "Those are going to be the next guys up. I think we have three really consistent players (Harris, Harsh and Siders). We're looking to solidify who our fourth and our fifth guys are because at that position, you play a lot of guys."
Next Practice
The Cowboys will conduct their first major scrimmage of the fall on Saturday morning in War Memorial Stadium. The scrimmage is closed to the public.
Tickets to the 2023 Season
Fans interested in purchasing tickets to the 2023 Wyoming Football season may: go online at www.GoWyo.com/tickets; email tickets@uwyo.edu; call the UW Athletics Ticket Office at (307) 766-7220; or stop by the ticket office on the west side of UW's Arena-Auditorium. Season tickets start as low as $170 and single-game tickets start as low as $20 for adults.
2023 University of Wyoming Football Fall Practice Schedule
(This Schedule is Tentative and Subject to Change)
•Fall Practices are Closed to Media and the General Public
•Requested Players and Coaches Will be Available for
Media Interviews After Monday, Wednesday and Friday Practices
in the High-Altitude Performance Center (HAPC) Team Room
•Contact the Wyoming Athletics Media Relations staff for information on when practices will end each Mon., Wed. and Fri.
Sat., Aug. 12 10:40 a.m. (Practice #10, Closed Scrimmage, War Memorial Stadium)
Mon., Aug. 14 9:50 a.m. (Practice #11, Full Pads, War Memorial Stadium)
Tue., Aug. 15 9:20 a.m. (Practice #12, 1/2 Pads, North 40)
Wed., Aug. 16 MEDIA DAY, Noon (Lunch in Wildcatter Stadium Club & Suites
followed by Player and Coach Interviews in Indoor Practice Facility)
Thu., Aug. 17 9:00 a.m. (Practice #13, 1/2 Pads, War Memorial Stadium)
Fri., Aug. 18 10:00 a.m. (Practice #14, Full Pads, North 40)
Sat., Aug. 19 10:50 a.m. (Practice #15, Closed Scrimmage, War Memorial Stadium)
Mon., Aug. 21 9:40 a.m. (Practice #16, 1/2 Pads, North 40)
Tue., Aug. 22 10:30 a.m. (Practice #17, Full Pads, Practice Field South of War Memorial Fieldhouse)
Wed., Aug. 23 No Practice
Thu., Aug. 24 9:50 a.m. (Practice #18, Spiders, War Memorial Stadium)
Fri., Aug. 25 9:30 a.m. (Practice #19, 1/2 Pads, War Memorial Stadium)
Sat., Aug. 26 12:15 p.m. (Practice #20, Full Pads, War Memorial Stadium)
Mon., Aug. 28 Noon, First Weekly Press Conference, Location High Altitude Performance Center Team Room
•Each weekly Monday press conference will begin at Noon with Head Coach Craig Bohl
•From 12:20-2:15, Player and Coach Interviews in High Altitude Performance Center Team Room
Sat., Sept. 2 5:30 p.m., M.T. Texas Tech at Wyoming (Season Opener in Laramie, Wyo., televised on CBS)
