LARAMIE – For the first time in a decade, Craig Bohl was not on the field for the start of fall camp at Wyoming.
 
If the program's longtime head coach were in attendance he would have said: "We look better on the hoof."
 
The 2024 Cowboys are bigger, faster and stronger than last year's team, which closed out the Bohl era with nine wins.
 
Eric Donoval, UW's director of sports performance for football, said offensive players added a combined 437 pounds and defensive players added a combined 346 pounds since the veterans returned in January for the winter strength and conditioning program. After arriving on campus in June the incoming freshmen added a combined 105 pounds.
 
During summer workouts nine different players reached 22 mph on their GPS trackers, 27 eclipsed 21 mph and 46 hit 20 mph.
 
"I'm happy with the football team," first-year head coach Jay Sawvel said after Wednesday's practice, which was split between War Memorial Stadium and the Indoor Practice Facility. "One of the things we talked about was practice one of fall camp we had to be a better football team than what we were practice 14 or 15 of spring ball. I felt today we were in that regard.
 
"There were a lot of good things, so we didn't have to start over and take six practices to get back on track. That's a big key."
 
All eyes during the practice, which Sawvel opened to the media, were on starting quarterback Evan Svoboda. There are lofty internal expectations for the 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior as the new No. 17 leads new offensive coordinator Jay Johnson's attack.
 
"It went pretty well," Svoboda said during the post-practice stretch before conducting a series of interviews with local reporters. "Shaking a little rust off."
 
Svoboda has some dynamic weapons to utilize this fall, led by tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, who checked into camp at 247 pounds and is expected to be targeted more after finishing with 13 catches for 360 yards and three touchdowns last season.
 
"He's revving," starting running back Harrison Waylee, who has added 15 pounds of muscle to his frame since last season, said of Svoboda. "He just wants it all, he's ready to play, ready to lead. I understand people are comparing him to Josh Allen, but he's his own person. He's going to go out there and show everyone what he can do. …
 
"I think John Mike is a robot. He's freakishly strong, he's the perfect size, NFL caliber and, wow, he's going to be really good. I'm glad he's somebody that is on our team and not somebody else's team."
 
Waylee and wide receivers Alex Brown, Chris Durr Jr., Tyler King, Will Pelissier and Jaylen Sargent are members of UW's 22 mph club.
 
Sawvel noted that hiring UW legend Jovon Bouknight as an offensive analyst to assist wide receivers coach Mike Grant allows the staff to have well-trained eyes on the skill players when the team is doing double-reps on two different fields.
 
"I do know watching (Donoval) and the early runs that these guys are rolling," Bouknight said on the One Wyoming Podcast. "These guys are upbeat, they're doing extra work, you can see it on the side. These guys are putting in the time, they're investing the time to be great. Somewhere along the line, I imagine it started with Coach Bohl, but Coach Sawvel is doing the right things, man. He's got these guys believing, he's got these guys invested and obviously they have phenomenal resources there that complement them.
 
"I think this team is going to be really, really good. That's not just me saying it, that's me being from different programs and just seeing what it looks like right before fall camp. And it looks really good."
 
Dawaiian McNeely, who missed the entire 2023 season with a torn ACL, participated in Wednesday's practice. Sawvel said the bruising senior running back will not be rushed back with Waylee, Jamari Ferrell and Sam Scott all returning and the addition of explosive North Carolina transfer DJ Jones.
 
"Dawaiian has come along to a good place right now," Sawvel said. "I know he's a really good football player and I know he's a guy that can help us. But we've also got Harrison, DJ, Jamari, Sam Scott."
 
UW's defense also had a highly productive offseason with some established players making significant gains in the weight room.
 
Defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole, a preseason all-Mountain West team selection, is at 295 pounds after starting the 2023 season at 287 pounds. Junior defensive ends Sabastian Harsh (251 pounds) and Braden Siders (252 pounds) are up a combined 26 pounds since last season when they played through nagging injuries. Senior safety Wyett Ekeler is up from 197 to 210 pounds.
 
"I think a big component is the structured top-down accountability with meals and treatment and all those kind of things," Donoval said. "Skipping meals, I can probably count on one hand the amount of missed meals we had throughout the whole summer. The nutrition side certainly helps aid what we do."
 
Right now, the only number Sawvel cares about is practice No. 2.
 
"We just go one day at a time, so when we go out there (Thursday) we've got to play better, execute cleaner, play faster, be able to do it the whole length of the practice," Sawvel said. "Then the same thing on Friday and the same thing on Saturday."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.