LARAMIE – The offseason hay is in the barn.
 
Wyoming's roster was strengthened in December and January. The winter strength and conditioning program created camaraderie and momentum that carried through a productive spring.
 
Third-year head coach Jay Sawvel "took a blowtorch" to the offensive side of the ball, which is now coordinated by former Buffalo Bills assistant Christian Taylor.
 
The pieces are in place for defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl's unit to build on one of the Mountain West's best defensive performances from last season.
 
Over the next month it's time for the Cowboys to put in the work required for a breakthrough season, which kicks off with the Border War on Sept. 5 at Colorado State.
 
Fall camp began Wednesday with an early breakfast before meetings, walkthroughs and a spirited two-hour practice.
 
"This team was really excited to get on the field, so that's a big positive right away," Sawvel said. "From walkthrough this morning to meetings to everything about it. I really appreciated this football team throughout the course of the entire offseason.
 
"One thing that kind of stands out for us as coaches, me as a head coach and just talking to people that are out there, we're a lot better-looking football team in a number of positions."
 
Since January, as a collective, the team has gained 720 pounds of muscle and lost 400 pounds of fat, which is a credit to director of sports performance Eric Donoval, director of performance dietetics Kevin Goff and their staff.
 
UW's offensive line depth is a little thin entering camp with Brandt Rice, Nathan Geiger and Jake Davies out with injuries and Chandler Donaway away from the team for personal reasons.
 
Freshman quarterback Taylor Hasselbeck will miss the season with a torn ACL, but junior Landon Sims is running faster than he did a year ago despite tearing an ACL in November against San Diego State.
 
Tyler Hughes has added 20 pounds to his frame since arriving in Laramie in January from William & Mary. Last season he passed for 2,330 yards with 20 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 670 yards and 11 touchdowns.
 
Hughes, Sims and redshirt freshman Mason Drube give Sawvel three dual-threat options to run Taylor's scheme. UW also added freshman signal caller Tyler Franklin.
 
"There's going to be a battle for everything that we do," Sawvel said. "(Hughes) had a really good spring and put himself in a very good position to be the starting quarterback, but he better play well in fall camp because there's other guys that are going to try to take that spot."
 
Samuel "Tote" Harris, perhaps the fastest player on the team, was back at full speed after being limited in the spring. Markell Holman and Nico Hamilton also looked strong at running back.
 
Tight ends Jake Wilson, Kyle Frendt and Landon Pace were consistently getting open and making catches in team periods.
 
Eric Richardson and Jackson Holman are leading the wide receiver group. Sawvel is also confident in Charlie Coenen and Justin Popovich, while adding these next three weeks will be an opportunity for gifted young targets Deion DeBlanc, Ke'Lyn Washom and Pierre "PJ" Jackson to make their mark.
 
"We're fortunate we've got a couple of backs with great ball skills, we've got a couple of tight ends with great ball skills," Sawvel said. "With that receiving group, we need some guys to step forward. I'm confident based on what I've seen from them in the summer and how they've worked."
 
UW has a trio of dominant defensive tackles in Jayden Williams, Dante Drake and Caleb Robinson. Establishing a pecking order behind them will be important after last year's defense experienced significant attrition at the position.
 
Defensive ends Esaia Bogar, Jack Dunkley and Donnie Wingate looked dangerous crashing the pocket from the edge. Linebacker is a strength with Ethan Stuhlsatz and Gary Rutherford leading the way with the first-team unit.
 
The Pokes are also solid at safety with the return of Jones Thomas, the dramatic improvement of Brooklyn Cheek and the addition of Colorado State transfer Jett Vincent. Desman Hearns has a chance to be an all-conference selection at nickel back.
 
The cornerbacks are talented but young, with freshman Kendall Griffin and Tyson Shamsid-Deen getting important reps.
 
"If you want to have a good defense and a good team you have to have a good, strong front line. I feel like we have that this year," Drake said. "It definitely starts with us and we have to bear that burden and keep pushing. … Right now, the only thing that can stop us is us. We just have to keep pushing every day."
 
Between lunch and dinner, the Cowboys met for position meetings. In the evening, more special teams work, another team walkthrough and individual unit walkthroughs are on the docket.
 
Then rinse, repeat on day two.
 
"This football team is in a good spot," Sawvel said. "I thought today's practice tempo-wise was good. Obviously, we want to keep that tempo. I think our players have done a good job through the course of the offseason of keeping up with what we need to be doing offensively and defensively and that showed today."
 
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.
 
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