2011 Wyoming Cowboys Football Preview

The Wyoming Cowboys were dealt an unexpected blow just weeks into the offseason as starting quarterback and former Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year Austin Carta-Samuels announced his intention to transfer from the school. In the midst of rebuilding the Wyoming football program, head coach Dave Christensen took the news hard. With spring practice complete, the third-year head coach sounds cautiously optimistic that the Cowboys may have finally turned a corner offensively. Yet, that public profession of confidence can’t really mask the deeper reality of the situation in Laramie. There was a mindset and an expectation established in the state where the University of Wyoming is the only sports show in the area. Christensen is hard at work making adjustments, but hustle and sweat on the part of a coaching staff will only matter so much if a trigger man under center isn’t up to the task. That’s part of the cold, hard reality of big-time college football: Coaches make a huge difference, but unless you’re a blue-chip program that can easily stockpile elite talent, the loss of a player at a key position is something that won’t be surmounted.

The race to replace Carta-Samuels remains open, and will for the duration of August camp according to Christensen. Vying for the position are true freshman Brett Smith and redshirt freshman Emory Miller. Both had successful spring camps and have the Wyoming faithful at least somewhat encouraged about the state of the offense. The 2010 Cowboys struggled to score, putting up under 20 points per game… and that was with Carta-Samuels leading the charge. Whoever survives the quarterback battle will look to running back Alvester Alexander for support. Wide receiver Robert Herron showed the ability to make plays in spring camp. As a connoisseur and practitioner of the spread offense, Christiansen has mentioned on numerous occasions that he finally feels he has the personnel to properly run his system. Again, though, he might be engaging in an act of public-relations spin, a bit of damage control to soothe nerves around the program.

The defense will try to bounce back from a poor 2010 campaign which saw the Cowboys give up 30 points per game. Defensive end Gabe Knapton and a bevy of upperclassmen will give at least some help to the Cowboys as they try to right the ship  on defense.

The schedule should give the Cowboys a chance to start the season off on proper footing. Two FCS clubs, Weber State and Texas State, come to Laramie to open the year. The Cowboys then travel to Bowling Green before a five-star home contest against Nebraska arrives on the docket. Wyoming also has TCU at home this season. Road trips to San Diego State, Air Force, and Boise State down the stretch will test the Cowboys’ mettle, to say the very least.

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