State of the Program: Wyoming Cowboys

Head Coach: Jay Sawvel is entering his first season as the head coach of the Cowboys replacing Poke legend Craig Bohl. You can read more about his profile and hire grade here https://updogsportstalk.com/2024/02/23/college-football-coach-hire-grades-wyoming/

Program Outlook: Wyoming is a very unique program because they’re the only football program in the entire state at any level. It’s all the more reason why fans are passionate about the program, it’s the only show in town when it comes to football. They’ve had their ups and downs historically but Craig Bohl laid the blueprint for them to be a consistently solid team each season. It involves tough physical play, muddying the game up and slowing it to the slowest pace possible then finding a way to steal the win at the end. Last year’s 9-4 season may have been the best example of it yet, wins over Texas Tech, Appalachian State and Fresno State in Laramie all followed the plot and so did the bowl game. They were peak Craig Bohl football in his last season and now they look to take it up another level with Sawvel at the helm.

How does the 2024 Roster look?: Wyoming was extremely successful because they had an extremely veteran squad, this of course means they’re going to encounter some changes this season. Their QB will be Evan Svoboda he’s made one start but it was a big one on the road at the Texas Longhorns. Wyoming was tied with Texas until they broke away in the 4th quarter. The passing of the torch from the extremely gritty Andrew Peasley to Svoboda wasn’t supposed to happen on the last drive of the Arizona Bowl but that’s what happened, Peasley got hurt and Svoboda made some incredibly clutch plays to help Wyoming steal the win. Svoboda may not have the mobility or arm of Poke legend Josh Allen but it’s enough to remind fans of him. Wyoming loves to utilize a lot of running backs to keep them fresh and wear down opposing defenses. That’ll be the case here last year’s leading back Harrison Waylee is back, so is opening day starter Jamari Ferrell. Sam Scott also contributed at times, they added DJ Jones from North Carolina but you also can’t forget about Dawaiian McNeely who was last year’s expected starter before tearing his ACL in fall camp, reports indicate he’s coming along good but they’re not going to rush him back. There’s not much experience back at receiver but they always seem to find guys who aren’t super athletic but are physical and will make plays. The offensive line was a tad disappointing last season, it was ok but that’s not the standard around here. They have more experience this time around so expect this unit to lead the way again. The defense last season was it’s normal nasty self. They make offenses uncomfortable eventually forcing turnovers and stop the run well. A key piece to their run defense is Jordan Bertagnole who’s one of the best tackles in the conference. They love to rotate the dline and have a deep homegrown group to do that. It will be very difficult to replace Easton Gibbs who was such a special talent for the Pokes, but it’s still expected to be a good and deep linebacker room. One area with some uncertainty is corner where Wyoming will see a bit of a youth movement, fortunately they have a loaded tough group of safeties led by Wyett Ekeler. They’ll prevent things from getting too messy back here.

Screenshot from fbschedules.com¹

2024 Schedule Thoughts: This schedule has a lot of what you’d want for Wyoming. There’s opportunity with winnable Big 12 games at Arizona State and in Laramie against former MWC/WAC rivals BYU. Wyoming isn’t in the business of overlooking teams but that Idaho game is scary, the Vandals are one of the best in FCS they eviscerated Nevada and nearly beat Cal last season. North Texas is winnable but on the road which could be a danger spot for Wyoming. Washington State on the road wi be tough as well. As we know with Wyoming things are different at elevation in Laramie so it’s definitely favorable that they have 4 conference home games and they’re against some of their toughest foes like Air Force and Boise State. The only tough road game in conference play will be at Colorado State in the Border War. You can see a path for Wyoming to be a surprise contender to win the Mountain West.

Vegas Projection: Wyoming’s win total is set at 6.5 with the odds geared toward the under. This is not financial advice but the over is a pick I am making in case you’re into this sort of thing. Vegas is expecting regression after Craig Bohl but there’s a good chance this train keeps rolling.

2024 Best Case: Wyoming becomes their best selves with a dominant run game and Svoboda turns out to be the best thing since Josh Allen. They get off to a great start with a dominant win over Arizona State, they handle business against Idaho and take down BYU in Laramie. Wyoming avoids tripping up against North Texas and controls time of possession to take down Air Force. The Pokes win the next 4 to set themselves for the last challenging stretch. On a Friday night Border War showdown in the snow the Pokes defense forces turnovers by Colorado State while they control the game on the ground to move to 10-0. The snowy windy conditions follows Wyoming to Laramie 8 days later allowing for favorable conditions for them to take down Boise State for a massive win. Wyoming loses at Washington State but that’s no problem their target is ahead on their Mountain West championship game showdown with UNLV, but of course thanks to Wyoming’s undefeated record they get to host the game and they take down the Rebels to win the Mountain West and crash the playoff. Wyoming battles hard all game with Ohio State once they get there but they can’t quite pull it off. Still they’re now a force to be reckoned with in the conference.

2024 Worst Case: Maybe this could take some time. Svoboda struggles and the run game never gets going as the Pokes struggle to put up points. They are beaten soundly by Arizona State in the opener, and it doesn’t get better the next week when they’re stunned by Idaho. Wyoming is dominated by BYU at home and then struggles with the speed of North Texas’ offense on the road. The struggles continue in conference play when they’re shut out by Air Force and once again struggle with the speed of San Diego State’s offense. They only win 2 of the next 3 and lose out from there to finish 2-10 on the season. Worst year Colorado State emerges out of nowhere to win the Mountain West and make the playoff.