Hill signed with the 49ers and will be on the roster.

Gloria Nevarez: The Mountain West is at 12 Teams …: Login to view embedded media

Interesting charts.

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Saw an article that it looks like there is a all but done deal sending 4 AAC schools to the PAC4 and possibly the AAC dissolving and thus everyone else merging with the PAC8. Beyond the TV deal what in the same hell does the AAC teams offer the PAC that the MWC doesn't. I can understand them not wanting to play in the cold, but is playing Tulsa really that much better?, Charlotte can't be a very appealing venue. Please fill me in.

Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 18, 2023) -- As the 2023 season opener draws closer for the Wyoming Cowboy Football team, practices are shifting to creating game-like situations for Cowboy players. On Friday, the Pokes practice included a Mountain West Conference officiating crew and Saturday morning the Cowboys will hold their second fall scrimmage, which will also utilize Mountain West officials. Head coach Craig Bohl said Saturday’s scrimmage will be an important evaluation for his team.



This scrimmage will be live bullets, as we say out West,” said Bohl. “They’ll be some positions that we’re going to stress a little bit more than others, but this will probably be the last final hard grade that we get. We’re constantly evaluating players, but this will show us when the lights are on who can make a play, who can break a tackle. Fur is going to fly in this one.



“We’ll do a dress rehearsal the week prior to our first game,” said Bohl. “We’ll bring in another crew for that and we’ll have a mock game.”



Mountain West Officials at Friday’s and Saturday’s Practices

Bohl highlighted the importance of having Mountain West game officials for this weekend’s practices.



“We have a full Mountain West (officiating) crew here for two days. It’s an investment that all of us our making in the officials within the Mountain West,” said Bohl. “We’ve got a new supervisor of officials, Mike DeFee, who is nationally recognized, to elevate our game. We’re looking for consistency and transparency, and Mike has assured us that is where we’re going to be. We appreciate this crew being here. We’re not the lone rangers. There are a lot of crews working (around the league), and I think it is an indication of our conference commissioner’s (Gloria Nevarez) understanding on how to elevate our whole conference. Along with this, they’ll be doing collaborative replay this year.”



Friday’s practice ended with some special situational periods, including work on goal-line offense and defense, as well as a few series practicing the team’s two-minute drill.



“Another good day -- we’re continuing to work on the passing game,” Bohl said. “We worked hard at the beginning of practice, and I think we’re making strides. I’m really pleased with some of the play out of the corners (cornerbacks) in particular. I think they’re doing a really nice job. The offensive line is getting better as far as the (pass) protection pickups.



“We did some work on the kicking game. We had a live punt rush and then we had punt return practice. I thought Clayton (Stewart) punted the ball really well.”



Position Breakdowns

Safeties

One of the position groups where Wyoming returns both starters from last season is at safety. Both junior free safety Wyett Ekeler from Windsor, Colo., and junior strong safety Isaac White from Pottstown, Pa., return. Ekeler made all of his 10 career starts last season. White has 17 career starts, including starting the last 16 consecutive games. The tandem started the last nine games of the 2022 season beside each other. Behind those two veterans, there is a battle for playing time among a number of young safeties. Entering 2023 fall camp, Cheyenne, Wyo., sophomore Andrew Johnson was listed as the back-up to White at strong safety and sophomore Buck Coors from Loveland, Colo., was projected as the No. 2 free safety behind Ekeler.



“We have some emerging guys, and we feel really good about the upper echelon guys,” said Bohl. “We’re trying to work with some of the back-up guys, and Coach (Jay) Sawvel is doing a nice job of integrating them into tough situations. We have to develop not only depth but competition. We do feel good about our starters, but to think you’re going to go through the whole year with those two starters is a little bit unrealistic. We’re not where we need to be but we’re making progress.”



Bohl followed up his comments about the safety position sharing with media that Coors, unfortunately, suffered a recent broken hand and will be out for awhile. Coors missed the first eight games of last season due to injury, before playing in Wyoming’s final five games of the ‘22 season.



“He (Buck Coors) broke his hand. He’s having surgery today,” added Bohl. “He’s been snake bit, but he will be back. I think it may be a month on him. I feel for him. It’s been every year, but he’s always got a positive attitude. He was in my ear big time last year as far as coming back. It’s always easier to say whoa that giddy up. He was making really good progress, but nonetheless he’s probably going to have a plate in his hand for awhile.”



Bohl was asked about how sophomore Johnson and redshirt freshman Koa McIntyre from Fremont, Neb., were progressing in fall camp. Bohl responded, “We’re certainly looking at those two guys. I think Andrew (Johnson) right now is probably at the forefront there. We’re pleased with his progress.”



Another injury that Bohl made media aware of after Friday’s practice was regarding junior wide receiver Will Pelissier from Big Horn, Wyo., who also was having surgery Friday for a broken finger.



Defensive Ends

Sophomore defensive end Sabastian Harsh from Scottsbluff, Neb., had to have some follow-up surgery on an injured knee earlier in fall camp, but Bohl reaffirmed his comments from last week, saying that he expects Harsh back before Wyoming’s season opener.



“We’re extremely excited (about Harsh),” said Bohl. “He’s a really polished player not only against the run but also against the pass. He’s smart. He’s got really good instincts. He’s making a good recovery. We anticipate him being able to play in our first ballgame.”



Linebackers

All Wyoming fans know that the leader of the Cowboy defense is junior middle linebacker Easton Gibbs from Temecula, Calif. But who will be holding down the linebacker positions along with Gibbs is something media was curious about after Friday’s practice. The returning starter at the weak-side linebacker is junior Shae Suiaunoa from Houston, Texas. Suiaunoa started all 13 games for Wyoming in the 2022 season. His 73 tackles ranked second on the Cowboy squad to Gibbs 121. Another linebacker who had both a strong spring practice session and has played well throughout fall practice is Gibbs back-up at middle linebacker, junior Connor Shay from Danville, Calif.



“We’re really pleased with Connor (Shay). He’s locked in at MIKE (middle linebacker),” said Bohl. “Shae (Suiaunoa) has been playing WILL (weakside linebacker). We’re trying to have some clarity there. Shae has improved his tackling. He’s always been a good blitzer, but had too many missed tackles last year. In the first scrimmage (this fall) he really did a nice job of wrapping up.”



Next Practice

The Cowboys will conduct their 15th of 20 fall practices on Saturday morning in War Memorial Stadium. Practices are 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.

The Athletic had a great piece over the weekend with details about the Apple proposal rejected by the Pac 12. From the piece:

"According to three people with knowledge of the terms, Apple offered the members a five-year deal with an annual base rate of $23 million per school (a subsequent counteroffer lifted it to $25 million), with incentives based on projected subscribers to a Pac-12 streaming product akin to Apple’s MLS League Pass.

At 1.7 million subscribers, the per-school payout would match the $31.7 million average that Big 12 schools will reportedly receive from ESPN and Fox beginning in 2025. But Kliavkoff encouraged the room to think much bigger — at 5 million subscribers, the schools would eclipse $50 million per year, closer to the deep-pocketed SEC and Big Ten than the ACC or Big 12."

The new Big 12 schools are all coming in to that league with a full annual share of media revenue; $31.7 million per school. That means the Pac 12 was only $6 million apart from the Big 12, even if Apple's product didn't get a single subscriber.

For context, the current Pac 12 Network has about 15 million subscribers. It's not hard to imagine they could have converted around 10% of their current subscribers to the online product, and in doing so reach parity with the Big 12. ASU's annual athletics budget is $101 million. They helped blow up the Pac 12 over about 5% of their annual budget. It's insane. More than 100 years of history and regional rivalry were cast aside over, at most, $6 million per year. The greed involved is disgusting.

After this, no one should ever make a single word opposing athletes pursuing NIL deals. The "grown ups" have ruined college athletics. The athletes might as well get a piece of the pie.

PAC 4 schools to help pay exit fees of SDS, BSU, Fresno, and CSU?

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When you take a closer look at these two schools, it really just points out how they have almost nothing in common with many of the schools in the MWC. Financially, geographically, historically or societally, they have so little in common with the majority of the schools in the MWC conference, and especially with the schools located in the Rocky Mountain region it isn't funny. If they were to come on board, I feel that it would be a rocky relationship that is destined from the start of having a divorce at some time in the near future and it wouldn't be a pretty divorce. So why should you get into a relationship with another school that already is wearing T-shirts written on them, "We are out of here at our earliest convenance"?

Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 18, 2023) – The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame has announced its 2023 Watch List for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award and two Wyoming Cowboys have been named to the list. Junior linebacker Shae Suiaunoa and junior center Nofoafia Tulafono are both among this year’s candidates.

The Award is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player of Polynesian ancestry that epitomizes great ability and integrity. The Watch List is composed of 85 players from 41 different FBS schools.

“This award means so much to our people, and allows us to showcase the tremendous impact that our Polynesian student-athletes are having on the game of football,” said Jesse Sapolu, Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Chairman, Co-Founder and Inductee. “We look forward to following all of the players on their journey this season.”



Suiaunoa started all 13 games at weak-side linebacker for Wyoming during his sophomore season of 2022. The Houston, Texas, native ranked second on the Cowboy team in tackles with 70. Suiaunoa was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Northern Colorado during the ‘22 season. He was named 2023 Preseason Third Team All-Mountain West by Phil Steele and Preseason Fourth Team All-MW by Athlon Sports.

Tulafono started every game at center for the Cowboys as a sophomore in 2022. At the conclusion of the ‘22 season, the native of Victorville, Calif., was named Second Team All-Mountain West by Pro Football Focus (PFF). Entering the 2023 season, Tulafono was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Second Team by Athlon Sports.

The Watch List candidates have been selected based on past performance and future potential. Additions to the list will be made as the 2023 season progresses. The finalists and winner will be chosen by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee which includes former NFL Player and Inaugural Inductee Jack “The Throwin’ Samoan” Thompson (Chairman), Coaches Ron McBride and Dick Vermeil, former NFL Player and Inaugural Inductee Olin Kreutz, Inaugural Inductee and past NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, former NFL Player and Class of 2015 Inductee Ray Schoenke, ESPN Sportscaster Neil Everett, and NFL Network commentator Steve Wyche.

The winner of the 2023 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award will be announced on December 14. Five finalists will be unveiled on November 30. The presentation of the Award will be held during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week Celebration Dinner (January 20, 2024) at the Sheraton Waikiki, and they will also be recognized at halftime of the Polynesian Bowl (January 19, 2024). TJH

Article from Nevada Sports: https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/re...ngton-state-would-most-help-the-mountain-west

I understand Wyoming and BYU are setting up a home-home series in basketball. Beginning with Wyoming playing in Provo this season and BYU coming back to Laramie next season.

I am not as familiar with all of the academic ratings of the different institutions, and I am honestly just asking a question, how do the different MWC schools rate academically. I am aware of Stanford's standing in the academic world, and I have heard but I don't exactly agree with Cal being thought of so highly. But it appears within the MWC you have a real broad spectrum of academic ratings/standings for the different institutions. I have no doubt that the Air Force Academy is rated up there. I have heard that Boise State and Fresno State are virtually a little above 4 year trade school. I know that CSU has the Vet Medical school and Wyoming has been working hard on being a Tier 1 engineering school. But how does Wyoming rate within the higher education standings? Thanks for the response.

I don't know how many of you might be following Cheyenne Post 6 and the legion world series.

Wyoming, Texas, Nebraska and either South Carolina or New Jersey will be in the Final Four, which begins tomorrow. NJ is currently winning 10-4 in the sixth. If NJ wins, each of the four teams enter tomorrow at 2-1.

Laramie, Wyo. (Aug. 14, 2023) – The Maxwell Football Club announced on Monday the watch list for the 29th Chuck Bednarik Award. University of Wyoming linebacker Easton Gibbs was among the top defensive players in the nation named to the watch list.



The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and is named in honor of Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik who was an All-American player at the University of Pennsylvania and later a multiple year All Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full-time player on both offense and defense.



Gibbs was selected as the 2023 Mountain West Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in voting by MW media at Mountain West Media Days in July. He has also been named a ‘23 Preseason First Team All-Mountain selection by MW media, Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.



As a sophomore in 2022, Gibbs was named First Team All-Mountain West in voting by Mountain West head coaches and media at the conclusion of the season. A Temecula, Calif. native, Gibbs ranked No. 3 in the conference and 22nd nationally in tackles for the 2022 season, averaging 9.3 tackles per game. He recorded the first 100-tackle season of his career, with 121. He became only the 61st Cowboy in the 126-year history of Cowboy Football to record 100 tackles in a single season. Gibbs’ 121 tackles tied him with former UW linebackers Bruce Mowry (1983) and Jim Talich (1997) for the 18th best single-season tackle total in school history. Gibbs posted double figures in tackles in six games during the 2022 season. In 2022, he became the third Wyoming linebacker to earn First Team All-Mountain West honors in the last four consecutive seasons, following current Cincinnati Bengal Logan Wilson (2019) and current Jacksonville Jaguar Chad Muma (2020 and ‘21).



The Chuck Bednarik Award has once again partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Phil Steele Publications as selection committee partners. PFF provides detailed metrics and performance-based assessments to selection committee staff, with several senior PFF analysts are members of our selection committee. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is generally recognized as the most complete preseason magazine.



Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced November 13, 2023, while the three finalists for the Bednarik Award will be unveiled November 28, 2023. The winners of the 29th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 7, 2023. The formal presentations of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards in March 2024. TJH

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.

The PacWest Conference....


Go Pokes

The poor kid can never stay healthy. Big blow to the backfield.

My Broncos are playing a big game tonight! I hate it when they fumble which they just did, but they still lead in the game 2 to nothing. in the first half. They just had a big scrum!

Beat the Eels!

Of courser I am talking about the REAL Broncos, the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL are taking on the Parramatta Eels in Brisbane. The Brisbane Broncos, rugby is the REAL man's game, you have to be a tough you-know-what to play rugby and those Aussies play the best rugby in the world!

For all of you rugby fans out there, In 2024 (I don't know what days are yet), but the Brisbane Broncos, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters are coming to Las Vegas for a week of real rugby which is kicking off their season. It will be called Australia Week.

The Broncos just scored a try and it is now 8-0! No helmets, no shoulder pads just good old Australian balls is what these Aussies have!

The only problem I have is that the games are on in the middle of the night, sure does play havoc with my sleep!

Bedlam or the lack thereof will be the key word over the next two years in NCAA FBS football....!

This coming year will be the last time that Oklahoma will play Oklahoma State in a game well known as "Bedlam". Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played every year since 1943 but since Oklahoma joined the SEC mega conference there was no room for the rivalry game. After this coming year Bedlam will be the best description of what FBS football will look like, you will have to have conference lists so you can keep track of who is playing where! It is sad to see a rivalry like "Bedlam: going away, maybe the Oregon-Oregon St. and Washington-Washington St. rivalries will also be gone. Chasing the almighty buck!