Pokes Prepare for Big Evaluation Scrimmage on Saturday Closed Scrimmage Should Include 100 Plays
Laramie, Wyo. (April 13, 2017) -- Week four of Wyoming Football’s spring practice is nearing its end as the Cowboys prepare for a big scrimmage on Saturday. Saturday’s scrimmage will be closed to media and the general public, but will be a big scrimmage in terms of player evaluation according to head coach Craig Bohl.
“We’re getting to the tail end of spring football,” said Bohl. “We did some different drills today. We did work on kicking, and we had a third-down live scrimmage situation. There were certainly some good things that came out of that. I thought our defense probably had a little bit more of the upper hand. We’ll have a closed scrimmage on Saturday and then get ready for our Spring Game next week.”
Bohl said that almost all the players who had been ill with the flu have returned, which will be key for this coming Saturday’s scrimmage. Two players who remain out with injuries are center Boyd Draeger, with a concussion, and fullback Matt List, who dislocated a shoulder in the scrimmage in Casper last Saturday that may result in surgery.
“It was a nasty bug. I wish I could get it because some guys lost like 16 pounds,” joked Bohl. “Unless something changes, we’ll strive to get 100 (plays) on Saturday. The Spring Game (a week from Saturday) is really an important event. It’s going to be an important day for our players to get in a game-like situation. But a lot of our evaluation (of players) is going to be done beforehand. This Saturday is going to be a real critical day, so we want to extend that in terms of the number of plays. A lot of that is contingent upon our center position. Gavin Rush was back out there today, which should give us more depth and allow us to go longer.”
Asked if he was pleased with what the Cowboys accomplished on Thursday, Bohl said, “I’m going to reserve my final judgment until I watch the tape, but it was a little less crisp than what I would like. But we’ll take a look at the tape.
“Some of our proven guys are out there working hard, but we’re really looking for some younger players, particularly at the safety position, to see which one of those younger guys is going to step to the forefront and seize an opportunity.
“I’m seeing a little bit more physicality from Alijah (Halliburton),” said Bohl. “Josh (Boyd) wasn’t able to play last fall. We’ll continue to evaluate those guys, but I think Alijah has really had some good practice reps and some good live reps. The safety spot is one where we feel we have two really good players in (Andrew) Wingard and(Marcus) Epps, but typically you’re going to have somebody go down during the year and it’s important to find that third guy.”
Bohl said Thursday’s practice did incorporate a lot of special teams work.
“We really worked hard today on our kickoff and kickoff return,” said Bohl. “That’s an element where we haven’t focused much on in the spring in the past. I don’t know if you have any recollections of the San Diego State game last year, but it’s something we need to work on.”
Bohl was asked if it has been nice to have all of the cornerbacks from a year ago returning this spring.
“It certainly has been helpful, and you’ve seen some of the guys improve with repetitions,” said Bohl. “Rico Gafford and Robert Priester have played a lot, and Tyler Hallhas had an outstanding spring. It seems like the more repetitions and the more opportunities he has the higher his stock goes.”
Not only is there good depth at the cornerback position, but there is more depth at a number of other positions for the Cowboys. Bohl was asked how important it is to continue to develop depth throughout the roster.
“When a team really begins to make some improvement, typically it is because of depth and that depth provides a lot of competition,” said Bohl. “That is really good for a football team. One of the best pep talks I know is when you can tell a player ‘you’re not playing so well, the other guy is going in.’ Every day they go out on the practice field, we evaluate these guys, they get graded and competition is really helping them all. I think we’re becoming a deeper and more experienced football team.”
Junior quarterback Josh Allen has a number of younger receivers that he is working with this season and Bohl was asked how he thought the connection between Allen and his receivers was progressing this spring.
“I think they are getting in more of a rhythm,” said Bohl. “What we found was that the go-to combination with Tanner (Gentry) and Josh (Allen) last year really wasn’t in place during the spring. It kind of came about during the fall. He (Allen) certainly needs to feel comfortable with the timing of the routes, and these receivers need to feel comfortable with how he’s throwing. There are some good things going on, and there are some things that as a head coach you never want to see, like interceptions, and we had a couple today. I’m going to attribute that to good defensive play.”
Saturday’s scrimmage will be the 12th of 15 spring practices. The next open scrimmage available for Cowboy fans to watch will be the Spring Game on Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium.
2017 University of Wyoming Football Spring Practice Schedule
Saturday, April 15 TBA (Practice #12)
Tuesday, April 18 4 or 4:30 p.m. (Practice #13)
Thursday, April 20 4 or 4:30 p.m. (Practice #14)
Saturday, April 22 2 p.m. (Spring Game, Practice #15)
Laramie, Wyo. (April 13, 2017) -- Week four of Wyoming Football’s spring practice is nearing its end as the Cowboys prepare for a big scrimmage on Saturday. Saturday’s scrimmage will be closed to media and the general public, but will be a big scrimmage in terms of player evaluation according to head coach Craig Bohl.
“We’re getting to the tail end of spring football,” said Bohl. “We did some different drills today. We did work on kicking, and we had a third-down live scrimmage situation. There were certainly some good things that came out of that. I thought our defense probably had a little bit more of the upper hand. We’ll have a closed scrimmage on Saturday and then get ready for our Spring Game next week.”
Bohl said that almost all the players who had been ill with the flu have returned, which will be key for this coming Saturday’s scrimmage. Two players who remain out with injuries are center Boyd Draeger, with a concussion, and fullback Matt List, who dislocated a shoulder in the scrimmage in Casper last Saturday that may result in surgery.
“It was a nasty bug. I wish I could get it because some guys lost like 16 pounds,” joked Bohl. “Unless something changes, we’ll strive to get 100 (plays) on Saturday. The Spring Game (a week from Saturday) is really an important event. It’s going to be an important day for our players to get in a game-like situation. But a lot of our evaluation (of players) is going to be done beforehand. This Saturday is going to be a real critical day, so we want to extend that in terms of the number of plays. A lot of that is contingent upon our center position. Gavin Rush was back out there today, which should give us more depth and allow us to go longer.”
Asked if he was pleased with what the Cowboys accomplished on Thursday, Bohl said, “I’m going to reserve my final judgment until I watch the tape, but it was a little less crisp than what I would like. But we’ll take a look at the tape.
“Some of our proven guys are out there working hard, but we’re really looking for some younger players, particularly at the safety position, to see which one of those younger guys is going to step to the forefront and seize an opportunity.
“I’m seeing a little bit more physicality from Alijah (Halliburton),” said Bohl. “Josh (Boyd) wasn’t able to play last fall. We’ll continue to evaluate those guys, but I think Alijah has really had some good practice reps and some good live reps. The safety spot is one where we feel we have two really good players in (Andrew) Wingard and(Marcus) Epps, but typically you’re going to have somebody go down during the year and it’s important to find that third guy.”
Bohl said Thursday’s practice did incorporate a lot of special teams work.
“We really worked hard today on our kickoff and kickoff return,” said Bohl. “That’s an element where we haven’t focused much on in the spring in the past. I don’t know if you have any recollections of the San Diego State game last year, but it’s something we need to work on.”
Bohl was asked if it has been nice to have all of the cornerbacks from a year ago returning this spring.
“It certainly has been helpful, and you’ve seen some of the guys improve with repetitions,” said Bohl. “Rico Gafford and Robert Priester have played a lot, and Tyler Hallhas had an outstanding spring. It seems like the more repetitions and the more opportunities he has the higher his stock goes.”
Not only is there good depth at the cornerback position, but there is more depth at a number of other positions for the Cowboys. Bohl was asked how important it is to continue to develop depth throughout the roster.
“When a team really begins to make some improvement, typically it is because of depth and that depth provides a lot of competition,” said Bohl. “That is really good for a football team. One of the best pep talks I know is when you can tell a player ‘you’re not playing so well, the other guy is going in.’ Every day they go out on the practice field, we evaluate these guys, they get graded and competition is really helping them all. I think we’re becoming a deeper and more experienced football team.”
Junior quarterback Josh Allen has a number of younger receivers that he is working with this season and Bohl was asked how he thought the connection between Allen and his receivers was progressing this spring.
“I think they are getting in more of a rhythm,” said Bohl. “What we found was that the go-to combination with Tanner (Gentry) and Josh (Allen) last year really wasn’t in place during the spring. It kind of came about during the fall. He (Allen) certainly needs to feel comfortable with the timing of the routes, and these receivers need to feel comfortable with how he’s throwing. There are some good things going on, and there are some things that as a head coach you never want to see, like interceptions, and we had a couple today. I’m going to attribute that to good defensive play.”
Saturday’s scrimmage will be the 12th of 15 spring practices. The next open scrimmage available for Cowboy fans to watch will be the Spring Game on Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium.
2017 University of Wyoming Football Spring Practice Schedule
Saturday, April 15 TBA (Practice #12)
Tuesday, April 18 4 or 4:30 p.m. (Practice #13)
Thursday, April 20 4 or 4:30 p.m. (Practice #14)
Saturday, April 22 2 p.m. (Spring Game, Practice #15)
