10 things to watch for in Wyoming athletics in 2021 | Football | trib.com

Wyoming quarterback Levi Williams conceals the ball low in the Cowboys game against Hawaii at the War Memorial Stadium in Laramie on October 30 .

Hunter Maldonado of Wyoming pushed the ball onto the court, and Darrius Hughes of Omaha at Laramie Arena Stadium on December 17 Defensive in the game held. The Cowboys entered the Western Mountain Tournament 6-1.

McKinley Bradshaw of Wyoming made a layup in a game against Denver with the Cowgirls at Laramie's Arena on December 5.

Wyoming State football is doing something it has not done in five years: entering the offseason after a lost season. In the shortened season of the flu pandemic, there are many factors at play, but simply put, the Cowboys have only won two victories in six games in the seventh season under the helm of Craig Boh. , And poor grades.

UW's 2-4 performance included opponent Colorado's mistakes to make up for its four-game losing streak ended in the Border War, and the ugly defeat of New Mexico, which was the longest active losing streak in the United States at the time. The Cowboys look similar to the past few years, their defensive style allows them to participate in every game, and the offense rarely generates too much offense in the game.

Prior to this fall, the University of Wisconsin had reached the qualifying bowl for four consecutive seasons. This should be the lowest expectation for the Cowboys course, especially under the leadership of the second highest paid coach in the Western Mountains. The University of Washington will work hard to establish a complete timetable or close to the timetable early next year.

Speaking of offense...

In this era, offense seems to be popular in college football-in the 50 highest-scoring offenses in the "Football Bowl" division, the average score is at least 30 points-if the Cowboys do not make any changes, Xihan University has been left behind. Dangerous, especially in a clearance game that has been hindering their development in recent years.

The University of Washington has only one pass touchdown all season, and has not completed at least half of the passes for the third consecutive year. This is the second best offense in the Western Mountains. The University of Wisconsin averaged 26.5 points per game this season, ranking in the top half of the league. But, as always, the Cowboys largely follow their running games.

The University of Washington averaged 30.6 points in games where they ran at least 280 yards. When they failed to reach the 200-yard mark on the ground? Only 22 points per game. The professional style offense of the University of Wisconsin will never be confused with air strikes, but if the Cowboys seriously want to become a contender in the Western Mountains again, they desperately need an all-round offense.

Since the end of the real freshman season in 2018, Chambers has been the starting quarterback of West Virginia University, but due to injury loopholes has plagued Chambers throughout his career as a third-year sophomore Only 12 games have started so far.

Chambers's third season-end injury in many years occurred in the University of Western Australia's first offense this season. The 6-foot-3 (225-pound) left leg is still recovering from a fractured left leg. It is not known whether he will be ready for spring training in April. Chambers suffered a similar injury to his right leg at the end of the 2018 season and returned to practice in time the following spring.

But Chambers has already said that he will be back next year, and if this happens, he is likely to return to the top of the quarterback depth chart. Redshirt freshman Levi Williams and real freshman Gavin Beerup will also return next season, so the good news for the Cowboys is that two-thirds of their scholarship quarterbacks will be back.

But Chambers is probably the most dynamic organizer in UW (22 professional TDs in 13 games; 6 yards per carry). He must increase his career completion rate by 46%, but keeping Chambers on the scene will greatly help UW diversify its offense.

The Jeff Linder era of the Cowboys started with an exciting start, and the Cowboys won six of the first seven games. Many Cowboys fans don’t need to be reminded, but this is a procedure. The past two seasons have only won 17 games and won the sixth game until February.

But now, the real test is accompanied by the beginning of the Mountain Western game. The University of Wisconsin will start a two-game series in Fresno on Saturday to open the league roster.

Linder's roster overhaul allowed more shooters to target returnees Hunter Maldonado, Hunter Thompson, Kwane Marble II and Kenny Foster. The Cowboys topped the list in both scoring and three-point field goal percentages in the Western Mountains, and the real freshman Marcus Williams (17.9 points per game) leads the four UW players, averaging double digits per game.

But the Cowboys are still improving defensively, and none of their seven non-conference opponents are higher than 134.

Ranking. The University of Wisconsin will participate in the four league teams currently ranked in the top 100, including the road series in San Diego (22) and Utah (80) and the home series in Boise (72) and Colorado (95).

Since then, UW has not participated in the competition

, So there may be some rust after such a long layoff. But the Cowboys have taken a break and look like a better team than the 9th Mountain West.

. The University of Washington will show whether this is indeed the case in the next two months.

As the offseason approaches, every college football course will be reduced, but there will be some different changes this year.

use

It is expected to pass later this month, and the number of transfer portals will be busier than ever. The University of Washington already has three players, namely veteran receiver Dontae Crow, defensive guard Keshaun Taylor and defensive guard Cameron Smith. They intentionally left the program and there may be more players in the future.

In view of the NCAA's qualification waiver granted in response to the coronavirus pandemic, last season's starters Ayden Eberhardt and safety Brandon Smith (Braden Smith) both said they will come back next season. But the Cowboys are still waiting for most of the 13 seniors.

It's not just players who come and go. After that, Bull will hire at least one new assistant in the market

. Bull said that he will have a conversation with his 10 field assistant coaches last month.

This is not a large sample size, but the University of Wisconsin women's basketball team won with a 3-2 record, including a split with UNLV in the Western Mountain Series.

The Cowgirls, which will host Fresno State University on Saturday, are looking for their third straight win, and they are looking for their fifth consecutive winning season. Last season, UW won 17 games in the first season of Gerald Mattinson, assistant at the helm, but that was not enough to win the Women’s National Invitational. The Cowgirl won three consecutive playoff games. .

The University of Washington is led by Lyman's McKinley Bradshaw (McKinley Bradshaw), who averaged a team-best 13 points per game. Four cowgirls score at least eight points each time.

when. . . when

, This move is only related to football.

Other autumn sports at the University of Washington have been waiting for their chance to compete again, although the exact time of the game is not yet known. Men's and women's cross-country, women's volleyball and women's football still have no possible spring schedules, but the NCAA tentatively scheduled the cross-country championships in March.

Whenever it happens, UW's other fall athletes will participate in the competition sometime this year. For many people, this will be the first time since 2019.

As for winter sports other than men's and women's basketball, if they haven't, they will start soon. UW's swimming and diving teams started to take dual actions in December, while the men's wrestling team announced the full schedule earlier this week. The Cowboys will start the season against North Colorado at home on Sunday.

Even in the hiring cycle affected by the pandemic, the University of Western Australia managed to sign most of the 2021 recruitment courses during the early signing period in December.

But this still requires some work to be done to complete the course.

There is still a traditional signing period that starts on the first Wednesday of February.

Having said that, you can sign up to 25, although Bohl said UW may not sign so many. In the end, how many Cowboys are signed may depend on how many seniors choose to return to another season.

In the early days of the signing, UW met many position requirements, but the Cowboys did not sign a quarterback. The team usually likes to sign in every recruiting class, but with Chambers, Williams, Birup and another quarterback, Hank Gibbs at hand, still on the roster, Washington The university may eventually use the scholarship elsewhere.

Don't be surprised if UW becomes more active on the transfer portal. Although the Cowboys usually didn't add many four-year transfers during Bohl's tenure, if players eventually qualify for the competition as expected, the portal can help Pokes hurt them as much as possible.

An important off-field development that the University of Wisconsin and other I-level schools have been focusing on is the idea that student athletes can profit from their names, images, and portraits.

The current NCAA regulations stipulate that it is illegal for athletes to make money as part of a third-party approved transaction, but

. Many states have passed or proposed legislation that makes it illegal for the NCAA to enforce the current NIL rules, and

This will make it legal for athletes to profit from NIL under certain restrictions.

The NCAA requires Congress to adopt a unified approach to what is allowed, instead of each state having its own set of NIL rules, but the money must come from a third party, not the school itself. There will be legal obstacles that can be resolved, but by the end of this year, the NIL profits created for student athletes may become a reality.

The War Memorial Stadium can hold up to 29,181 people. In the stadium auditorium, the number is 11,612.

But due to the pandemic, none of the venues this season or will be close to full capacity. Once the pandemic started last spring, that changed everything. The University of Washington cooperated with the Wyoming Department of Health,

prior to

.

In family basketball games, the attendance rate is initially limited to 2,000 at least until the end of 2020. But Wyoming imposed new statewide restrictions last month,

When the statewide restriction is set to expire.

If the restrictions are expanded by then, there are reasons to maintain attendance. However, even if attendance is allowed again, this season will continue to be restricted.

The COVID-19 vaccine has begun to be distributed nationwide, but it is not expected to be available to everyone until spring at the earliest. Even if this happens, is it sufficient for UW's venue to return to full capacity before fall?

Follow UW Athletic to beat author Davis Potter on Twitter on @DavisEPotter.

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College sports reporter

Davis Potter is a sports reporter at the University of Wyoming. Porter is a native of Alabama and graduated from Auburn University in 2011. After five years of research on "Ole Miss" and the Southeastern Conference, Joined The Star in 2018. He lives in Laramie.

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The Cowboys' newest assistant is the team's fourth offensive coach in four years.

The previous extension of attendance is consistent with the state’s latest public health order, which will take effect on Saturday.

Offensive line coach AJ Blazek is the former assistant head coach of Rutgers and spent the first two seasons in North Dakota.

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