Wyoming finds gems in its freshmen

By Bob Hammond For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle LARAMIE - Most college football coaches believe in building their programs with freshmen. The idea is to bring a youngster into the program, throw a redshirt tag on him and give him a year to get acclimated to college life, both athletically and academically. During that first year, young players have the opportunity to get bigger and stronger in addition to receiving a good indoctrination to the system and learn how to budget their time between football and school. Once they are juniors and seniors, they are seasoned veterans and are the heart and soul of any good football team. Wyoming coach Dave Christensen is a strong believer of building a program that way. Unfortunately, Christensen and his staff don't have the luxury of waiting. His first Wyoming team isn't talented and deep enough where they can afford to redshirt everyone in his first freshmen class. That's why 10 true freshmen have found their way onto the field in the Cowboys' first two games of the 2009 season. "We just feel that at this point in time, and it will always be the thought in this program, that the best players are going to play," Christensen said. In Wyoming's first two games, seven true freshmen have seen action: - Alvester Alexander has carried the ball 11 See UW, page B2 times for 105 yards (6.2 average) and a touchdown. - Kenny Browder has six tackles, a pass breakup and a 21-yard kickoff return. - Nick Carlson has started the first two games at offensive right guard. "If someone had told me that a year ago that I was going to be a starter this season, I probably would have laughed," said Carlson, who came to UW as a grayshirt last year. "But I got caught in a situation where if I did my best and satisfied the coaches, I would have a chance. And that's what happened." - Austyn Carta-Samuels has completed 15-of-29 passes for 169 yards and rushed for an additional 14 yards. - Shamiel Gary has started the first two games and responded with three interceptions, two pass breakups and 15 tackles. - Chris McNeil, a backup to Zach Bolger at wide receiver, has yet to catch a pass although he played in both games. - Ghaali Muhammad, who has played primarily on special teams, has a pair of tackles and a blocked punt return for a touchdown. And last week against Texas, the UW staff pulled three more freshmen off the redshirts list. - Luke Ruff had a blocked punt that resulted in a touchdown, two tackles and a 14-yard punt return. - David Tooley, who had an 8-yard pass reception. - Ian Watts, who walked on at UW at the start of school and handled all the kickoff duties against Texas. And that's just a start. There might be more true freshman having their redshirts pulled in the coming weeks. "It's hard to say how that will go," Christensen said. "It depends on how guys perform and how injuries go. We're going to play whoever we need to play to win football games." Depth chart changes There were a couple of changes in the Cowboy depth chart on Tuesday. Greg Bolling, who is back from suspension, will start at wide receiver in place of Zach Bolger, who is now the backup. Brandon Stewart has moved into the No. 3 spot at running back behind Darius Terry and Alvester Alexander. Eric Mitchell is No. 2 at free safety behind Chris Prosinski and ahead of Keith Lewis. Justin Salyards is a tight end again and is listed at No. 3 behind Orlando Arnold and David Tooley. M*A*S*H unit There were six Cowboys on the sideline Tuesday with an assortment of minor injuries, including starters: OT Ryan Otterson (hip pointer), NG Alex Stover and OLB Weston Johnson (knee). Also on the mend are FS Keith Lewis, OLB Devyn Harris and RB Lorne Bridgford. Landess gone Junior walk-on place-kicker and punter Nick Landess, who has been plagued this fall with a groin injury, has left the team.