Wyoming
Wyoming

Wyoming Team Report

Updated: April 25, 2012 08:29 EST

The next phase in fourth-year coach Dave Christensen's grand scheme for Wyoming was on display during spring practice. Now that the program has a rooted foundation in Christensen's design, the head coach wanted to see how tough his team really was.

He came away impressed.

"I think it was the most physical spring we've had since I've been here," Christensen said. "I know we've really developed from a hitting standpoint -- a lot of great efforts throughout spring and individual development at each position throughout our entire team, so (I'm) real pleased with the progress there."

First-year defensive coordinator Chris Tormey changed the Wyoming defense to a 3-3-5 scheme, marking the third alignment transformation in Christensen's tenure. The team had started in a 3-4, and then reverted to a 4-3 in year two.

But Wyoming's struggles against the run, accentuated during its 37-15 loss to Temple in the New Mexico Bowl last December, prompted Christensen to make another change.

"We got schemes in defensively; there's a different attitude, different mindset there," Christensen told the Casper Star-Tribune.

While the defense had to adjust to life with an odd-man front, the offense went through the spring without sophomore starting quarterback Brett Smith, who was limited to non-contact drills because of offseason surgery.

The silver lining in that regard is that Wyoming has been forced to develop other playmakers in the spring session, which is what Christensen wants to see next fall to lighten the load on Smith.

"I'd like to have more of the surrounding cast pick it up around him, and I think they will," Christensen said. "We're still going to rely on Brett to do quite a few things, but you'd like to take some of that pressure off of him by having the people around him perform at a higher level."

--Wyoming had to use sophomore QB Colby Kirkegaard for the entire spring game because he was the only healthy QB on the roster. Starter Brett Smith was limited to 7-on-7 drills because of an offseason surgery, and Josh Smith, who is listed as the third-string QB, has been playing WR and on special teams.

The Cowboys also had only two healthy scholarship RBs in Brandon Miller and Kody Sutton.

--Coach Dave Christensen implemented an awards ceremony at halftime of the team's annual spring game, honoring the most improved players during spring drills. They were: K Daniel Sullivan (specialist); OT Daniel Fleischman (offensive lineman); WR Robert Herron (receiver); QB Colby Kirkegaard (offensive back); DT Kurt Taufa'asau (defensive lineman); LB Zack Berg (linebacker) and S Mark Nzeocha (defensive back).

SPRING MOVERS

QB Colby Kirkegaard -- He got better because of the volume of repetitions he had to take during live practice situation. With starter Brett Smith limited as he recovers from an offseason injury and Josh Smith moving to wide receiver, Kirkegaard became the lone arm during scrimmage situations and was exposed to a lot of information on both offense and defense during practice.

SS Mark Nzeocha -- At first, Nzeocha wasn't too thrilled with his move from LB to the secondary, but he's able to pursue the football more freely in the 3-3-5 scheme, allowing him to make more plays. And at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, he adds to the physical element on the Wyoming defense. But he has shown enough speed to give the Wyoming coaches and option to leave him in the secondary.

DT Kurt Taufa'asau -- His emergence has allowed Wyoming to move some players, namely Ben Durbin, to DE to help replace the void left by 2011 starters Gabe Knapton and Josh Biezuns. Taufa'asau was the star during several scrimmage portions of spring practice and seemed to thrive in the three-man front that the Cowboys are using.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think that's always a concern (dealing with expectations that get too high), with a young man early in his career that's come in and had pretty good success, but I think that Brett's a great competitor; I don't think he's going to sit there and reflect on how things were last year and think they're just going to happen again. He's going to have to work extremely hard; he missed the majority of spring practice and that's a lot of time to make up in the summer and the fall. He's a focused individual who strives to get better. I don't think that will change." -- Coach Dave Christensen, on Mountain West Freshman of the Year quarterback Brett Smith, who was recovering from an injury and was limited during spring drills.

2012 OUTLOOK: The Cowboys have every reason to feel optimistic that they can build upon their bowl appearance in 2011. After this season, in which Boise State bolts for the Big East with San Diego State, the Cowboys will be considered one of the favorites in the Mountain West. How they perform in 2012 will shed light on how close they are to being one of the conference's elite teams moving forward.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The Cowboys got a glimpse of life without Brett Smith when they played in live scrimmages against the Wyoming defense, and it was the running attack that suffered by his absence. The Cowboys, who turned the corner on the offensive line in 2011, must reestablish itself in 2012 and allow Smith to make the same kind of plays he made his rookie season both running and passing. Defenses will learn how to key on Smith if the Cowboys can't produce a running attack.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Coach Dave Christensen was encouraged by what he saw out of Wyoming's aggressive 3-3-5 scheme that coordinator Chris Tormey implemented. The biggest reason Christensen went out and hired Tormey was to stop the run, and the Cowboys excelled at that during the spring. With players such as DT Kurt Taufa'asau and SS Mark Nzeocha stepping up into starting roles, the potential results should be an improvement.

SCOUTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS: Despite a subpar performance in the spring game, the Cowboys are excited by P Tim Gleeson's spring season. K Daniel Sullivan should improve with age and experience. The area of emphasis for Wyoming continues to be improvement on its coverage teams.

TOP NEWCOMERS:

RB Kody Sutton -- The sophomore suddenly finds himself as the leading candidate for the starting job in the fall. Alvester Alexander left early to enter the NFL draft and Ghaali Muhammad has returned to LB. Brandon Miller will get some carries, but he is still being used as a WR as well. Nehemie Kankolongo is trying to earn playing time after a couple of injury-plagued years with the program. Sutton, who burned his redshirt last year, had 146 yards on 30 carries, but the game experience has given him confidence entering his sophomore season.

OL Connor Rains -- Has a chance to find a home at one of Wyoming's open tackle spots. The 6-foot-7, 305-pound newcomer via American River (Calif.) Community College will benefit from the 15 spring practice days and should be able to lock up one of the spots. He was a California Community College All-America honoree as a sophomore.

WR Trey Norman -- He caught two passes for 14 yards last year as a true freshman, but with the dearth of wideouts available, Norman is emerging as a playmaker. He also gained a lot of confidence having played in all 12 games last season. As he continues to develop a comfort level with QB Brett Smith, Norman could pick up as the deep threat where the transferred Josh Doctson left off last season.

ROSTER REPORT:

--Senior Josh Leonard, who started 10 games in 2010 at RT and three times last season, now will enter the fall as the projected starter at LT.

--Coach Dave Christensen named C Nick Carlson, LB Korey Jones, FS Luke Ruff and QB Brett Smith as team captains for the upcoming season. Jones' selection is a bit of surprise because he was a junior college transfer from Garden City (Kan.) Community College who came to the program in the spring of 2011.

--Walk-ons J.J. Quinlan (LB) and Josh Smith (WR) have earned scholarships for the upcoming season.