Wyoming Football Turns Up the Heat in First Week of Fall Camp
- Jeff Bugher
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. - The University of Wyoming football team completed its first week of fall camp practice. On Thursday during media availability, head coach Jay Sawvel said he was satisfied with where the Cowboys are while making sure to tell the media that there’s plenty of work ahead.
Laramie is known for cold weather and wind, but with that comes beautiful summer and fall weather…and heat. With mid-August temperatures climbing and Wyoming practicing on the turf in War Memorial Stadium, Sawvel said the conditions provided another opportunity to push his team physically and mentally.
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"We’ve just got a lot of work to do," Sawvel said. "As you install more and do more moving parts with everything offensively and defensively…. what now has to happen is the execution part of it."
Sawvel said the temperature on the turf surpassed 100 degrees during Thursday's practice.
"I like the fact that we're on the turf all the time right now. Because when you're out there, and you're on that turf, it's over 100 degrees on that turf today, so that's good. That's what we need," Sawvel said. "We have to be able to execute cleanly on both sides of the ball for the entire practice that way."
Sawvel is drilling it into his team that they need to be finishing practices strong, especially after Wyoming struggled to finish several close games over the previous two seasons.
"There's been too many times over the last two years in this program, [when] we're in the fourth quarter- we haven't risen to the occasion," Sawvel said. "Part of that's when you're not doing anything offensively, it's hard to win close games."
Sawvel mentioned close losses against Idaho, Boise State, San Diego State, Utah State, Nevada and Air Force as examples of games Wyoming needs to find a way to win.
"So that's a challenge right now is that as the practice gets deeper into the practice, we better get better," Sawvel said.
“That’s a big piece of it.”
Offense Remains a Major Focus
Improving Wyoming's offense continues to be one of the biggest priorities of fall camp.
Sawvel said the Cowboys have placed too much pressure on their offensive line in recent seasons and have been too easy for opposing defenses to prepare for.
"I thought from an offensive standpoint, the last two years in this program that we put too much strain on the offensive line and we were too easy to defend," Sawvel said.
Wyoming enters the season with a new offensive system under offensive coordinator Christian Taylor, and Sawvel likes the potential he has seen through the opening two practices.
"I like the space that we're in offensively. I like the fact that we've got some players that I think can be threats," Sawvel said.
The Cowboys' ability to produce explosive plays is something Sawvel believes could make a difference.
"Even today, as things would rock along, defensively, the next thing you know, the offense would have a rip of a play," Sawvel said. "That's something that we hadn't had. We've got players that can do that."
Sawvel specifically mentioned running backs Sam Harris and Nico Hamilton as players capable of producing big plays.
"Sam Harris is a guy that can hit a home run any time. Nico Hamilton can. The quarterback can. There's just a lot of players that can hit home runs, and we need to be able to unlock that," Sawvel said. "That’s the reason that the blowtorch was taken."
Defense Sets High Expectations
While Wyoming continues rebuilding its offense, Sawvel has high expectations for his defense, which has always been a strong point for his team.
"My expectation: this is clearly our best defense since I've been here in 2020," Sawvel said. "That's my expectation, and we've got a lot of things to do to prove it and do that."
One reason for Sawvel's confidence is Wyoming's increased size and depth along the defensive front.
"We are stronger and bigger up front than we've ever been," Sawvel said. "We've never lined up with 250- and 255-pound defensive ends that can move and can do different things."
Sawvel pointed to Donnie Wingate, Jack Dunkley and several other defensive linemen as part of a group that has changed the physical makeup of Wyoming's front.
"We're in a far better place across the board in numbers and size than what we've been at those positions," Sawvel said.
Dunkley and Wingate have also made an impact away from the field after arriving from the FCS level.
Sawvel said the newcomers quickly embraced Wyoming's program and expectations.
"They've just bought into everything. They've sunk into everything. There's never been a second of resistance to anything," Sawvel said. "That's why, from a cultural standpoint, they've taken what you want as the standard. Then they've kind of lived that and they make other people hold that."
Kicking Game Showing Progress - More "Going For It" on 4th Down
Wyoming also received an encouraging performance from kicker Erik Sandvik during Thursday's practice.
Sawvel said Sandvik went 15-for-15 during the team's field-goal period on Thursday.
Sawvel is admittedly excited to see the progress Sandvik has made, but he has some other goals with his revamped offense this season. He wants an offense capable of staying on the field rather than settling for field goals. Sawvel added that he wants to keep the offense on the field on fourth down more often.
Cowboys Move Toward Pads
Wyoming practiced without full pads during its first two days of camp. The Cowboys will continue gradually increasing the physicality of practices under NCAA acclimatization rules.
"Tomorrow [Friday] we get to go half pads," Sawvel said. He continued… “You’ve got spiders for two. You['ve] got to be half pads for three. You get to practice 6 before you can go full pads."
Sawvel is focusing on continuing to increase the level of execution as the practices become more demanding…and in pads down the road.
"So we got to be a lot sharper," Sawvel said.
Wyoming will continue fall camp as the Cowboys work toward their first full-padded practices and the first scrimmage of camp.
Overtime: Quotable
Sawvel isn't hiding from a big, obvious goal; he wants to score more points. He has mentioned it to the media several times.
Jay's response to a reporter regarding a question about Tyson Shamsid-Deen, who plays defense and offense.
“I want to score a bunch of points, OK? So I don't give a **** if it's somebody from the band that plays for us in that regard. I just want to score a bunch of points... That's the whole goal.”
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