Despite late shortcomings, young Cowboys exceed expectations

Jan. 7—LARAMIE — Making a bowl game for a team picked fifth out of six teams in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West preseason poll would seem like a stretch.

That was the case for the University of Wyoming, a team that started the season with the third-youngest roster in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Cowboys finished the regular season 7-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play before dropping 30-27 in overtime to Ohio in last week's Arizona Bowl.

After a sloppy 38-6 road loss to Illinois to start the season, the Cowboys put together a strong three-game winning streak which included wins over Tulsa, Northern Colorado and Air Force. UW stumbled in its next two games, dropping 38-24 to Brigham Young on the road and 33-16 to San Jose State at home.

The Cowboys kept their division title hopes alive with wins over New Mexico, Utah State, Hawaii and Colorado State. After a thrilling 14-13 win over the Rams for the Bronze Boot in Fort Collins, the wheels came off for UW with a painful 20-17 loss to the eventual Mountain Division champion Boise State.

All the momentum of a month-long winning streak came crashing down with the heartbreaking loss to the Broncos, which derailed any hopes UW had of playing in the MW title game for the first time since 2016. The Cowboys never really recovered from the emotional loss, finishing the regular season with a lopsided 30-0 loss at Fresno State.

"I was concerned after the Boise game," UW coach Craig Bohl said after the Cowboys' blowout loss in Fresno. "When I talked to a couple of our players, like Easton Gibbs, to see where they were at physically and mentally, they were very transparent with me. It was a tough, tough game.

"To say one team beat us twice, I don't know if that's accurate. But I can tell you that it wasn't until later in the week that we really got a bounce in our step."

For the fifth time in Bohl's tenure in Laramie, the Cowboys had the chance to end the season on a high note with a postseason bowl game. Bohl's ninth season at UW was his sixth time winning at least six games, and the bowl game granted one of the youngest teams in the country an extra 15 practices in December.

The shorthanded Cowboys battled with Ohio in the Arizona Bowl, and even led by three points with 2 minutes, 7 seconds left in regulation. UW's offense stalled on its first drive of overtime, which forced Bohl to settle for a field goal. The Bobcats took advantage with a game-winning touchdown pass five plays later.

Despite the three-game losing skid to end the season, few could argue that this year's Cowboys didn't outplay their expectations. While the team beat just two bowl-eligible teams in its 13-game season, simply making a bowl game seemed out of the question for the Cowboys six months ago.

"The thing that's exciting for me is probably reflected in where we were slotted," Bohl said in July. "We are so unknown. It doesn't mean we can't be good, though. I see some great promise and some real optimism with some younger players who are unproven."

Bohl's ability to get the most out of this year's roster is a testament for the program's ability to develop players out of high school. All season, the veteran coach wasn't shy about describing this year's team as one of his favorite groups he's ever coached.

"I can't say enough about this football team," Bohl said after the Arizona Bowl. "I personally enjoyed coaching them. ... There's a lot to work with in the future, and that'll come."

With national signing day Feb. 1, the Cowboys will be without at least 15 players who were on the roster this fall. The list includes eight players transferring out, six players graduating and Titus Swen, who was UW's leading rusher before being kicked off the team and eventually declaring for the NFL draft.

Outgoing transfers for the Cowboys include cornerback Cameron Stone, defensive end Oluwaseyi Omotosho, wide receiver Joshua Cobbs, running back Joey Braasch, nickelback Keynote Glinton, wide receiver Tyrese Grant, nickelback Zaire Jackson and defensive end Akili Bonner.

Graduating players include guard Zach Watts, tackle Eric Abojei, center Marco Machado, tight end Jackson Marcotte, safety Miles Williams and tight end/fullback Parker Christensen.

"The make of this group, some guys like Zach Watts or (Eric Abojei), the guys who are here, that are here and are really committed to Wyoming and love Wyoming, to lose some of the older players like Miles (Williams) and guys who have been here, that's always tough," Bohl said after the Arizona Bowl. "But, I can tell you that they laid a great foundation for some younger and impressionable players.

"... Football is a hard game. These guys stuck it out and they were really committed. That really rubbed off on other guys in practice and with how we played."

Since becoming bowl-eligible with a 27-20 road win over Hawaii—which was Bohl's first win in three trips to Honolulu—Bohl was adamant a bowl game should be looked at as a reward for a football team. Despite losing to Ohio in Tucson, Bohl was nothing but grateful for his players to have the opportunity to play in the Arizona Bowl last month.

"This bowl experience for our players was phenomenal," Bohl said. "The Arizona Bowl combined with Barstool, it does a great job, and I've experienced about every doggone bowl there is.

"That's part about what this is about. A community bringing in two really good football programs from different conferences and celebrating that. The game and the atmosphere and everything else, it was first-class all the way."

Next season will be the first year the MW does away with the traditional two-division format. All 12 teams will be sandwiched together, with the top two teams of the conference meeting for the MW title game in December.

For UW, the nonconference season could be both exciting and terrifying. The Cowboys will host Texas Tech and Portland State to start the season before traveling to play Texas in Austin. A home matchup with Appalachian State will close out a tough nonconference slate in September at War Memorial Stadium.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway for this year's Cowboys was the team's attitude toward winning. Preseason polls and outside expectations had no effect on how a young but gritty football team migrated through the regular season schedule.

"When you have a young team, the more that young people believe in what the coaches talk about and they put it on the line, their expectation is that when they do that, they win," Bohl said after the Cowboys' 20-17 loss to Boise State in November. "For them not to win, I was concerned about it.

"... They had their eyes set on winning the Mountain (Division). I know a lot of people at the beginning of the year would have said, 'Well shoot, you ought to be just happy you're competitive.' Well, that's not the attitude of these young guys."

Looking ahead to next year, the foundation for success is there. It's up to Bohl and the Cowboys to continue to make the most of it.

Alex Taylor covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net or 269-364-3560. Follow him on Twitter at @alex_m_taylor22.