Know the Foe: A closer look at Wyoming

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

It took a long time – a school record 4 hours, 14 minutes – but Wyoming collected its first season-opening victory over an FBS team since 2008 by outlasting Northern Illinois in triple overtime late Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

That’s impressive – and important – for a Wyoming team coming off a 2-10 record and one that started 10 underclassmen against the Huskies.

“Even though our football team is a young football team,” third-year Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said, “they’re pretty dog-gone mature and focused for where they’re at.”

Bohl, who came to Laramie after leading North Dakota State to three national championships at the FCS level, is a former Nebraska player and coach, having last served as defensive coordinator in 2002. He has family still living in Lincoln, but this is strictly a business trip, he said.

Bohl wants none of the spotlight.

“I think any college coach will tell you it’s about the players,” he said. “You focus about the players at hand and you focus about our players here.”

He called Memorial Stadium “one of the top college venues in the country,” but that’s as close as he came to reminiscing.

Here’s a look at the Cowboys, who bring an 0-7 series record against Nebraska into Saturday’s 11 a.m. game (ESPN2) at Memorial Stadium:

Wyoming offense

Let’s start with quarterback Josh Allen, who played all of 13 snaps before injury ended his 2015 season.

He’s back, he’s healthy and he’s dangerous.

Coach Craig Bohl wondered how Allen would respond in his first action in more than a year. Bohl saw a player with strong legs, a live arm and somebody who improved as Saturday’s game progressed, particularly with his reads.

“We like the fact that he’s aggressive and he’s confident,” Bohl said, noting Allen’s quick release and good velocity. “He can get the ball sometimes in places that normally you go, ‘Well, I probably shouldn’t throw that.’ But he’s got that ability. We appreciate that.”

Allen, named the Mountain West Conference offensive player of the week, finished 19-of-29 passing for 245 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions (although he threw an interception negated by penalty). Senior receivers Jake Maulhardt and Tanner Gentry had 106 and 104 yards receiving, respectively.

“He has got a gun for an arm,” Nebraska defensive coordinator Mark Banker said of Allen. “I don’t know how much you’ve seen of him, but he’s very, very impressive. He’s really good when he rolls out to his right. Doesn’t even set his feet, snaps that wrist off. He made a 45-yard throw on the run last week, and accurate.”

What’s challenging for Nebraska is that Allen can beat defenses by scrambling for yards, as he did on his-game winning touchdown in overtime. Banker said Allen is most adept at running straight up the middle. Allen can also make plays out of the pocket and strong throws on the run.

That’s one reason, Bohl noted, that Wyoming allowed no sacks, although he was also pleased with the play of the offensive line, led by senior guard Chase Roullier, a member of the Outland Trophy watch list.

“The offensive line did a good job protecting and moving the line of scrimmage,” Bohl said.

It also paved the way for junior running back Brian Hill, who ran for 125 yards. He doesn’t garner the attention of Leonard Fournette or Christian McCaffery, but he keeps company with them as top returning rushers from 2015. Fournette, from LSU, and McCaffery, from Stanford, are No. 1 and 2 on that list, and Hill is No. 6, having run for 1,631 yards last season.

“He has got the heart of a lion,” Banker said. “He runs hard, he pushes the pile. He’s got great balance, great toughness. He does not go down.

“This is going to be a lunch-bucket game, with a quarterback who can not only deliver the ball, but he also will beat you with his feet.”

Wyoming defense

Perhaps it’s too early to declare a complete turnaround for the Wyoming rush defense, which allowed 5.28 yards per rush last season, and 225 per game.

Early results indicate the Cowboys are headed in a direction, though. They held Northern Illinois to 133 rushing yards – 94 in regulation. That’s notable because Northern Illinois averaged more than 190 yards last season, and the Huskies returned their two leading rushers — running backs Joel Bouagnon (1,285 yards) and Jordan Huff (653).

Bohl said better recruiting is starting to pay dividends in the trenches. He said the Cowboys’ defensive line has better quickness and discipline than last year.

However, Northern Illinois burned Wyoming on a couple of jet sweeps, and Bohl is concerned about keeping Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong contained.

“He’s extremely dangerous when he gets out on the corner, making plays with his legs or being able to throw on the run,” Bohl said. “A lot of that comes down to being disciplined in your rush lanes, making sure you are doing your job, and not somebody else’s job, and then you’ve got to have athleticism.”

Sophomore safety Andrew Wingard leads the Wyoming secondary after being names a first team freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America as a true freshman, when he led the Cowboys with 122 tackles, which ranked No. 12 in the nation. The son of former Nebraska punter Dan Wingard (1983-85), Andrew is on the Jim Thorpe watch list.

Despite the fact Nebraska attempted only 13 passes against Fresno State, Bohl is aware of Armstrong’s capabilities – “He can throw the ball a country mile,” he said – and the Huskers’ fleet group of receivers.

“They had a big-time strike throwing the ball deep,” Bohl said of Armstrong’s 57-yard strike to Alonzo Moore. “He’s got a real live arm. It puts us in a real challenging position. Any time you’re a defensive coordinator and you have a quarterback who has one, the ability to throw, the ability to run …. and then you’ve got a big, strong line with a good group of running backs.”

Nebraska offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf saw an active, multiple Wyoming defense on film.

“They were fast, they’re not overly big, but I thought they flew around to the ball," Langsdorf said. "I thought they were real active in their pressure packages. They’ve got a ton of stuff, they did that in their first game. A lot of pressure and really flew around to the ball.”

Wyoming special teams

The season opener presented a mixed bag of results for the Wyoming special teams units. The Cowboys returned two kicks for touchdowns – a punt and a kickoff – but had both called back because of penalty.

Bohl said he’s pleased with improved team speed on kick coverage, and Wyoming ranked No. 21 last season in punt return coverage (4.6 yards per return).

Freshman kicker Cooper Rothe was 2-of-4 on field goals in his debut; he was successful on what would’ve been a game-winning field goal in regulation, had Northern Illinois not called a late time out. Rothe missed his ensuing attempt, forcing overtime.

Punter Ethan Wood is a candidate for the Ray Guy Award (he averaged 41.8 yards per punt last season) and kickoff returner D.J. May averaged 26.2 yards per return last season.