Spring Football In Review: Things To Be Pleased About

The Brown defeated the Gold 13-6 in a low scoring spring game wrapping up Wyoming’s second spring under head coach Dave Christensen. Here are a few thoughts and observations both good and bad about how I feel things went.

Things To Be Pleased About

– No major injuries!

Christensen runs a tough camp and while some players were banged up there weren’t as many injuries as last year and most importantly no one suffered an injury that will keep them out of games this fall. This is important for any team but especially for a program like ours which is trying to build depth at many positions.

– The switch from the 3-4 to the 4-3 is going very well. 

I’m a big proponent of the 3-4 defense because I believe it allows teams to disguise their blitz packages better. DC and his staff are more comfortable with the 4-3 and you have to coach what you know. The switch seems to be going very smoothly and the Pokes should have solid players at each level.

On the defensive line I was apprehensive about moving Gabe Knapton from MLB to DE but this looks like a very good move so far. Knapton was almost impossible to block and was giving the OT’s fits. Former OLB Josh Biezuns has converted to DE also which isn’t much of a change from his role last year. Remember the goal line stand in the NM Bowl? At linebacker the projected starters Devyn Harris, Brian Hendricks and Ghaali Muhammad are all very athletic and are backed up by Todd Knight and Keith Lewis who are just as athletic. This should be a solid group.  The secondary aslo improved this spring with every starter from last fall returning. The new 4-3 defense is said to simplify the Cowboys coverage schemes from last year which should cut down on the number of big yardage plays that were allowed last year.

– QB ACS Is The Man

The Cowboys will only go as far as QB Austyn Carta-Samuels will take them. Through the off-season and spring ball Carta-Samuels (6-2, 215) by all accounts has gotten bigger, faster, stronger and more familiar with the Cowboy’s spread offense. He has mentioned stepping up his leadership on the field too. The 2009 MWC freshman of the year should be much improved and that is trouble for the rest of the MWC. Carta-Samuels finds a way to make plays and there are few players who can do this game in and game out. His spring game numbers weren’t very good but we at Cowboy Tough aren’t worried at all.

Next Up: Spring In Review, Causes For Concern