Harrison Waylee on the Mend After Wednesday Knee Surgery
LARAMIE -- Harrison Waylee was a little "loopy" Wednesday after undergoing a scope on his right knee.
Wyoming's running back was injured early in last Saturday's scrimmage. Jay Sawvel said it "didn't look good" initially, but early indications were this wasn't a season-ending setback.
That is still the case.
"He's doing fine. I think, you know, his surgery went well," the Cowboys' first-year head coach said Thursday during his weekly press conference. "We'll just see what that means, but the surgery went well. The extent of what needed to be done was on the side that we could have hoped for the most. So, you know, we're optimistic about his return."
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Sawvel said Waylee, who is in good spirits, texted him last night with a bizarre request -- a "freshman talent show" at the conclusion of camp.
"That wasn't something that was really the plan," he joked, adding the senior running back was a "little drugged" on Wednesday. "I don't know where that text came from."
Waylee, who rushed for 947 yards and five touchdowns on 164 attempts last fall, appeared in just 10 games in 2023. He missed the first two while recovering from offseason "reconstruction" on his opposite knee. He also was forced to the bench in a crucial road game at Air Force after being rolled up on late in the fourth quarter of a win over Fresno State.
The Johnston, Iowa product, who transferred to Laramie after three seasons at Northern Illinois, eclipsed the 100-yard mark in his first three games in a Wyoming uniform, including a season-high 191 yards in a win over New Mexico.
When will Waylee return to the lineup?
"When you have something like that, those next two weeks kind of determine that road map," Sawvel said. "If there's any kind of setback to it, then you'll know pretty quick. And if things move along pretty well, you'll know that pretty quick, too. So that's where we're at."
Waylee was recently named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List, an honor given to the top running back in college football. He is just 124 yards shy of reaching 3,000 for his career.
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DJ Jones, a senior transfer from North Carolina, is expected to have an increased workload with Waylee on the shelf. Same can be said for Sam Scott and Jamari Ferrell. Dawaiian McNeely is a full participant in practice, but Sawvel said he will not see action until he is 100% healthy after tearing his ACL in camp last September.
Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Lucas Samsula was also injured in the team's first scrimmage of the fall. He will miss the season after tearing his Achilles. Tyrese Boss, a true freshman cornerback, also underwent surgery Wednesday to repair ligaments in a finger. His timetable for return is unknown.
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