‘I Got My Opportunity And I’m Going To Take It’

LARAMIE -- Wyoming provided an opportunity.

Wyoming gave him a sense of belonging.

Wyoming believed he could make a difference.

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There are a number of reasons Clay Nanke chose to leave Colorado State. He spent three years south of the border. He was on scholarship there. Still, the junior said, his name was often nowhere to be found on the depth chart.

Scott Patchan, Mohamed Kamara and Dallin Holker, All-Mountain West selections at Nanke's positions, had plenty to do with that.

There was another inducement to coming to Laramie and leaving Fort Collins in the rear-view mirror for the Denver product.

Wyoming has the Bronze Boot.

"It's about time," Joked Nanke, when asked what it's like to now have possession of that traveling trophy after three failed attempts. "I definitely haven't been able to hold that thing. I'm hoping that this year we'll be able to keep it, and even though I'm on this side, you know, hopefully I'll get to take that home with me."

Sure, he's taken some ribbing from his former teammates, coaches and CSU fans. Nanke, who played both defensive end and tight end during his time there, said the Border War was always a topic of discussion in the locker room, accompanied by a year-round countdown to kickoff on the wall.

Steve Addazio preached the rivalry gospel. So does Jay Norvell, he added.

Wyoming initially offered Nanke out of Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora. If he knew back in 2021 what he knows now, he admitted, his fingerprints would've already been smudged all over that combat boot.

"I have a little brother and I wanted to be closer to home," he said. "If I could go back and switch my decision, I would. But at the same time, I learned so much from being there and just how different a program can be from another. You know, it's completely different at CSU than it is here."

How?

"I think for me, specifically, the staff there didn't have a whole bunch of faith in me and didn't really give me a lot of opportunities," Nanke continued. "... I've been given more chances here than I ever did there. That's even just in practice reps."

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound tight end has a laid-back demeanor and the flowing hairstyle to match. He's witty and welcoming. Quick to flash a smile.

Nanke says he's found a new home on the high plains. Despite the Cowboys' 0-3 start, the now walk-on said he finally feels like a contributor.

That was the case last Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd inside War Memorial Stadium.

Untouched off the line, Nanke flew up the seam and found just enough space between a BYU linebacker and safety to haul in a second-quarter dart from quarterback Evan Svoboda. He wrapped both hands around the ball and hit the deck near midfield. It was a 24-yard gain. More importantly, it was arguably the best pitch and catch of the young season for this much-maligned offense.

That grab sparked an 11-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a Svoboda rushing touchdown. Wyoming cut the visiting Cougars' lead in half with 5:11 remaining in the first half.

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That was Nanke's first-career catch. More importantly, it served as validation.

"I went up to (head coach Jay Sawvel) last week and I just said, 'I want to help this team,'" Nanke said. "He was thinking the same thing. He told me, you know, I've been doing well and I see what you can do. I want you to help this team, too."

Sawvel believes that can be the case moving forward, too, even with all-conference tight end John Michael Gyllenborg slowly returning to full health after suffering a high-ankle sprain in fall camp.

"Clay's very talented," Sawvel said. "He had a really, really good catch the other night. Like, a big play. And when you look at that, you're looking at that and going, 'OK, that looks the way it should look.' He's a 6-foot-5-plus guy, catching a ball like that over the middle of the field with the speed that he has. He's the fastest of our tight ends ... The hope is that you gain confidence by making a big play, that now you carry that forward into all your preparation, knowing the fact that you do need to play and we do need you on the field.

"Look, there's a vision for us, at some point, where he and John Mike are on the field at the same time. It gives you a lot of flexibility to do certain things."

Gyllenborg, who has been on the field for all of eight snaps this fall, it's itching for that opportunity, too.

"He's a specimen," the junior said, referring to Nanke. "First of all, he came in here in the winter and was just a skinny, tall kid from Colorado State. In the spring, the amount of improvement that he showed is crazy. Everyone has noticed it ... as the months have gone on, it's just been constant improvement. He's just got a great mindset of just soaking everything up and not complaining. He's just embracing our culture and I love the kid. He's a great guy."

Shannon Moore echoed those exact same sentiments.

"We're blessed that he's here," Wyoming's tight ends coach said. "He's been a great part of our room, just as a person, from a work-ethic standpoint and things like that. So, it's been exciting to see his growth over the last seven, eight months. It's been awesome to see."

The former three-star edge rusher is taking nothing for granted these days. He's earning his workload.

That's all he's ever asked for.

"I got that one target and, right when it was coming to me, I knew I had to catch it," he said. "I was like, this is my ball. You know, no one's going to take that from me. I got my opportunity and I'm going to take it."

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players