LARAMIE -- Was it a good time for a bye week?

The jury is out on that one every year.

Wyoming quarterback Sean Chambers said after the 24-22 escape job in East Hartford that he wanted to play immediately. Treyton Welch wanted to get back on the field, too, but arguably no one benefitted more from a week off. The Cowboys tight end suffered an ankle injury in Week 3 against Ball State.

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He said he could've played against UConn. Craig Bohl decided not to take the risk.

Now, Welch says he's 100% ready to go.

That's good news for Wyoming. Bohl said part of the team's slow start against the Huskies can be attributed to missing Welch. High praise for a young tight end, huh?

Here are some other news and notes from Bohl's weekly Zoom press conference:

* Is Air Force really a rival? Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun is hesitant to say as much. Bohl ... isn't. "I would consider a rivalry game," he said. "You go in our locker room ... it's a rivalry game. Maybe it's not to coach Calhoun, but it is to us."

* The bye gave players -- like Welch and fellow tight end, Colin O'Brien -- a chance to heal some wounds, but it also gives the Cowboys an extra week of preparation for Air Force's triple-option attack. "Well, I think one thing about Air Force, schematically through the years, I've seen how they've adapted to their personnel. They know who they are," Bohl said. "They always seem to have the answers to what you present them so it's one of those things beyond being a triple option offense, there's power within their offense."

 

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS:
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* Do you consider the Wyoming-Air Force matchup a rivalry game?
* Tucker: What have we learned about this Wyoming team?
* PRESS PASS: When in New England ...

 

* Speaking of power. Bohl thinks this could be one of the toughest Falcons teams he has ever faced. "I think this is probably the most physical football team at Air Force that I've coached against," he said. "I know coach Calhoun and those cadets take pride in themselves being a really physical football team. They certainly are as I've watched all the game tape on both sides of the ball and on special teams, as well."

* Discipline, something the Cowboys lacked at UConn, racking up 10 penalties for 99 yards, will be imperative against the Academy. "We'll actually, we go out and we practiced without a football," Bohl said. "We want to make sure everybody's doing their responsibilities ... Whenever you think that you've got them stopped, all of a sudden they've come up with a play action pass, and it's a big, big gain. So, they have the ability to throw. It's a challenging offense."

* Bohl was asked what his thoughts were on the news that Colorado State and this Air Force team would be sticking around the Mountain West after talks heated up last week about the potential of those two jumping to the American Athletic Conference. "We've been in our own foxhole, but I can tell you the Mountain West is an excellent conference," he said. "It's a conference that has challenged me personally and I've coached in about every single one of them. We're all excited about the 12 members."

* Bohl said his tenure as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Nebraska has prepared him for games against option teams. The Huskers ran it to perfection in those days. He also brought up another interesting point -- young coaches today don't see it often enough to know it inside and out. "You know, some weeks I get more engaged in coaching," Bohl said. "I hate to say it, but this is something that is somewhat, I guess, within my wheelhouse. A lot of young coaches these days really never are confronted with option football, so our coaching staff has worked hard. Our players have worked hard."

* How about a Bohl-ism? "The price of poker has gone up," he said. "This is a big, big ball game. We're excited. The bye week came where it did I think we utilized it well."

* This week, the scout team quarterback -- despite likely not seeing the field on gameday in any capacity -- could be the MVP. Bohl agreed with that statement, but he isn't saying who is under center against the Cowboys' No. 1 defense.

* Bohl was more than complimentary of the Falcons' front seven on defense. "Those guys fly around to the football, they're disruptive, they're sound, and then, they back that up by being sound on the back end," he said. "So, they know who they are."

* Air Force is ranked 14th in the nation in total defense, allowing just 286 yards of offense and 16.7 points per game. As always, the Falcons are the top rushing team in the country, too, averaging 367 yards per game on the ground. That's an average of 5.5 yards per carry.

* Stay tuned to 7220sports.com for all your Wyoming athletics coverage

Just The Facts: Size Doesn't Matter For Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium

Did you know it would take the populations of Gillette (32,857), Laramie (32,381), Rock Springs (23,319), Sheridan (17,844) and Wright (1,200) to create a sellout inside Michigan's famed 107,601-seat Big House, the largest college football stadium in the nation?

For those of you not familiar with the Cowboy State, those are Wyoming's third through sixth most inhabited cities, along with the small mining town in Campbell County.

- Just The Facts: Size Doesn't Matter For Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium

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