Wyoming’s Taylor Hasselbeck Suffers Season-Ending Knee Injury

LARAMIE -- If you were wondering why Wyoming signed a quarterback in late July, the cat is now out of the bag.

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Taylor Hasselbeck, a three-star recruit and the son of former NFL signal caller Tim Hasselbeck, will miss his freshman season after suffering an ACL tear during offseason workouts, head coach Jay Sawvel announced on Wednesday, the opening day of fall camp in Laramie.

"The disappointment for Taylor, No. 1, he's a football junkie, and I appreciate that part of it," Sawvel said, adding Hasselbeck underwent a successful surgery on Tuesday. "(He comes from a) great, great family and he's going to be really good. I've seen him throw

"... The disappointing thing would be he's not getting fall camp development, and then really a season of kind of running the scout team."

Hasselbeck, because of the NCAA's newly-adopted "5-in-5 rule," will lose a season of eligibility.

Sawvel said because the rookie wasn't likely to see the field this fall anyway, he was going to forfeit that "redshirt" season "in a sense" anyway.

The 6-foot-2, 191-pound Nashville product threw for 1,790 yards and 18 touchdowns during his first season as a full-time starter, leading Ensworth High School to a berth in the 2025 TSSAA DII-AAA state semifinals. Hasselbeck completed 70.5% of his passes and was picked off just three times.

He received offers from Wyoming, Tulsa, Eastern Michigan and Murray State. Auburn, Duke, North Carolina State, Liberty and Coastal Carolina also kicked the tires.

Hasselbeck was originally recruited by former offensive coordinator Jay Johnson. Despite being fired in late October, the Tennessee native kept his commitment. That decision wasn't lost on Sawvel.

"That's not always easy, and a lot of times when you do that, the quarterback commit would then decide to go somewhere else," he said on signing day last December. "The fact that every time I would talk to Taylor, he would be like, 'I trust you, I know you're going to get this right. I know you're going to do what you need to do.' Tim understood it, too."

Sawvel hired new play-caller Christian Taylor last December.

The Wyoming staff made a late addition to the QB room on July 27, inking dual-threat Tyler Franklin. The three-star prospect from Fresno, Calif., also threw 18 touchdowns last season to go along with 2,224 yards through the air. He added 239 more on the ground and found the end zone with his legs seven times.

He is expected to take over scout team duties, a responsibility that would've likely landed on the right shoulder of Hasselbeck.

Tyler Hughes, the team's presumptive starter under center, is a graduate transfer. He spent the previous four seasons at William and Mary. Last fall, the 6-foot, 200-pound Georgia native completed 66.2% of his passing attempts while throwing for 2,330 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for 670 yards and 11 more scores.

The back-up battle is plausible between junior Landon Sims and redshirt freshman Mason Drube. The latter entered the fray last November after Sims suffered a season-ending knee injury, the third torn ACL of his career. The Gillette product completed 20-of-38 passes for 187 yards and an interception.

Sims was inserted into the lineup after Johnson was relieved of his duties, adding a new element to a stagnant Cowboy offense. He responded by rushing for 97 yards on just 15 carries and scored a touchdown in a 28-0 blanking of Border War rival Colorado State. He completed 6-of-8 attempts through the air and connected with running back Sam Scott for a 3-yard scoring strike early in the first quarter the following Saturday at San Diego State.

Gage Brook, who was in the QB room the previous three seasons, has made the full-time transition to tight end, though Sawvel said he will take "emergency reps" in fall camp.

Last year's starter, Kaden Anderson, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and is now at Tarleton State.

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