Pokes Practice Report: New Faces, Coaches and Challenges Await

LARAMIE -- How on earth do you even begin to prepare for a team that has nearly 40 transfers and a mostly new coaching staff?

That is the task awaiting Jay Sawvel and Co. in Fort Collins in just 12 short days. And they've been in this position before.

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Arizona State featured 30 new faces ahead of the 2024 opener in Tempe. That roster was such an unknown; even the Big XII media picked the Sun Devils to finish dead last in the 16-team league.

That didn't happen.

Led by signal caller Sam Leavitt, bruising running back Cam Skattebo and a stingy, athletic defense, ASU rolled to a conference title and a berth in the College Football Playoff, eventually falling in double overtime to Texas in the opening round.

Sawvel said before making his head coaching debut in the desert that his team needed to worry about the "controllables" like tackling, shedding blocks and limiting mistakes until the visiting staff could grasp how Kenny Dillingham was utilizing his personnel.

None of that happened, either.

Quarterback Evan Svoboda, on his first pass attempt of the season, tossed an interception right into the awaiting arms of linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu, who, along with a convoy, returned that gift 29 yards for a touchdown.

It only got worse from there.

Wyoming committed seven penalties and tacked on two more turnovers that resulted in 15 total points. The ground game was limited to just 1.3 yards per carry. The Cowboys picked up only eight first downs on the night -- three of which came on the final drive -- to go along with 118 yards of total offense.

That 48-7 rout served as a microcosm for what the next 14 months would look like under the tutelage of former play-caller Jay Johnson.

Sawvel echoed many of those same requests from his own players on Monday that he did two years ago. He wants assignment-sound football, which means communication, especially in a hostile environment like Canvas Stadium. During the Cowboys' second scrimmage of the fall last Saturday evening, he said there wasn't a single false start or delay-of-game penalty.

That's a start.

"When you have a coach situation and a bunch of new players, it's like you're going into a fight in the dark, right?" Sawvel said, referring to Colorado State and its new bench boss Jim Mora. "You know the opponent is there, you know that there's going to be punches thrown, but you don't know exactly what it looks like or where it's coming from."

If there is one familiarity it's with CSU's defense.

Tyson Summers, who served as the interim head coach last October when the Rams were blanked 28-0 inside War Memorial Stadium, is back at the controls of the defense in Fort Collins. Though he told the local media he will mix up coverages and blitzes, the structure will likely remain the same.

Wyoming's newly-crowned starting quarterback Tyler Hughes said he has watched last year's Border War "at least 40 times."

Does that mean anything in the long run?

"We've got the same defensive coordinator (Aaron Bohl) that we had a year ago," Sawvel added. "They probably look at it and say there are certain things, structurally, that they would expect."

It's the production on the other side of the ball that could hold the key to a 1-0 start and the Cowboys' 13th victory in the last 18 rivalry meetings.

"We're vastly different on offense," Sawvel said. "They will be vastly different on offense, too. We kind of look at all the different track records of what people have done before ... You don't fully know what you're getting and who you're getting it from."

EXTRA POINTS:

* Hughes Monday was officially named the starting QB. While that was not earth-shattering news, the real battle now is: who backs him up? That will be a constant competition between Mason Drube and Landon Sims. Stay tuned.

* Sawvel said he treated last seven days like an official game week. Real-life scenarios also played out on the field Saturday, including two-and-four-minute drills, overtime, goal line and short-yardage situations. That's not all. "We had to deal with a lightning delay, so we practiced that so maybe if we get that again, we don't start off in a 17-0 hole. That would be kind of the goal there, too." He's referring to the 2023 opener against Texas Tech, when a storm delayed kickoff. That's been a common theme during early fall games on the high plains. Think Northern Illinois in 2016.

* While Sawvel didn't get into many specifics about last Saturday's 95-play scrimmage inside War Memorial Stadium, social media videos showed Hughes with a long run to the end zone. The graduate transfer even heaved a ball into the southwest corner of the end zone that we reeled in by tight end Landon Pace. Freshman wideout Jaylen Williams also snagged a touchdown off the right arm of Tyler Franklin in the overtime period. What the head coach did say, though, was there was a clear-cut winner. "I don't know when the last time I've been here, where we've went into a scrimmage where you would come out of it and say, "OK, the offense won that one,'" Sawvel said. "So, that's good. That's really good."

* Running back Samuel "Tote" Harris (soft tissue) and receiver Ke'Lyn Washom (tendentious) did not participate in the team's second scrimmage. Harris was back at practice Monday. Washom is also expected to return to the field soon.

* The race to find two starting cornerbacks still isn't settled. And that's a good thing, if you ask Sawvel. He said David Leonard shines in the previous scrimmage, but rookies Therman "Boogie" Williams and Kendall Griffin are still in the mix. So is Ian Bell, Tyson Shamsid-Deen and Weber State transfer Logan Mackey. Expect that answer next Monday when the first depth chart is released.

* Wyoming recruit Michael Vander Luitgaren put on an absolute clinic in his 2026 debut last Friday night. The senior QB at Batavia High School in Illinois threw for a career-high 439 yards and five touchdowns, one of which was caught by another fellow UW verbal. Read all about it right HERE.

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* The Roaring Repeater Podcast, fueled by Laramie Range Ford, makes its return on Tuesday. Jared Newland and myself will hit record around 2 p.m. Mountain Time, so if you have any questions you want answered, send them via social media or to cody@7220sports.com. We will plan to go on each Tuesday throughout the season.

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