The big 2015 Wyoming football guide: Patience is a virtue

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1. This is going to take some time

What Craig Bohl built in Fargo was incredible. His Bison ranked 17th in the Sagarin rankings in 2013, ahead of Wisconsin, Arizona State and Louisville. They ranked 35th in 2012 and 37th in 2011. For each of the last four seasons, they ranked ahead of Wyoming. But he had taken NDSU as far as he could.

Wyoming has been a jumpoff point for a lot of successful coaches -- Joe Tiller, Dennis Erickson and Pat Dye, to name three. But the Cowboys have attended three bowls since Tiller left for Purdue in 1996. Bohl won't inherit a blank slate, but it might take him some time to put the pieces together.

It's hard not to be optimistic, though. NDSU is closer to decent recruits than Wyoming, but not THAT much closer. If Bohl can approximate his NDSU levels, he'll win eight to 10 games a year. No coach is a sure thing, but Bohl is as close as it gets.

-- The big 2014 Wyoming football guide

We knew heading into 2014 that Bohl wasn't a miracle worker. His tenure at North Dakota State was incredible -- three FCS national titles, five 10-win seasons, a 6-3 record against FBS teams, a 43-2 overall record from 2011-13 -- but we knew he wasn't going to find the pieces he needed to find right out of the gates at Wyoming.

Still, it was difficult not to be curious. What if he immediately brings defensive competence? Is a first-year bowl a possibility? As with Buffalo hiring UW-Whitewater god Lance Leipold, it was hard to picture a Bohl team actually losing. I predicted a 5-7 finish, but given that as an over-under, I'd have been tempted to take the over.

Early, the over looked like the smart bet. Wyoming survived FCS heavyweight Montana, won close games against Air Force and FAU and led eventual national title finalist Oregon by seven points after one quarter in Eugene. A loss to another top team, Michigan State, made the Cowboys 3-2, but there was reason to believe that this team could do enough damage in the MWC to finish bowl eligible.

After allowing under 4.5 yards per play against Montana, Air Force, and FAU, Wyoming allowed 6.8 or greater in six of their final eight games. When you don't have the horses, you can only hide it for so long. Wyoming managed to put together a nearly perfect performance against a bad Fresno State team in early November but otherwise lost seven of eight to finish 4-8.

From 2010-13, Bohl's Bison lost seven games. In 2014, Bohl's Cowboys lost eight. Bohl knew what he was getting himself into, but a year into his new life, he finds himself attempting to avoid shortcuts. He's recruiting 175-pound receivers, 265-pound offensive linemen, 185-pound defensive ends, and 195-pound linebackers. He's attempting to sculpt molds of clay. A schedule full of brutal road games will keep the over/under low again this year.

2014 Schedule & Results

Record: 4-8 | Adj. Record: 2-10 | Final F/+ Rk: 113
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Percentile Performance	Adj. Scoring Margin	Win Expectancy
31-Aug	Montana	N/A	17-12	W	23%	-17.1	39%
7-Sep	Air Force	48	17-13	W	69%	11.9	62%
14-Sep	at Oregon	3	14-48	L	11%	-28.6	0%
21-Sep	Florida Atlantic	100	20-19	W	42%	-4.9	51%
28-Sep	at Michigan State	11	14-56	L	9%	-30.9	0%
12-Oct	at Hawaii	111	28-38	L	13%	-26.5	6%
19-Oct	San Jose State	116	20-27	L	22%	-18.0	15%
26-Oct	at Colorado State	49	31-45	L	10%	-30.1	0%
2-Nov	at Fresno State	102	45-17	W	89%	28.3	100%
8-Nov	Utah State	52	3-20	L	38%	-6.8	8%
23-Nov	Boise State	21	14-63	L	11%	-28.8	0%
30-Nov	at New Mexico	94	30-36	L	13%	-26.3	3%

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk
S&P+	24.5	93	35.7	111
Points Per Game	21.1	110	32.8	102

2. Depth kills

Wyoming wasn't playing amazing ball even during the 3-1 start. The defense was living up to the Bohl billing, allowing 4.3 yards per play and 14.7 points per game in the three wins. But the offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, failing to break 21 points in September, and the defense didn't have much to offer against athletic offenses like Oregon's and Michigan State's.

But as the offense figured out how to create bigger plays, the defense fell apart.

• Average Percentile Performance (first 4 games): 36% (record: 3-1)
• Average Percentile Performance (last 8 games): 26% (record: 1-7)

Going by percentiles, three of Wyoming's five best performances came in the first four weeks of the season. Then things got dicey. One of the Cowboys' two exciting running backs got hurt, the offensive line underwent constant shuffling, and the linebacking corps and secondary got walloped by injury. It was too much to handle for a team that didn't have any depth.

Worst of all, this was an experienced team. Wyoming will have to replace quite a few of last year's two-deep. Losing iffy players doesn't hurt, but losing iffy players that were better than others on the roster does.

That means that in Year 2, Bohl's still shuffling -- he moved three offensive players to defense before spring ball. While that's common in your first year, it's less common after that. And while recruiting mostly five-year players makes sense, it doesn't result in quick fixes.

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.87	54	IsoPPP+	85.5	102
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	36.1%	115	Succ. Rt. +	92.8	97
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	31.9	104	Def. FP+	97.0	101
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	3.9	108	Redzone S&P+	85.3	111
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	17.8		ACTUAL	18	+0.2

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	84	105	107	102
RUSHING	79	106	118	81
PASSING	68	95	66	105
Standard Downs		102	112	93
Passing Downs		94	83	102

Q1 Rk	110	1st Down Rk	104
Q2 Rk	96	2nd Down Rk	95
Q3 Rk	113	3rd Down Rk	120
Q4 Rk	64

3. The value of efficiency

There were 126 FBS running backs with at least 125 carries last season. Only six averaged at least 9 highlight yards per opportunity (second-level yards, basically), and two of them (Shaun Wick and Brian Hill) played for Wyoming. Only 32 had an opportunity rate (percentage of carries that go at least five yards) under 33 percent, and Wick and Hill were part of that group.

Wyoming might have had the most all-or-nothing run game in college football. The explosiveness numbers were spectacular, but if you're gaining zero yards four times for every nice gain, you're punting a lot.

For efficiency, Wyoming had to throw. Quarterback Colby Kirkegaard proved decent; he took too many sacks but was able to distribute to four different receivers with regularity. But now he's gone, as are the top two receivers. Wyoming's success, however you might define that, will come down to the running game's ability to more consistently gain four yards.

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2015 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Comp Rate	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Colby Kirkegaard					206	359	2660	12	9	57.4%	40	10.0%	6.0
Tom Thornton	6'1, 205	Jr.	2 stars	NR	4	10	50	0	1	40.0%	1	9.1%	3.9
Sam Stratton					2	5	23	0	0	40.0%	2	28.6%	2.3
Aaron Young	6'2, 201	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7785
Austin Fort	6'4, 218	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7738
Nick Smith	6'4, 215	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8138
Cameron Coffman (Indiana)	6'2, 186	Sr.	3 stars	NR
Josh Allen	6'5, 210	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8000

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Opp.	Opp. Rate	Fumbles	Fum. Lost
Brian Hill	RB	6'1, 204	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7593	145	796	7	5.5	10.8	24.1%	2	1
Shaun Wick	RB	5'10, 212	Sr.	NR	0.7500	127	753	6	5.9	9.1	32.3%	1	0
D.J. May	RB					56	260	2	4.6	5.6	33.9%	1	0
Colby Kirkegaard	QB					38	169	0	4.4	3.4	42.1%	6	5
Joshua Tapscott	RB	5'9, 205	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8020	15	80	2	5.3	20.8	13.3%	0	0
Dominic Rufran	WR					6	15	0	2.5	11.9	16.7%	1	1
Sam Stratton	QB					4	28	0	7.0	3.5	75.0%	0	0
Nico Evans	RB	5'9, 186	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7593
Kellen Overstreet	RB	5'11, 200	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8214

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Jalen Claiborne	WR-Z					77	41	576	53.2%	21.6%	54.5%	7.5	61	7.5	71.2
Dominic Rufran	WR-X					76	45	596	59.2%	21.3%	56.6%	7.8	43	7.9	73.6
Tanner Gentry	WR-X	6'2, 198	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7623	55	32	435	58.2%	15.4%	56.4%	7.9	40	7.9	53.8
Jake Maulhardt	WR-Z	6'6, 215	Jr.	NR	NR	39	21	274	53.8%	10.9%	48.7%	7.0	11	7.3	33.9
Jacob Hollister	TE	6'4, 230	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7759	28	17	244	60.7%	7.8%	42.9%	8.7	36	9.3	30.1
Brian Hill	RB	6'1, 204	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7593	17	13	204	76.5%	4.8%	35.3%	12.0	52	11.1	25.2
Shaun Wick	RB	5'10, 212	Sr.	NR	0.7500	16	10	62	62.5%	4.5%	50.0%	3.9	-60	3.8	7.7
Eric Nzeocha	TE					14	8	65	57.1%	3.9%	57.1%	4.6	-34	4.6	8.0
D.J. May	RB					10	8	144	80.0%	2.8%	30.0%	14.4	51	16.2	17.8
J.D. Krill	TE					10	7	48	70.0%	2.8%	60.0%	4.8	-35	4.8	5.9
Trey Norman	WR					4	3	19	75.0%	1.1%	25.0%	4.8	-16	3.6	2.3
Keenan Montgomery	WR					3	1	4	33.3%	0.8%	66.7%	1.3	-10	1.2	0.5
Jordan Ellis	FB	6'2, 230	Jr.	NR	NR	2	2	28	100.0%	0.6%	100.0%	14.0	5	N/A	3.5
Tom Thornton	WR	6'1, 205	Jr.	2 stars	NR
Justice Murphy	WR	6'0, 180	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8423
C.J. Johnson	WR	6'2, 180	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8199
Dameko Doddles	WR	6'2, 205	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8050
Joseph Parker	WR	5'10, 175	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7793

4. Youth taking over, part 1

Wyoming will not lack for running backs. Hill and Wick were incredibly dangerous. Plus, Hill was only a freshman, so some of his horrific efficiency numbers should improve. Joshua Tapscott saw action as a freshman, too, and incoming freshman Kellen Overstreet was a three-star recruit per the 247Sports Composite and was named a Parade All-American.

But offensive coordinator Brent Vigen's stab at a West Coast offense requires balance. That requires passing, and both Kirkegaard and top targets Jalen Claiborne and Dominic Rufran are gone.

All three were basically of a replacement level -- you could do better, and you could do worse. And there are certainly interesting replacement candidates. Backup quarterback Tom Thornton has moved to receiver, but any of up to five quarterbacks could end up contributing, from former JUCO transfers Aaron Young and Josh Allen, to redshirt freshmen Austin Fort and Nick Smith, to Indiana transfer Cameron Coffman (2,734 yards with a 61 percent completion rate and 11 picks in 2012). It appears Coffman is the betting favorite, and that makes sense from an experience standpoint.

Replacing Claiborne and Rufran is tricky but doable. Juniors Tanner Gentry and Jake Maulhardt had nearly identical per-target averages, and tight end Jacob Hollister hinted at explosiveness (which is good if you're going to be a starting tight end at 230 pounds).

Beyond the first string, though, it's all newcomers. Tom Thornton will be in the rotation, and any of four exciting freshman receivers will see the field if they're ready. Justice Murphy, C.J. Johnson and Dameko Doddles were three of the Cowboys' most highly touted signees, and unlike a lot of the incoming freshmen, they seem closer to being physically ready.

Wyoming will be counting on underclassmen. That probably means great things for 2017, but it will likely mean more inconsistency in 2015, even if Coffman wins the job and plays well.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	95.4	2.74	3.29	29.8%	68.3%	18.0%	68.6	6.9%	11.0%
Rank	90	92	62	126	60	47	119	103	113

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Jake Jones	RG					31
Connor Rains	RT					23
Rafe Kiely	C	6'3, 306	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7000	17
Chase Roullier	LG	6'4, 293	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7883	16
Ryan Cummings	LT	6'5, 294	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7483	7
Nathan Leddige	OT					6
Austin Traphagan	LT					4
Sam Hardy	RG					4
Charlie Renfree	LG	6'3, 268	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7774	0
Jacob English	C	6'5, 300	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7519	0
Taylor Knestis	RT	6'5, 288	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7813	0
Cole Turner	OL	6'4, 285	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7744
Richard Bettencourt	OG	6'3, 284	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7685
Kaden Jackson	OL	6'2, 265	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7793

5. Youth taking over, part 2

For five straight weeks, from the Florida Atlantic game to Colorado State, Wyoming started a different combination at offensive line. That hindered the growth of an offense that was already challenged, but considering the shuffling, the run blocking numbers weren't bad. While not many Wyoming rushes reached the second level, very few ended in the backfield; the Cowboys ranked 47th in Stuff Rate and 60th in Power Success Rate. That's encouraging.

At least, it would be encouraging if five of the eight with starting experience didn't depart. Senior center Rafe Kiely and junior guard Chase Roullier each started for about a season and a half, and tackle Ryan Cummings got dunked in the pool as a freshman. Beyond them, though, Wyoming is looking at quite a few redshirt freshmen and sophomores to fill the rotation. If the Cowboys match last year's stuff rate and power numbers, that will be a victory.

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.96	113	IsoPPP+	89.2	105
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	44.8%	101	Succ. Rt. +	93.8	94
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	26.3	126	Off. FP+	93.0	128
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.6	85	Redzone S&P+	95.8	79
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	17.2		ACTUAL	16.0	-1.2

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	91	102	95	105
RUSHING	103	80	60	96
PASSING	62	98	114	85
Standard Downs		92	89	94
Passing Downs		108	107	104

Q1 Rk	110	1st Down Rk	101
Q2 Rk	96	2nd Down Rk	105
Q3 Rk	114	3rd Down Rk	116
Q4 Rk	62

6. That was the right adjective, Coach

'I thought we were woeful, if that’s the right adjective … we just couldn’t run well enough on defense,' Bohl said. 'We need more speed and athleticism on defense.'

Even when your coach is a phenomenal defensive mind, you need the talent. It showed everywhere.

Wyoming tried to attack the run, produced decent efficiency numbers, and killed in short-yardage situations, but if you got past the line, you were running a long way. The Cowboys tried to corral opponents' passing games and did a decent job of preventing big plays but allowed all the 10-yard completions you wanted to attempt. Woeful field position did the Cowboys no favors, either.

Iffy depth turned into nightmarish depth when injuries set in. While five of the top six linemen played in all 12 games, two key linebackers missed a combined seven games, and only two defensive backs played in all 12. Bohl couldn't play defense the way he wanted to, and considering the turnover in the back seven, he might not be able to in 2015 either.

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	95.6	3.19	3.26	40.1%	59.5%	18.8%	64.1	1.7%	6.4%
Rank	84	101	65	82	23	73	117	124	82

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Eddie Yarbrough	DE	6'3, 251	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.7500	12	47.0	7.3%	10.5	4.0	0	1	1	0
Patrick Mertens	DT					12	26.5	4.1%	5.0	2.0	0	1	0	0
Uso Olive	NT	6'1, 301	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7200	12	17.0	2.6%	2.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Siaosi Hala'api'api	DE	6'2, 255	Sr.	2 stars	0.7000	12	16.5	2.6%	5.5	3.0	0	0	0	0
Riley Lange	DE					10	13.0	2.0%	2.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Chase Appleby	NT	6'0, 260	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7500	12	9.5	1.5%	1.0	0.0	0	2	0	0
Sonny Puletasi	DE					8	7.5	1.2%	1.5	0.0	0	1	0	0
Seth Edeen	DE	6'3, 203	So.	NR	NR	4	5.0	0.8%	2.0	2.0	0	0	0	0
Troy Boyland	DT	6'2, 297	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8400	8	2.5	0.4%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Dalton Fields	DT	6'3, 272	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7719
Tavita Faaiu	DE	6'3, 245	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7933
Carl Granderson	DE	6'5, 185	Fr.	NR	0.8200
Youhanna Ghaifan	DT	6'4, 255	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7726

7. The front is a (relative) strength

The line did not avoid turnover overall, losing leading tackler Patrick Mertens and reserve ends Riley Lange and Sonny Puletasi. But with ends Eddie Yarbrough and Siaosi Hala'api'api returning alongside big tackle Uso Olive, there's something to build around here. Yarbrough and Hala'api'api combined for seven sacks and nine non-sack tackles for loss and will be joined by JUCO transfer Tavita Faaiu.

Olive was key in Wyoming's short-yardage success, and while returning junior Chase Appleby is undersized for his position (and size will likely prevent two exciting freshmen -- end Carl Granderson and tackle Youhanna Ghaifan -- from contributing early), Olive and Troy Boyland could make sure Wyoming has some girth when it needs to.

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Devyn Harris	WILL					12	63.0	9.8%	5.5	0.0	0	2	2	1
Mark Nzeocha	SAM					7	47.5	7.4%	3.0	2.0	0	5	2	0
Lucas Wacha	SAM	6'1, 214	Jr.	2 stars	0.7000	12	41.5	6.5%	4.0	0.0	0	1	0	0
Jordan Stanton	MIKE					10	34.0	5.3%	2.0	1.0	0	0	1	0
Will Tutein	LB	6'2, 210	Jr.	NR	NR	12	27.0	4.2%	2.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Jeff Lark	SAM					9	6.0	0.9%	0.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
Oscar Nevermann	SAM					11	2.0	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Malkaam Muhammad	LB	6'0, 228	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7783	6	1.5	0.2%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Trent Sewell	LB	6'2, 196	Jr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8534
Eric Nzeocha	LB	6'3, 211	Jr.	NR	0.7100
Jaylon Watson	LB	6'0, 215	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7726
Christian Irving	LB	5'11, 195	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7856

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Blair Burns	CB					12	50.5	7.9%	1.5	0	0	2	2	1
Tim Kamana	FS	5'11, 196	So.	2 stars	NR	12	35.5	5.5%	0	0	1	2	0	0
DeAndre Jones	CB					8	34.5	5.4%	0	0	0	2	0	0
Robert Priester	CB	5'9, 168	So.	NR	0.7000	11	34.0	5.3%	0	0	0	2	2	0
Darrenn White	FS					7	32.5	5.1%	1.5	0	0	1	0	0
Jesse Sampson	SS					6	26.5	4.1%	0.5	0	0	4	0	0
Tyran Finley	CB	5'9, 177	Sr.	NR	NR	11	15.5	2.4%	2	0	2	1	0	0
Luke Kellum	FS					4	8.5	1.3%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Hayes	CB					8	8.0	1.2%	0	0	0	1	0	0
Xavier Lewis	SS	6'0, 195	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7719	11	7.0	1.1%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ryon'e Winters	CB	6'0, 180	So.	NR	0.7333	9	4.0	0.6%	0	0	0	0	0	0
D.J. May	S	5'11, 205	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.8100
Antonio Hull	CB	5'10, 185	Fr.	NR	0.7933
Kevin Jackson	S	6'3, 185	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7793
Andrew Wingard	S	6'0, 175	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7759

8. Youth taking over, Part 3

Devyn Harris was a nice run defender, and before injury, Mark Nzeocha was a solid all-around linebacker. Cornerback Blair Burns was a solid tackler and help defender, and safeties Darrenn White and Jesse Sampson each hinted at play-making ability when they were able to stay on the field. They're all gone. Wyoming must replace five of its top six linebackers and six of its top nine defensive backs; that a lot of guys got playing time last year is good, but this is still a scary amount of turnover, which is why Bohl has done some shuffling.

Former running back D.J. May is now a safety, former receiver Trent Sewell and tight end Eric Nzeocha are now linebackers, and Will Tutein has moved from safety to LB. The level of athleticism won't be worse, but experience is lacking.

There are some exciting pieces here. Linebacker Lucas Wacha was certainly solid as a run-stuffer, sophomores Tim Kamana and Robert Priester saw quite a bit of time in the secondary, and in limited opportunities cornerback Tyran Finley managed to make two tackles for loss and deflect three passes. The first string should be athletic and interesting, but injuries could cause a larger level of regression than we saw last season.

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Ethan Wood	6'3, 173	Jr.	66	41.4	5	18	18	54.5%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Stuart Williams			55	56.9	15	2	27.3%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Stuart Williams			31-31	9-9	100.0%	3-8	37.5%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Jalen Claiborne	KR			13	17.4	0
D.J. May	KR	5'11, 205	Jr.	10	24.2	0
Jalen Claiborne	PR			14	9.9	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	125
Field Goal Efficiency	67
Punt Return Efficiency	115
Kick Return Efficiency	114
Punt Efficiency	122
Kickoff Efficiency	125
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	61

9. No depth = no coverage

Wyoming's special teams unit was abysmal last year. Punter Ethan Wood had a decent length-and-hangtime combination, and place-kicker Stuart Williams was automatic under 40 yards, but a lack of athleticism on the roster bled into special teams. Return man Jalen Claiborne was replaceable, but the biggest issue was a lack of depth at the speed positions. If you don't have big-play guys at receiver, and if you're struggling with massive depth issues at linebacker and defensive back, your coverage units are probably going to be terrible. Wyoming's were terrible. I assume they improve this year, but now the Cowboys have to replace Williams. A special teams ranking in the triple digits is likely.

2015 Schedule & Projection Factors

2015 Schedule
Date	Opponent	2014 F/+ Rk
5-Sep	North Dakota	NR
12-Sep	Eastern Michigan	128
19-Sep	at Washington State	77
26-Sep	New Mexico	94
3-Oct	at Appalachian State	104
10-Oct	at Air Force	48
17-Oct	Nevada	64
24-Oct	at Boise State	21
31-Oct	at Utah State	52
7-Nov	Colorado State	49
14-Nov	at San Diego State	76
28-Nov	UNLV	118

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-28.7% (111)
2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk	116 / 112
2014 TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	-2 / -0.5
2014 TO Luck/Game	-0.6
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	12 (6, 6)
2014 Second-order wins (difference)	2.8 (1.2)

10. Beware October

I still assume Craig Bohl gets this team where he wants it to be. That the Cowboys managed to win four games with few play-makers and no defensive depth was certainly a positive sign, and Wyoming should be loaded at running back (and, per the recruiting rankings, receiver) for years to come. With so many quarterbacks with potential, one should emerge to lead a decent offense overall. But that defense still needs bodies, and while the overall defensive speed should be as good or better than it was last year, experience and depth are still going to hold the Cowboys back quite a bit.

The 2015 schedule will do them few favors. The home slate -- North Dakota, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado State, UNLV -- should assure that the Cowboys get back to four wins or so, but the road slate will likely prevent any serious run at bowl eligibility. Wyoming's first string should be pretty decent overall, and if the injury bug is kind, then the Cowboys could improve from 113th in the F/+ rankings to something closer to the 90s. But if or when injuries begin to occur, this team will go downhill quickly. Get your wins in early.

There is an interesting base of talent here, but it will be a lot more interesting a couple of years from now.