Pokes into second week of camp

LARAMIE – The Wyoming Cowboy football team entered the second week of fall camp on Monday and put on full pads for the first time on Tuesday, gearing up for the season opener on Aug. 31 at Arizona State. Wyoming entered its sixth practice of the season on Tuesday.

“We had a good day on Monday and executed on both sides of the ball,” head coach Jay Sawvel said. “We have an expectation level at practice and finished strong today (Tuesday). We worked on a lot of different things in our first day in full pads working on goal line, first, second and third downs as well as the running game. We will meet with the guys tonight and talk about different situations and how we will handle them in game situations.”

Cowboy notes:

Two Wyoming players, wide receiver Alex Brown (No. 64) and free safety Wyett Ekeler (No. 80), made Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” published Tuesday in the Athletic. Only 101 college football players from all levels appeared in Feldman’s ranking of the freakiest athletes in the sport. 

Preseason watch lists

Preseason watch lists have been coming out over the last few weeks. So far Wyoming has four players named to watch lists. Below are who has been selected:

Doak Walker Award (top running back) – Harrison Waylee

Lou Groza Award (top placekicker) – John Hoyland

Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) – Jordan Bertagnole

All-State Wuerffel Trophy (community service) – Will Pelissier

The Defensive Ends

The Pokes return four defensive ends that saw action last season. That group of Sabastian Harsh, DeVonne Harris, Braden Siders and Tyce Westland combined for 129 tackles with 22.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Harsh had 50 stops last season and led the team with nine tackles for loss. Harris and Siders tied for the team lead last season with Harsh and Siders adding a team-high four sacks apiece. 

The Cowboys return one of the best safety tandems in the nation this season. The duo of Ekeler and Isaac White bring both experience and production to the field. The duo ranked third and fourth on the team in tackles last season. The two also ranked second on the team with each recording seven pass breakups. They added three sacks and three interceptions on the season. For their career, the duo has combined for 312 total tackles with 162 for White and 151 for Ekeler.

Superb running back

Harrison Waylee is a talented rusher for the Brown and Gold. Waylee had an outstanding season for the Cowboys in 2023. He was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West by the coaches and media. He was named to the Second Team All-MW by Phil Steele.

He appeared in 10 games for the Pokes with nine starts at running back. He rushed for 947 yards in those contests to rank sixth in the MW and No. 50 in the nation. He averaged 94.7 yards per game, a number that ranked fourth in the conference and No. 24 in the nation. He ended the season with 5.8 yards per carry to rank sixth in the MW and No. 34 in the nation.

Waylee also added 12 receptions for 66 yards. He finished the season with five touchdowns with a long of 75 yards that came for a touchdown against Texas. He rushed for over 100 yards against Texas, App State, New Mexico and Colorado State. He rushed for a season-high 191 yards against New Mexico. He added 110 at Texas, 156 against App State and 128 against Colorado State. He has rushed for 2,876 yards in his career and has recorded 15 rushing touchdowns in his career.