The University of Wyoming football team will have their home opener this weekend on September 1 at 1:30 p.m.against the Washington State University (WSU) Cougars in Laramie at War Memorial Stadium.
The Cougars are coming off a 9-4 season taking down both USC and Stanford. Offensively WSU was in the top of the nation for passing yards with 366.8 yards per game last season. Mike Leach, WSU coach, begins his seventh year with the program this season.
Heading into this year the hype for the team revolves around the new quarterback Gardner Minshew II according to Jackson Gardner the assistant sports editor for the Daily Evergreen, a student newspaper at Washington State.
“He is a graduate transfer from East Carolina. After Luke Falk left and took every PAC-12 record, it was who is going to step in next,” said Gardner. “He has kind of been named starter but you can probably expect him to be in the starting quarterback. WSU performance this year will hinge on Minshew’s performance since they run an Air Raid offense.”
Gardner is not too worried about offensive production though as Mike Leach has been able to plug in a new quarterback into his offense to create a productive team.
“Even though he (Minshew) is new and there might be some growing pains but the nature of the Air Raid offense and Mike Leach you can plug in any guy,” said Gardner.
WSU will be returning a good wide receiving unit that is one of the best groups in the nation. There are also a few other returners for WSU that the Cowboys will have to watch out for.
“Davontavean Martin is a big play kind of guy. In his last seven games he scored 6 touchdowns, definitely watch out for him,” said Gardner. “Left tackle Andre Dillard is a guy you can expect to see to play on Sundays next year.”
While this may be a pass-heavy offense, you still need to keep an eye on the running backs.
“In the backfield, James Williams, who is entering his junior year, is a big play running back,” said Gardner. “He loves to hurdle people so if you see a hurdle do not be surprised because he loves to do that.”
While the offense is potent WSU still has a strong defense that Wyoming will have to deal with. The strength of the Cougars defense is in the secondary that has a lot of returning starters. Both cornerbacks will be solid with one being considered possibly the best corner in the PAS-12.
