Early W-L prediction for 2015

[PokeTransplant]

North Dakota - W
Eastern Michigan - W
@ Wazzo - L
NM - W
@ App St - W
@ Air Force - W
Nevada - W
@ Boise - L
@ Utah St - L
CSU - W
@ SDSU L
UNLV - W

Best case 8-4...the CSU and Nevada games make me nervous. Rashard Higgins ate us alive. So, if CSU has anything resembling a capable QB and we don't improve the secondary, he will have another field day. The Nevada game is one where we probably lose less than they did (we didn't have a lot to begin with...), but still is a toss-up for me.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

I think we'll get 6-6 this year. The schedule is as soft as I can remember.

I think every position on the field will be better with the excepttion of wr.

Colby wasn't asked to do much and he didn't do that well. Coffman has a better arm, much more experience against better competition, and an extra year running this system. He will be way better than Capttain Kirk.

I'm glad we took out the trash on the oline. Even with attrition, we'll have more hogs and less 6'8 doughboys. Bohl recruits guys that like to be physical and hit. DC recruited tall guys that it took longer for people to run past and then chucked a screen before the qb got murdered. With Duval having an extra year to work we will be doughboy free for the first time in years.

Tight ends and fullbacks are a key to this offense. We didn't have any two years ago, had converts and freshmen last year, and will have a rotation this year. I expect our blocking, receiving, and depth to be drastically improved at both spots. I think those two positions to be the most improved on the team. I'm expecting the offense to be much better because of it.

We're two years removed from DC recruiting small, slow and shitty defenders and then coaching them to prop guys up while everyone tries to rip the ball free. We're still small so we'll struggle to stop the run. At least we are way faster in the back seven. Athleticism has improved by large margins. I expect more turnovers as a result. At least I have the confidence to say that our secondary won't be the worst in FBS like it has been the last three years. We might even have the ability to make offenses one dimensional although I'm certain the staff would prefer being able to stop the run. I don't think the linemen will get blown off the line as bad but our lbs will. I expect the defense to be marginally better. The improved offensive ability to sustain drives will help to make up for a small front seven.

Special teams should win us a couple of games we lost last year. I'm expecting our return guys to be dangerous and our cover guys to be able to pin people deep. In fact, I think our position we start drives at and the other team starts drives against us will improve more than any Fbs team. It can't get worse.

Mark me down for 6-6 or 7-5.

 

[jessejames02]

North Dakota - W
Eastern Michigan - W
@ Wazzo - L
NM - W
@ App St - W
@ Air Force - L
Nevada - W
@ Boise - L
@ Utah St - L
CSU - W
@ SDSU L
UNLV - W

I'm going for 7-5, although the App State could easily flip as well as Eastern Michigan with an untested offense. 6-6 or 8-4 both seem within the realm of possibility, sadly so does 5-7. This is the first season in a while I've had no clue what to expect. We have an exciting coach, but a couple years away from Bohl's recruits being able to do serious damage. I have no idea and it's scary and exciting.

 

[McPeachy]

I love the optimism! That is why they call us "fans" and not "bookies" or "coaches" LOL.

Yet again, I think the QB spot is the only spot we will be better at this year, versus last year. The RB's will be solid (again) - and has the potential to be the bright spot. Every other group on the team is a question mark.

 

[WYCowboy]

We have lost a lot of experience from last year, but what good is experience if they were soft, slow, didn't buy into the program, didn't care, and didn't like physical contact. Not everyone we lost fit those descriptions, but I saw some that did.
My prediction for this year is that our offense will be good. They will wear most teams down, control the clock, and take pressure off our defense. We will be faster and more physical on D, but we will be less experienced and lighter. According to Coach Bohl, our special teams will be better. Too many questions remain to make a W/L prediction.

 

[BeaverPoke]

I think the defense should be quicker...FWIW.

They might get beat up throughout the year, but hey, Appy State and Wazzu aren't anything compared to Oregon and Michigan State. Maybe the smaller, quicker defense should stay some-what healthy.

 

[J-Rod]

I think the defense should be quicker...FWIW.

They might get beat up throughout the year, but hey, Appy State and Wazzu aren't anything compared to Oregon and Michigan State. Maybe the smaller, quicker defense should stay some-what healthy.

Smaller and quicker will do fine against teams that can't run the ball. Against teams that have a semblance of a running game, it will get you destroyed. When UW played at Hawaii, a few injuries sidelined some key players, and UH's 3rd string RB then proceeded to go nuts on the defense. The young secondary got shredded by Woolsey, who then did next to nothing the rest of the season. Hawaii is fucking terrible, BP.

Again, people forget...we may talk crap about App State and Wazzu. Well, they're doing to the same thing to us. At least in my experience, smaller/quicker defense is a recipe for complete and total disaster. Lose control of the line of scrimmage, you brace for the worst.

 

[LanderPoke]

I think the defense should be quicker...FWIW.

They might get beat up throughout the year, but hey, Appy State and Wazzu aren't anything compared to Oregon and Michigan State. Maybe the smaller, quicker defense should stay some-what healthy.

Smaller and quicker will do fine against teams that can't run the ball. Against teams that have a semblance of a running game, it will get you destroyed. When UW played at Hawaii, a few injuries sidelined some key players, and UH's 3rd string RB then proceeded to go nuts on the defense. The young secondary got shredded by Woolsey, who then did next to nothing the rest of the season. Hawaii is fucking terrible, BP.

Again, people forget...we may talk crap about App State and Wazzu. Well, they're doing to the same thing to us. At least in my experience, smaller/quicker defense is a recipe for complete and total disaster. Lose control of the line of scrimmage, you brace for the worst.

I think we will be ok against the run. We should actually be pretty formidable up front with YarBeast and Uso Olive. It sounds like the Haliapapapoi or the JC guy will contribute at the other DE and there's some other beef up front at the DT position. We just need some LBs that can tackle consistently. Stopping the run starts with the D line, it doesn't matter if you have all-world LBs if the D line is porous.

 

[J-Rod]

I think we will be ok against the run. We should actually be pretty formidable up front with YarBeast and Uso Olive. It sounds like the Haliapapapoi or the JC guy will contribute at the other DE and there's some other beef up front at the DT position. We just need some LBs that can tackle consistently. Stopping the run starts with the D line, it doesn't matter if you have all-world LBs if the D line is porous.

Uso and Eddie are good players, but you need way more than just 2-4 guys to play well. The DL is light, and lacks numbers. It would be a serious issue if someone gets hurt, might be anyway. That front was dominated to close the 2014 season, and that was with Mertens and Puletasi.

 

[LanderPoke]

I think we will be ok against the run. We should actually be pretty formidable up front with YarBeast and Uso Olive. It sounds like the Haliapapapoi or the JC guy will contribute at the other DE and there's some other beef up front at the DT position. We just need some LBs that can tackle consistently. Stopping the run starts with the D line, it doesn't matter if you have all-world LBs if the D line is porous.

Uso and Eddie are good players, but you need way more than just 2-4 guys to play well. The DL is light, and lacks numbers. It would be a serious issue if someone gets hurt, might be anyway. That front was dominated to close the 2014 season, and that was with Mertens and Puletasi.

I don't think we'll be missing Puletasi much imo. I think Kongbo or Faiuu (JC dude) will actually be an upgrade.

 

[mwc fan]

Yeah I think Peulatasi was having some nagging injuries through out the season. He never really had a game last season where he made even a slight impact. I think that led to Yarbrough starting the season off slow. Him and Uso would get doubled and the rest of the D line couldn't capitalize on that. The better MWC defenses had good depth on their D lines, going two deep without much drop off. We had a huge drop off and Yarbrough would play most of the game without much rest.

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

Yeah I think Peulatasi was having some nagging injuries through out the season. He never really had a game last season where he made even a slight impact. I think that led to Yarbrough starting the season off slow. Him and Uso would get doubled and the rest of the D line couldn't capitalize on that. The better MWC defenses had good depth on their D lines, going two deep without much drop off. We had a huge drop off and Yarbrough would play most of the game without much rest.

I do think that the defense for this coming season has the chance of being better than last years. There will be two people that will be difficult to replace, but I think that we can. The first is Mertens, he made some really important stops this last year. The second was Burns, and despite the problem that the defense had last year, he was a rock back there. The replacement of Mertens will come from about 4 different guys, and I would expect that at least one or hopefully two will step up. The first is Sid Malauulu, the second is Dalton Fields, the third is Connor Cain and the 4th is Jacob English. As far as Burns, I would expect to see someone like: Ryon'e Winters or C.J. Jennings or Davion Freeman to step up. There are candidates for these positions, they just need to step up. As far as the DE position, who will occupy the position across from Yarbrough? I like Siaosi Hala'api'api to be the #1. The #2's behind Yarbrough and Hala'api'api, I would expect to see Tavita Faaiu and Jonathan Kongbo. There is some real speed here and some high motors!

For this coming season, at least we don't have to play teams of the caliber of Michigan State and Oregon on the road at the beginning. I just don't see us losing to Appalachian State, even if the game is on the road. Washington State doesn't have a great defense but they have a formidable passing offense, and because of this will probably come out on the top end of a shoot-out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wyoming come away with an upset here.

I don't care what anyone says, Wyoming has begun to establish War Memorial as a tough place to play for visiting schools, and North Dakota and Eastern Michigan will be tests, but Wyoming will prevail

The real issue with the schedule is the conference schedule as we play Air Force, Utah State, Boise State and San Diego State on the road, while the home schedule is must less difficult. We have Colorado State (new coach and no star QB or top RB), New Mexico, Nevada and UNLV at home and the final two games of the season will be at home so we have a chance of finishing strong. I think that Air Force will be a toss-up game, but the rest of the schedule will be Wyoming winning at home and losing on the road in the conference.

One thing that hasn't been talked a lot but I think it will be something that we will see come out this coming season, and that is Bohl's personality, and his don't lose attitude. In the past we all looked at the seasons coming up as if it were a coach that would accept losing and that we are resigned to win some and lose some. I think that we will see a different mentality come out with this 2015 team, and it will only grow over the years.

We have a very gifted and experienced QB. We will have to fill some positions, but I think that we will. Will it be the best Bohl team? Not by a long shot, but it will be the first one that we will really see the Bohl attitude come out in, and it will be a win or two that we wouldn't have expected to see as Wyoming fans. This is why I feel optimistic, because we AREN'T talking about the Wyoming teams of old, this is a whole new breed of Cowboy, and I think that it will start showing itself this year!

 

[J-Rod]

For this coming season, at least we don't have to play teams of the caliber of Michigan State and Oregon on the road at the beginning. I just don't see us losing to Appalachian State, even if the game is on the road. Washington State doesn't have a great defense but they have a formidable passing offense, and because of this will probably come out on the top end of a shoot-out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wyoming come away with an upset here.

I understand what you're saying, but still have to chuckle a little. Everyone keeps saying that..."we don't play anyone as good as Oregon/Michigan State this season". Which overall is a true statement, just funny cause...neither of those teams dropped the biggest beat down of 2014 on Wyoming. For as fearful as we were of them, someone else slapped Wyo even harder than those two powers did. Both won NY6 bowls though, that was tough.

 

[Wyokie]

For this coming season, at least we don't have to play teams of the caliber of Michigan State and Oregon on the road at the beginning. I just don't see us losing to Appalachian State, even if the game is on the road. Washington State doesn't have a great defense but they have a formidable passing offense, and because of this will probably come out on the top end of a shoot-out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wyoming come away with an upset here.

I understand what you're saying, but still have to chuckle a little. Everyone keeps saying that..."we don't play anyone as good as Oregon/Michigan State this season". Which overall is a true statement, just funny cause...neither of those teams dropped the biggest beat down of 2014 on Wyoming. For as fearful as we were of them, someone else slapped Wyo even harder than those two powers did. Both won NY6 bowls though, that was tough.

Boise on UW Senior Night raped us more than both Oregon and Michigan State coulda. And we do play Boise again!!!!

 

[J-Rod]

Overall though, it is true...Wyoming played 3 of the 6 NY6 bowl WINNERS in 2014. I doubt you see that many elite opponents on one schedule. That doesn't necessarily make this years schedule "easier". Wyo did lose to the likes of Hawaii and San Jose State, and very nearly lost to Florida Atlantic and Montana. It's not like those 3 monsters were the only teams that beat Wyoming.

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

For this coming season, at least we don't have to play teams of the caliber of Michigan State and Oregon on the road at the beginning. I just don't see us losing to Appalachian State, even if the game is on the road. Washington State doesn't have a great defense but they have a formidable passing offense, and because of this will probably come out on the top end of a shoot-out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wyoming come away with an upset here.

I understand what you're saying, but still have to chuckle a little. Everyone keeps saying that..."we don't play anyone as good as Oregon/Michigan State this season". Which overall is a true statement, just funny cause...neither of those teams dropped the biggest beat down of 2014 on Wyoming. For as fearful as we were of them, someone else slapped Wyo even harder than those two powers did. Both won NY6 bowls though, that was tough.

We were fairly healthy when we played Michigan State and Oregon, and by the time Boise State showed up on our schedule we had quite a few injuries. Those injuries caused issues and I feel that this was an important factor in the size of the loss to Boise State. Boise State is not a bad team at all, and we have to play them at their home this coming season.

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

Overall though, it is true...Wyoming played 3 of the 6 NY6 bowl WINNERS in 2014. I doubt you see that many elite opponents on one schedule. That doesn't necessarily make this years schedule "easier". Wyo did lose to the likes of Hawaii and San Jose State, and very nearly lost to Florida Atlantic and Montana. It's not like those 3 monsters were the only teams that beat Wyoming.

Those games were in Bohl's first season, and he was seeing what the real mentality and toughness of the team was all about and then he started dealing with a lot of injuries. I don't like using the injury excuse, but it did bite Wyoming this last season big time. I dare say that the mentality and toughness of the Pokes will be much improved this coming season.

 

[J-Rod]

Those games were in Bohl's first season, and he was seeing what the real mentality and toughness of the team was all about and then he started dealing with a lot of injuries. I don't like using the injury excuse, but it did bite Wyoming this last season big time. I dare say that the mentality and toughness of the Pokes will be much improved this coming season.

I agree, but this is the overall issue with the program right now. Depth is so razor thin, that we have to hope for this fantasy world where the team avoids the injury bug and manages to move forward unscathed. That never happens. Look at Boise, they played 2014 without their top 3 DTs, lost two starting safeties to injury, and a starting CB. You didn't see them pointing to injuries at the end of the year. Everyone gets hurt, it's the teams that have depth that survive. This Wyo team is an injury to 2-3 key players away from being totally screwed. Craig Bohl will need 3-4 years to truly build enough depth to be a good team. Mentality and toughness are important, but ultimately talent wins football games. Bottom line. He needs time.

I'm not saying a bowl is out of reach, but IMO those who set the bar high will be disappointed. I really do think this team is a bad case of the injury bug away from being Koenning era bad next season. We knew 2015 was going to be a rebuilding season dating back to 2011!

 

[McPeachy]

I really do think this team is a bad case of the injury bug away from being Koenning era bad next season.

Blasphemer!

But accurate. Football is a violent game played by violent people. To think that we are going to waltz through the season without some injuries to key people is naive. Just hopefully they won't be season ending, or devastating to the point the program can't recover mid-river.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

I'm on the opposite side. I realize we aren't that good right now, but neither is, well, virtually anyone not named BSU in the MWC.

For hell's sake, there isn't a nickel's worth of difference between teams outside of the T2 or T3 of the MWC.

I get the rebuild, tempered enthusiasm thing. I get that there will be (or damn sure better be) lots of close games that can go either way. However, even VK teams could have competed in this MWC.

Last year was bad in the MWC. Next year will be worse. This is absolutely the worst the MWC has ever been, by a lot. Some of our "bad" teams in the past would be T3 next year.