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What Are Your Actual Expectations for the 2017 Season?

Asmodeanreborn

Asmodeanreborn

Well-known member
I keep thinking about this. There's at least one weekly article on major sports sites and newspapers about Allen's potential as a professional football player, but what about our actual team?

The life of a Cowboy Football fan has been fairly rough the past couple of decades or so. Sure, we had a winning record last year and it went mostly way over what everybody had hoped for, but when was the last time we actually improved after such a season?

I always have a hard time tempering my expectations for this team, only to watch it crash and burn in a spectacular fashion. It's been a pattern which has repeated itself far too many times, and while Allen is otherworldly in terms of talent, I remember how high I was on Corey Bramlet before that infamous TCU game.

On the other hand, Allen has already shown he can come back from a catastrophe like that, and did so convincingly after his "failure" in Nebraska. I feel like there's no way he isn't actually improving things over this summer thanks to camps, workouts, bulking up (he's apparently at 245 lbs now according to Denver Post), and even the knowledge that he can't rely on his receivers to always make the spectacular plays - he has to simplify things and execute cleaner with a new crop of guys.

We get back most of an offensive line that kept improving over last season. They're still young, but they're big and strong, and should be even bigger and stronger coming into this season. While we lost the best runner in school history, this year's back(s) might have an additional foot of space before contact, which could make up for some of that.

On defense we've lost two very good linebackers, but we're also gaining back our potential star DE. I'm hopeful we'll give up slightly fewer yards per carry, but the judge is out on that one. I'm also hoping Prosser and Granderson will help a talented secondary take advantage of hurried passing, but I'm woefully aware that there wasn't much pressure last season. Just getting Granderson back likely wasn't going to solve that problem - the change of DC might be the key, though. Hazelton seems like he was a good DC before he got his NFL experience, and I'm sure he learned a thing or two even as a linebacker's coach.

Special teams? May was a solid returner, but is replaceable. Ethan Wood is going to be the big loss there. Zaleski is somebody I'm very excited about, don't get me wrong, but he's still a freshman, regardless of his size and talent.

So where does that leave us? Do we actually have a legitimate chance to beat the Iowa that stomped Nebraska and squeaked out a win against Michigan last year? I honestly don't think that game will go well at all... However, I could totally see the Pokes redeeming themselves against Oregon.

I'm hoping really hard for 10 wins before bowl season. I'm also woefully aware that if just a few things go wrong, we could be looking at a 4-8 season.
 
As far as I'm concerned, you can throw out what the records were before Bohl got here and also the first couple of years he was at Wyoming - they have no bearing on what the record will be this year. We have some inexperience at some positions like WR, but we also have some strengths at some positions like DE, OL, QB, and I think DL. It may be premature, but I think the defensive coordinator change will be huge. I hate to pick W/L records, but I believe we will be in a bowl game and I also believe we will be in every game we play this year - unlike the NM game last year.
 
I am predicting 7-5. Back to back bowl games for the first time in 30 years would be huge IMO. I think we are underestimating the impact of our offensive skill position guys and our defense is still extremely unproven. I don't think you can fix our defense in one offseason. I don't think we are rolling into Iowa with this green of a offensive skill position group and beating them with a bunch of extremely unproven WRs. I think any reasonable outsider would peg the Iowa, Oregon and @ Boise games as games where we will be dogs and "more than likely" losses. We're also bound to have a few hiccup performances along the way as well, so 7-5 for me. Now this all may sound negative to some, but no, we cannot ignore our past history just because Bohl is our coach. Back to back winning seasons hasn't happened for 20 years and back to back bowl games hasn't happened for 30. I think 7-5 would be a success and demonstrate a more solid foundation being built and not wasting momentum from a good 2016 season.

Now the caveat and unknown is how good will Josh Allen be? If he lives up to the hype and plays like an all American and we roll into Iowa and do pull the upset then that unlocks a lot more possibilities because a truly elite QB can cover up a lot of a teams weaknesses. We shall see soon enough.
 
Right or wrong 2017 feels like the Josh Allen show given the hype building up around him. It seems like we will go as far as he takes us (which could be pretty far, who knows). 2018 to me is where we will really see what kind of a program we have.
 
I'm cautiously optimistic...but concerned about our offensive game. We have a stud QB, but all other skill positions are very unproven. Potential is there, but it's not been shown yet. The offenses won't "go as far as Allen take a them", instead will go as far as the WRs and RBs will take them.

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Biggest downgrade (IMO) is loss of receivers. Hill next. Allen as good as last year but not too much better. So go for 7-5.
 
kdwrightuwyo said:
I'm cautiously optimistic...but concerned about our offensive game. We have a stud QB, but all other skill positions are very unproven. Potential is there, but it's not been shown yet. The offenses won't "go as far as Allen take a them", instead will go as far as the WRs and RBs will take them.
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Couldn't you kind of add an asterisk to that, though? One major area where Allen needs to grow is the short passing game - which incidentally would make it a lot easier on the new receivers as well. A higher completion rate with more short passes would lead to more time-consuming drives (assuming the run game doesn't fall apart too much), which would also help the defense out.
 
The big question is, what the running game more Hill or more O-line? I saw a lot of skinny holes Hill squirted through. Maybe a chance for draws up the middle if teams focus on josh


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I'm thinking somewhere between 7-5 and 9-3. It will be tough to replace Hill, Hollister, Gentry, Mulhardt, Hollister and chase, May and Wacha. I expect the d to be a lot better (not hard to do) and I expect a slight step back on offense. Overall, I think we'll be a bit better than last year, but will that translate to more Ws? Who knows. Let's revisit after camp starts.
 
I expect us to beat:

Gardner-Webb, Hawaii, Texas State, Utah State, New Mexico, the sheep, Fresno State, and San Jose State

I expect us to be competitive in the rest. A loss is not the end of the world as long as they're in it until the end. Iowa, Oregon, @Boise State, and @Air Force are all very tough games.
 
laxwyo said:
The big question is, what the running game more Hill or more O-line? I saw a lot of skinny holes Hill squirted through. Maybe a chance for draws up the middle if teams focus on josh
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I believe it's more OL/system. Bohl should get good RB production every year. Maybe not to the degree of a Brian Hill, but the dropoff won't be massive.
 
6 is the floor, 10 is the ceiling. Where the ball bounces will determine where Wyoming falls in that 6-10 range. I feel confident predicting 8-4. Schedule is kind compared to past seasons. Beat one of Iowa or Oregon (or in dream land, both) and the hype train will become a hype spaceship.

Enjoy all of this. Remember those shit off-seasons where predicting a bowl game was considered optimistic? Put it all in the past and enjoy this. Especially Josh Allen. Players like that don't come around often.

I don't know if this will be a dream season or not, but I can guarantee it won't be a colossal disappointment. Enjoy it, and most of all...try to attend games if you can.
 
J-Rod said:
but I can guarantee it won't be a colossal disappointment
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I can see plenty of ways it could be disappointing or even catastrophic - Allen getting first overall hype means every defensive lineman we play will dream of laying a highlight reel hit on him. There's definitely a non-zero risk somebody will do it in a dirty fashion that takes Josh out.
 
Asmodeanreborn said:
J-Rod said:
but I can guarantee it won't be a colossal disappointment
Click to expand...

I can see plenty of ways it could be disappointing or even catastrophic - Allen getting first overall hype means every defensive lineman we play will dream of laying a highlight reel hit on him. There's definitely a non-zero risk somebody will do it in a dirty fashion that takes Josh out.
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College football is a sport where there is zero margin for error. If you are not at your best it can get ugly quickly. We have to have some wide outs who have amazing seasons and running backs that stay healthy and hold on to the football. We need an offensive line that stays healthy in order to keep josh Allen upright. On defense we have to play better against the run and especially against option teams.

My predictions are that we beat the teams we should:Fresno state, Texas state, g-web, Hawaii, and San Jose state. That puts us at 5 wins we should get

Next I'll look at teams that are a bit of a toss up. Air Force (on Veterans Day) csu, New Mexico, and Utah state. We have yet to beat New Mexico under bohl, sounds insane to say out loud but it's true, we have not won at Utah state in like forever, and it seems like it's always a dogfight with Air Force no matter what. Csu is going to be tough. I give us two of those games. That gives us 7 wins

Then we have the games we will be major underdogs v Iowa, Oregon and Boise state.

I'll say we win one of those games and that will be Oregon. That puts us at 8 wins. Anything less and I'll be disappointed. Any more and I'll be ecstatic


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We have some pretty stout road games and last season we only managed to win two on the road. With the loss of Hill, Gentry and Hollister our offensive production will absolutely be gutted.

Now the current offensive core may step up and surprise us but for right now I'll be satisfied with Bowl eligibility happy with 7-5 and ecstatic with anything better.

If we manage to fail Bowl eligibility that will be a complete disappointment.

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It's hard to say until we start seeing fall camp depth charts and get some sort of feel for who will replace our offensive weapons. Those are going to be some huge shoes to fill considering the production from Hill, Gentry, Maulhardt and Hollister. Josh has been on record saying that these young receivers are insanely talented, so hopefully they gel over the summer and can enter fall camp in lock step on offense. Returning 4 starting offensive linemen will be a huge advantage for us. I do think we take a small step back on offense, but we should be in good shape.

On defense we will have an experienced front 4 and secondary. The backers will be the question mark, especially how well Wilson transitions to middle linebacker. I think we'll be just fine, but don't think the defense will quite be the world beaters we're hoping for them to be. I do think they'll be a better overall unit than the last two seasons especially with the new d-coordinator.

Schedule is pretty brutal though, as we've historically always struggled on the road. @Boise and @Utah State have always been tough places for us to get a W, @AFA will be tough too given that it's on Veteran's day. I do think we win maybe 2 of those 3. Also it will be nice to have the 4 home games in September, but that also means we're on the road a fair bit late in the season which is always tough. I see us at anywhere from 6-6 to 8-4. Cautiously optimistic is my attitude going into the season.

All the being said, an 8 win season, back to back bowl games and a first round draft pick in Allen will certainly get the interest of a ton of recruits. The future is bright!
 
Despite how bad Oregon was last year, they will probably still be the fastest team we will face this year and will be tough to beat in Laramie. Iowa, at Iowa will be really tough too and friends in the Boise area say that they are counting down the days until our tilt there. That being said, I really like our chances in every other game outside of Air Force and New Mexico. Outside of QB, we have zero proven commodities at the offensive skill positions. We are going to miss Gentry greatly. If we can have decent production from a WR and a RB, and if we can continue to close the defensive size and speed gap that has existed for the last decade plus, I could see us winning 8. If the defense can't avoid Eastern Michigan, New Mexico, and UNLV performances, I could see us winning 5.
 
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