September 13, 2023 |
Photo – Cowboys vs Longhorns – Courtesy gowyo.com
The Wyoming Cowboys head to Austin, Texas this week to face perhaps their biggest test of the season. Waiting for the Pokes, is this year’s favorite to win the national championship, the Longhorns. After last weekend’s impressive defeat of Alabama, Texas is being tabbed as a top contender for the semifinal.
A lot of football remains to be played between now and New Year’s Day. The long gauntlet starts Saturday when the Cowboys head to Austin.
Coach Bohl said this week that the Longhorns are “hitting on all cylinders,” starting with their quarterback, Quinn Ewers.
The Wyoming coach said his team has a lot of work to do this week to be ready for the contest Saturday night. Bohl said job one for the defense will be penetrating the big Texas offensive line and forcing Ewers to move off his game.
Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley is coming off his best-ever career game last week against Portland State. Peasley went 11 of 16 through the air for 201 yards passing last week and rushed for another 170. Coach Bohl said the Wyoming offense will have to be even sharper on Saturday.
Other game factors will be the crowd noise inside “DKR”—Darrell K. Royal Stadium. At capacity, the stadium can hold 105,000. It will be loud. The Cowboys have been preparing for the high-volume level this week. Dehydration is another concern. The heat and humidity are insufferable outside the stadium at street level in Austin. It’s even worse on the field. Once the game starts, Coach Bohl said this week, the game becomes fundamental: “Mano a mano.”
Forget the hype and the environment, the game is the game, Bohl said. Good news for Wyoming going into the contest: Junior running back Harrison Waylee, the transfer from Northern Illinois, may see his first action of the season Saturday. Waylee joined the Cowboys this spring but missed the first two games as he rehabs a torn ACL suffered late in the season last year. Coach Bohl said Waylee will be in practice this week with the hope he’ll see action on Saturday in Austin.
Waylee rolled up nearly 2,000 yards on the ground during his three seasons in DeKalb, including a career-best 899 last fall.
Bigfoot 99 will hit the air at 4:30 Saturday afternoon with the pregame show. Kickoff is set for six.
