When Oregon travels to Laramie, Wyoming to complete the back end of a home-and-home with the Cowboys in September of 2017, chances are they’ll meet a much different Wyoming team, one infused with Craig Bohl’s signature identity for them, “Cowboy Tough.”
Bohl’s won 26 straight games as a head coach, two in his debut season at UW, the last three FCS Championships at North Dakota State. As coach of the Bisons he forged a 7-3 record against FBS teams, including a 24-21 win over Bill Snyder and Kansas State last season.
Already there are are signs that the tough-minded discipline is reshaping Wyoming’s team. Down 13-10 in War Memorial Stadium, they won the game with a 9-play, 75-yard drive, Colby Kirkegaard tossing a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end J.D. Krill with 58 seconds to play.
Kirkegaard’s no philosophical giant, but he completed 23-37 passes for 282 yards, 2 touchdowns. Biletnikof Award nominee Dominic Rufran caught six of those, for 119 yards. He just missed being a thousand-yard receiver last year.
Uncharacteristic of a Bohl team the Cowboys couldn’t run much. Tailback Shaun Wick found no room against the Falcons, who stonewalled him 14 carries for a scant 37 yards, 2.6 a carry.
Unless Bohl and his staff affect significant adjustments, the mix plays right into the strength of the Oregon defense.
But already the new Cowboys have been transformed as a defense. Last season they were porous. They gave up 481 yards a game, 220 a game on the ground. So far this year they rank 29th in the country in rushing defense at 96.5 yards a contest. They’re also number one in the country in fewest penalty yards after two games, just 9.5 yards a game.
That discipline should pay off with an improved result in the Mountain West, but it won’t help them today against the Ducks, who have just have too much firepower and healthy confidence.
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