Once upon a time in the not so far away, Wyoming’s football team posted a 10-2 record under coach Joe Tiller, now at Purdue. That was in 1996.
Four years later, under first-year coach Vic Koenning, the Cowboys did an about-face. They finished 1-10. This year hasn’t been much better. The ‘Pokes are 2-8 headed into their season finale at Kansas and the memories of ’96 have faded into the sunset.
“It’s like talking to the players about Gilligan’s Island,” Koenning said. “They don’t know what Gilligan’s Island is unless they’ve seen it on re-runs.”
Not that anyone particularly Koenning had high hopes the Cowboys would turn it around completely in 2001.
“We have a colossal hole in the number of players in the third- , fourth- and fifth-year classes,” said Koenning, a native Oklahoman who played linebacker at Kansas State in the early ’80s.
In a couple of ways, Wyoming’s 2-8 season has been remarkably similar to Kansas’ 2-8 campaign.
Wyoming opened with an unimpressive home win against a Div. I-AA school (20-14 over Furman) and so did Kansas (24-10 over Southwest Missouri State).
In the same vein, each school’s other win was a squeaker Wyoming 43-42 over Utah State and Kansas 34-31 over Texas Tech in double overtime.
Kansas and Wyoming are similar in another regard, too. KU ranks 113th nationally in rushing defense while Wyoming is 114th. Tulane ranks No. 115 and dead last in that Div. I-A category.
When it rains it pours on Wyoming’s porous defense. Last Saturday, the Cowboys lost a starting defensive tackle (Damon Roark) and their top two outside linebackers (Tim Glynn and Jon Aimone) to injuries. None of the three was expected to make the trip to Lawrence.
It would seem Kansas, based on Wyoming’s inability to stop the rush, will run first and pass second , but it’s unlikely the ‘Pokes will try to run against the Jayhawks. Nate Scott, UW’s best ball carrier, has missed the last three games with a concussion and is listed as doubtful for the finale.
In all likelihood, UW quarterback Casey Bramlet will throw, throw and throw. Bramlet, a 6-foot-4, 207-pound soph from Wheatland, Wyo., averages 40 passes a game. He also averages nearly two interceptions a game.
Bramlet had nine TD passes and 19 interceptions. Six of those thefts yes, a school record-tying half-dozen were thrown in last Saturday night’s 38-16 loss at San Diego State.
Wyoming also lost three fumbles in the SD State game.
Wyoming has two receivers with more than 50 receptions. Ryan McGuffey, a 6-1, 200-pound soph from Riverton, Wyo., has 58 even though he missed a couple of games with a shoulder injury. Malcom Floyd, a 6-6, 200-pound soph from Sacramento, Calif., has 50 catches.
Wyoming’s other offensive weapon is place-kicker Jarvis Wallum, a sophomore from Rapid City, S.D., who has made 20 of 23 field goal attempts. Wallum hasn’t missed from 40 yards and out and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in field goals made.
On defense, senior outside linebacker Leo Caires and soph free safety Jacque Finn both rank in the top 10 in tackles in the Mountain West Conference.
Notes:
Jason Fender, a red-shirt freshman walk-on wide receiver out of Lawrence High, made the Wyoming travel squad.
Wyoming has dropped seven straight this season and 15 conference games in a row.
Wyoming football players wear an emblem a winged track shoe with the number 8 in honor of eight members of the school’s track and cross country teams who died in a van crash on Sept. 16.
Once upon a time in the not so far away, Wyoming’s football team posted a 10-2 record under coach Joe Tiller, now at Purdue. That was in 1996.
Four years later, under first-year coach Vic Koenning, the Cowboys did an about-face. They finished 1-10. This year hasn’t been much better. The ‘Pokes are 2-8 headed into their season finale at Kansas and the memories of ’96 have faded into the sunset.
“It’s like talking to the players about Gilligan’s Island,” Koenning said. “They don’t know what Gilligan’s Island is unless they’ve seen it on re-runs.”
Not that anyone particularly Koenning had high hopes the Cowboys would turn it around completely in 2001.
“We have a colossal hole in the number of players in the third- , fourth- and fifth-year classes,” said Koenning, a native Oklahoman who played linebacker at Kansas State in the early ’80s.
In a couple of ways, Wyoming’s 2-8 season has been remarkably similar to Kansas’ 2-8 campaign.
Wyoming opened with an unimpressive home win against a Div. I-AA school (20-14 over Furman) and so did Kansas (24-10 over Southwest Missouri State).
In the same vein, each school’s other win was a squeaker Wyoming 43-42 over Utah State and Kansas 34-31 over Texas Tech in double overtime.
Kansas and Wyoming are similar in another regard, too. KU ranks 113th nationally in rushing defense while Wyoming is 114th. Tulane ranks No. 115 and dead last in that Div. I-A category.
When it rains it pours on Wyoming’s porous defense. Last Saturday, the Cowboys lost a starting defensive tackle (Damon Roark) and their top two outside linebackers (Tim Glynn and Jon Aimone) to injuries. None of the three was expected to make the trip to Lawrence.
It would seem Kansas, based on Wyoming’s inability to stop the rush, will run first and pass second , but it’s unlikely the ‘Pokes will try to run against the Jayhawks. Nate Scott, UW’s best ball carrier, has missed the last three games with a concussion and is listed as doubtful for the finale.
In all likelihood, UW quarterback Casey Bramlet will throw, throw and throw. Bramlet, a 6-foot-4, 207-pound soph from Wheatland, Wyo., averages 40 passes a game. He also averages nearly two interceptions a game.
Bramlet had nine TD passes and 19 interceptions. Six of those thefts yes, a school record-tying half-dozen were thrown in last Saturday night’s 38-16 loss at San Diego State.
Wyoming also lost three fumbles in the SD State game.
Wyoming has two receivers with more than 50 receptions. Ryan McGuffey, a 6-1, 200-pound soph from Riverton, Wyo., has 58 even though he missed a couple of games with a shoulder injury. Malcom Floyd, a 6-6, 200-pound soph from Sacramento, Calif., has 50 catches.
Wyoming’s other offensive weapon is place-kicker Jarvis Wallum, a sophomore from Rapid City, S.D., who has made 20 of 23 field goal attempts. Wallum hasn’t missed from 40 yards and out and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in field goals made.
On defense, senior outside linebacker Leo Caires and soph free safety Jacque Finn both rank in the top 10 in tackles in the Mountain West Conference.
Notes:
Jason Fender, a red-shirt freshman walk-on wide receiver out of Lawrence High, made the Wyoming travel squad.
Wyoming has dropped seven straight this season and 15 conference games in a row.
Wyoming football players wear an emblem a winged track shoe with the number 8 in honor of eight members of the school’s track and cross country teams who died in a van crash on Sept. 16.
Once upon a time in the not so far away, Wyoming’s football team posted a 10-2 record under coach Joe Tiller, now at Purdue. That was in 1996.
Four years later, under first-year coach Vic Koenning, the Cowboys did an about-face. They finished 1-10. This year hasn’t been much better. The ‘Pokes are 2-8 headed into their season finale at Kansas and the memories of ’96 have faded into the sunset.
“It’s like talking to the players about Gilligan’s Island,” Koenning said. “They don’t know what Gilligan’s Island is unless they’ve seen it on re-runs.”
Not that anyone particularly Koenning had high hopes the Cowboys would turn it around completely in 2001.
“We have a colossal hole in the number of players in the third- , fourth- and fifth-year classes,” said Koenning, a native Oklahoman who played linebacker at Kansas State in the early ’80s.
In a couple of ways, Wyoming’s 2-8 season has been remarkably similar to Kansas’ 2-8 campaign.
Wyoming opened with an unimpressive home win against a Div. I-AA school (20-14 over Furman) and so did Kansas (24-10 over Southwest Missouri State).
In the same vein, each school’s other win was a squeaker Wyoming 43-42 over Utah State and Kansas 34-31 over Texas Tech in double overtime.
Kansas and Wyoming are similar in another regard, too. KU ranks 113th nationally in rushing defense while Wyoming is 114th. Tulane ranks No. 115 and dead last in that Div. I-A category.
When it rains it pours on Wyoming’s porous defense. Last Saturday, the Cowboys lost a starting defensive tackle (Damon Roark) and their top two outside linebackers (Tim Glynn and Jon Aimone) to injuries. None of the three was expected to make the trip to Lawrence.
It would seem Kansas, based on Wyoming’s inability to stop the rush, will run first and pass second , but it’s unlikely the ‘Pokes will try to run against the Jayhawks. Nate Scott, UW’s best ball carrier, has missed the last three games with a concussion and is listed as doubtful for the finale.
In all likelihood, UW quarterback Casey Bramlet will throw, throw and throw. Bramlet, a 6-foot-4, 207-pound soph from Wheatland, Wyo., averages 40 passes a game. He also averages nearly two interceptions a game.
Bramlet had nine TD passes and 19 interceptions. Six of those thefts yes, a school record-tying half-dozen were thrown in last Saturday night’s 38-16 loss at San Diego State.
Wyoming also lost three fumbles in the SD State game.
Wyoming has two receivers with more than 50 receptions. Ryan McGuffey, a 6-1, 200-pound soph from Riverton, Wyo., has 58 even though he missed a couple of games with a shoulder injury. Malcom Floyd, a 6-6, 200-pound soph from Sacramento, Calif., has 50 catches.
Wyoming’s other offensive weapon is place-kicker Jarvis Wallum, a sophomore from Rapid City, S.D., who has made 20 of 23 field goal attempts. Wallum hasn’t missed from 40 yards and out and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in field goals made.
On defense, senior outside linebacker Leo Caires and soph free safety Jacque Finn both rank in the top 10 in tackles in the Mountain West Conference.
Notes:
Jason Fender, a red-shirt freshman walk-on wide receiver out of Lawrence High, made the Wyoming travel squad.
Wyoming has dropped seven straight this season and 15 conference games in a row.
Wyoming football players wear an emblem a winged track shoe with the number 8 in honor of eight members of the school’s track and cross country teams who died in a van crash on Sept. 16.
Once upon a time in the not so far away, Wyoming’s football team posted a 10-2 record under coach Joe Tiller, now at Purdue. That was in 1996.
Four years later, under first-year coach Vic Koenning, the Cowboys did an about-face. They finished 1-10. This year hasn’t been much better. The ‘Pokes are 2-8 headed into their season finale at Kansas and the memories of ’96 have faded into the sunset.
“It’s like talking to the players about Gilligan’s Island,” Koenning said. “They don’t know what Gilligan’s Island is unless they’ve seen it on re-runs.”
Not that anyone particularly Koenning had high hopes the Cowboys would turn it around completely in 2001.
“We have a colossal hole in the number of players in the third- , fourth- and fifth-year classes,” said Koenning, a native Oklahoman who played linebacker at Kansas State in the early ’80s.
In a couple of ways, Wyoming’s 2-8 season has been remarkably similar to Kansas’ 2-8 campaign.
Wyoming opened with an unimpressive home win against a Div. I-AA school (20-14 over Furman) and so did Kansas (24-10 over Southwest Missouri State).
In the same vein, each school’s other win was a squeaker Wyoming 43-42 over Utah State and Kansas 34-31 over Texas Tech in double overtime.
Kansas and Wyoming are similar in another regard, too. KU ranks 113th nationally in rushing defense while Wyoming is 114th. Tulane ranks No. 115 and dead last in that Div. I-A category.
When it rains it pours on Wyoming’s porous defense. Last Saturday, the Cowboys lost a starting defensive tackle (Damon Roark) and their top two outside linebackers (Tim Glynn and Jon Aimone) to injuries. None of the three was expected to make the trip to Lawrence.
It would seem Kansas, based on Wyoming’s inability to stop the rush, will run first and pass second , but it’s unlikely the ‘Pokes will try to run against the Jayhawks. Nate Scott, UW’s best ball carrier, has missed the last three games with a concussion and is listed as doubtful for the finale.
In all likelihood, UW quarterback Casey Bramlet will throw, throw and throw. Bramlet, a 6-foot-4, 207-pound soph from Wheatland, Wyo., averages 40 passes a game. He also averages nearly two interceptions a game.
Bramlet had nine TD passes and 19 interceptions. Six of those thefts yes, a school record-tying half-dozen were thrown in last Saturday night’s 38-16 loss at San Diego State.
Wyoming also lost three fumbles in the SD State game.
Wyoming has two receivers with more than 50 receptions. Ryan McGuffey, a 6-1, 200-pound soph from Riverton, Wyo., has 58 even though he missed a couple of games with a shoulder injury. Malcom Floyd, a 6-6, 200-pound soph from Sacramento, Calif., has 50 catches.
Wyoming’s other offensive weapon is place-kicker Jarvis Wallum, a sophomore from Rapid City, S.D., who has made 20 of 23 field goal attempts. Wallum hasn’t missed from 40 yards and out and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in field goals made.
On defense, senior outside linebacker Leo Caires and soph free safety Jacque Finn both rank in the top 10 in tackles in the Mountain West Conference.
Notes:
Jason Fender, a red-shirt freshman walk-on wide receiver out of Lawrence High, made the Wyoming travel squad.
Wyoming has dropped seven straight this season and 15 conference games in a row.
Wyoming football players wear an emblem a winged track shoe with the number 8 in honor of eight members of the school’s track and cross country teams who died in a van crash on Sept. 16.
