Cowboys start fall camp with focus on finishing strong

LARAMIE – Craig Bohl knows how close his team was to a spot in the Mountain West championship game last season.
Bohl, who's going into his 10th season as the University of Wyoming's head coach, saw his team spoil a 7-3 start with a humbling three-game losing streak, including a shocking home loss to Boise State, a road blowout at Fresno State and an overtime loss to Ohio in the Arizona Bowl.
The Cowboys held their first practice of fall camp Wednesday morning at War Memorial Stadium. While it's important to learn from past mistakes, Bohl is also focused on putting the last month of last season in the rearview mirror for good.
His focus now: hosting Texas Tech on Sept. 2 in Laramie.
“Every year’s a new year,” Bohl said. “Certainly, our players have a great deal of respect for Texas Tech and all our nonconference opponents. We have a little bit – not a little bit – we have a bad taste in our mouth. We played some good teams in the end, but we want to finish stronger.
"A lot of that comes into building more depth, but also more of a presence to be able to push. Our conference is a great league, and we’ll have to finish strong at the tail-end of this (season) as well.”'
Approaching the decade mark for his stint in Laramie, Bohl was excited to see the energy his players brought into the first day of practice.
“You always have to measure that on the first day because guys are always amped up,” Bohl said. “It’ll be interesting to see where we’re at after practice 14 and 15, when we’re in the midst of a grind.
"We did talk about that in our team meeting today, just being a good teammate and encouraging one another and to be able to push through that. There was a lot of camaraderie today. Guys are taking care of themselves. They competed hard, but they were not individual acts. They were playing as a team, which I was encouraged about. Good first step today.”
The aura surrounding this year's Cowboys feels different than in years past. Despite being picked sixth in this year's MW preseason polls, both players and coaches have high expectations on both sides of the ball going into the season.
“It was a good first day,” Bohl said. “We certainly have more work to do, but our football team looks more mature, which they are. We’ve had a good summer. Many times, I’ve felt like about half of your games are decided with how they worked through the summer. That’s not to notch off five or six wins, but I feel pretty good about that.”
On the injury front, running backs Dawaiian McNeely and D.Q. James both participated in the first day of fall camp, while Northern Illinois transfer Harrison Waylee didn't. Waylee is expected to miss at least the first few games of the season after having knee surgery this offseason.
McNeely will likely take over the role of UW's featured back after the departure of Titus Swen. McNeely missed extended time last season with nerve damage in his hand, as well as a dislocated collarbone.
“Dawaiian is a talented football player,” Bohl said. “He’s always produced, but he’s had a hard time finishing out the year because he’s been injured. He’s made a pinpointed effort to put on some lean muscle mass and some bulk.
"He’s as heavy as he’s ever been, which we believe is going to help him. His numbers are still good, and he was moving around really well today.”
James missed the tail-end of last season with a torn ACL. While he's still not cleared for contact in practice, Bohl expects James to be healthy going into the season-opener next month.
“He did practice today, so we were really encouraged,” Bohl said. “He made a really nice cut. He and (linebacker Easton Gibbs) were in a one-on-one situation, and I’m not going to say who won there.
"It was good to see him out there. I was concerned because initially we didn’t know if he’d be able to start practice on day one, but he was able to be out there. He’s not cleared for full-contact, but it’s good to have him out there.”
Wednesday's practice was also Bohl's first opportunity to work with new transfer wide receivers Devin Boddie Jr. (Vanderbilt) and Ayir Asante (Holy Cross) in an official capacity.
“I was cautiously optimistic about what they would add today,” Bohl said. “Both of them are intelligent, and that’s encouraging, because they’ve been able to translate that intelligence into more execution with the playbook.
"However, our playbook is pretty complex and there’s going to be more that we add. My initial assessment was that I was really encouraged because it’s not like they’re going to need to be taking elementary steps. I’m not saying we’re going to feed them with a firehose, but we’re going to take a hard look at them.”
The Cowboys will have 20 practices during fall camp leading up to their home matchup with Texas Tech. All practices are closed to both the public and the media.
“I’d like for you to be at every practice, but (UW athletic director) Tom Burman doesn’t let you come out to practice," Bohl joked.
UW will host Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.