Washington is a good fit for Wyoming because the two states are somewhat similar weather wise. Prospects out of Washington are used to cold and damp winters and should not need much adjusting to the Wyoming weather. That is why Wyoming has had success in the past of recruiting and retaining quality players from the upper midwest especially in Minnesota. California is a different story though as it seems in both basketball and football we have a hard time in keeping talented players from the coastal state through four full years. For some reason or another a high number of them get homesick and decide to move closer to home leaving the Pokes shorthanded.

With six recruits from California in this year’s class it will be interesting to see how many of them stick around and make an impact in the program. I understand the fact that there was a lack of Division I prospects in Wyoming and Colorado this year. The staff in that case had to recruit where the talent is and California has plenty of it. I just think it is a risk considering Wyoming’s track record in retaining players from the state. All in all this is a good class (on paper) and I am very curious to see how the class will  look in two to three years. Perhaps my assumption that Washington is a better fit than California for the Cowboys will be wrong. I wish all the new Pokes nothing but success and only time will tell how they will get on in Laramie.

For a full version of this map click HERE.

Arizona

Tom Thornton QB 6-1 205 Fr. Tempe, Ariz. (Marcos de Niza)

California

Sam Awrabi DE 6-3 240 Fr. Clovis, Calif. (East)

Sam Hardy DL 6-3 275 Fr. West Hills, Calif. (Chaminade College Prep)

Walker Madden OL 6-9 260 Jr. Yucca Valley, Calif. (College of the Desert, Calif.)

Dylan Muscat DB 6-0 175 Fr. Santa Monica, Calif. (Santa Monica)

Connor Rains OT 6-7 305 Jr. Placerville, Calif. (American River CC, Calif.)

Shaun Wick RB 5-10 190 Fr. Ventura, Calif. (St. Bonaventure)

Hawai’i

Siaosi Hala’api’api LB 6-2 225 Fr. Honolulu, Hawai’i (Kaimuki)

 Illinois

Austin Tixier DL 6-3 250 Fr. Mount Prospect, Ill. (Prospect)

Kansas

Jacob English OL 6-5 280 Fr. Beloit, Kan. (Beloit)

Minnesota

Chase Roullier OL 6-4 290 Fr. Savage, Minn. (Burnsville)

Oregon

Nathan Leddige OL 6-5 282 Fr. Beaverton, Ore. (Southridge)

Texas

Chase Appleby DL 6-0 280 Fr. Frisco, Texas (Centennial)

Nico Brown WR 6-3 200 Fr. Leander, Texas (Leander)

Lucas Wacha LB 6-1 208 Fr. Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove)

Washington

Damian Greene DB 5-9 174 Fr. Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline)

D.J. May RB 5-11 190 Fr. Federal Way, Wash. (Federal Way)

Uso Olive DL 6-1 305 Fr. Federal Way, Wash. (Federal Way)

Trent Sewell WR 6-2 197 Fr. Bothell, Wash. (Bothell)

Jason Thompson QB 6-2 205 Fr. Renton, Wash. (John F. Kennedy)

Australia

Tim Gleeson P 6-2 195 Fr. Melbourne, Australia ( Viewbank College Prep)

Germany

Justin Bernthaler DL 6-2 245 Jr. Stuttgart, Germany (Fullerton CC, Calif.)

Eric Nzeocha WR 6-1 200 Fr. Neusitz, Germany (FOS Ansbach)

It’s that time of the year again where high school and junior college football players put pen to paper in deciding where they will play their college football. Coach Christensen and his staff have put together a solid class with three signees already in Laramie and around another 18 recruits ready to make their commitments official. The class is heavy on players from the states of California and Washington as it was a down year for prospects out of Colorado.

Be sure to check back here in the next few days as we at WyoNation and Cowboy Tough breakdown this year’s class as we cast an eye towards the 2012 season and beyond. You can follow this year’s festivities in Laramie by using the link below which is highlighted by the press conference at 3pm mountain time if you have an account with Wyoming Vision.

Wyoming Signing Day Central

Wyoming has played the weakest strength of schedule in the Mountain West with a 188th ranking. The projected SOS at the end of the regular season according to statsheet is 101 so conference play will improve that figure quite a bit. That along with an RPI of 80 though will not be enough to get Wyoming an NCAA at-large spot. The NCAA has left out schools with much higher RPI ratings (50 and below) and similar strengths of schedule in the last few years so the Pokes are facing an uphill battle.

I don’t say these things to be a downer. I just want to be as realistic as possible and I think most Wyoming fans understand that our schedule has not been good enough to merit an at-large selection. The good news is this is just year one of a rebuilding process under Shyatt and it is safe to say he is ahead of schedule. This team plays solid defense and if over time the offensive problems can be worked out (through better recruiting) the Wyoming basketball program has a very bright future.  So enjoy the ride, pack the AA, and remember there is an automatic berth at-stake at the end of the conference season in Vegas!

That is why Chris (wyomidd) and I are happy to now be on board here at WyoNation.com. We will now be featured front and center on a platform that looks to serve those who are the most important to us. You the Wyoming Cowboy fan! This endeavor is being rebranded Cowboy Tough (that’s where the full circle part comes in) and you will see some changes and improvements to the blog as we get settled in to our new home. So be sure to follow the blog and participate in the WyoNation forums as Wyoming athletics looks to make its mark in 2012 and beyond.

Follow us on Twitter! @CowboyToughBlog

For questions, comments and feedback the email address remains: cowboytoughblog{at}gmail.com

Colorado State got on the board first with a field goal to go up 3-0. The Cowboys responded with Alvester Alexander scampering off on a 36 yard run, his longest rush of the season. Up 7-3 the Sheep kicked another field goal and trailed 7-6 in the second quarter. The Cowboys responded on the very next offensive play as Brett Smith tossed an 80 yard bomb to fellow freshman Josh Doctson. The Pokes would go into halftime up 14-6.

The second half of the Border War would prove to be an exciting finish in the 103rd edition of the game. The Sheep owned the 3rd quarter as they punched in a pair of touchdowns from running back Raymond Carter, including one drive that was capped off by a 16 play 87 yard drive that ate 7:27 off of the game clock. The Pokes were shutout in the third quarter and found themselves down 14-19 at the start of the 4th. Freshman Brett Smith wasn’t going to lose his first Border War as he led the Pokes on an 11 play 90 yard drive to give the Cowboys the lead 20-19, as Smith hit Doctson for a 2nd score from 35 yards out. The two point conversion failed. The Pokes sealed the game up with Mike Purcell blew up a screen pass with 2:43 left in the game and sacked Colorado State quarterback Garret Grayson in the endzone. Grayson was making his first Border War start, replacing the ineffective Pete Thomas mid-way through the season. 

The Cowboys won their third straight Border War, their longest win streak since their run from 1987 – 1989 when Paul Roach was the head coach. The Cowboys now trail in the overall series 55-43-5, but lead the series since the Bronze Boot was introduced 23-21.

The Cowboys found out today they will be playing in the New Mexico Bowl for the 2nd time in three years as they will face off against the Temple Owls from the MAC. The Cowboys last played in the New Mexico Bowl in 2009, Dave Christensen’s first year, and defeated Fresno State in double OT. The Temple Owls finished their season at 8-4, 2nd in the MAC East division. The Owls are a run-heavy offense, 7th in the country at 256.7. They are 3rd in the country at points against, allowing 13.8 per game. The only common opponent between the two teams is Bowling Green, who defeated the Owls 13-10, but the Cowboys defeated 28-27. The game will be played December 17th at noon on ESPN. Cowboy fans can get their tickets to the game from the UW ticket office.

In other Poke news, the Cowboy basketball team is still rolling, pulling off a couple of more wins this week vs Utah Valley State and Bradley. The Cowboys are now 8-1 on the season and will face off against Colorado on Friday night in  Boulder. The Cowgirl basketball team suffered another loss this weekend to the Montana Lady Griz. They are now 1-6 on the season. They will play next on Saturday against Maryville.

The Wyoming wrestling team also had a great week of wrestling as the team traveled to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational. The Cowboys finished the tournament in 3rd place, finishing behind Big 10 powers Michigan and Ohio State. Shane Onufer and Joe LeBlanc brought home individual titles for the Pokes, and a handful of other Pokes also brought medals home from Vegas. They will next be in action at Nebraska on Saturday in Lincoln.

Go Pokes!

The Cowboys got on the scoreboard first with junior Luke Anderson intercepting a Kellen Moore pass and taking it back 29 yards for a Cowboy touchdown. The Pokes did something that no other team has done this year, and that was hold Boise State scoreless in the first quarter. Boise State scored 13 points in the 2nd quarter using a Doug Martin run and a Kellen Moore TD to Matt Miller to go to the half with a 13-7 lead. The hail mary from Moore to Miller was a goofy play for both sides as Miller was laying on the ground and after a couple of tips the ball fell into Miller’s hands and he happen to be laying on the goal line stripe as time expired. Wyoming blocked the following extra point.

After half time it was all Kellen Moore, showing why he should be invited to New York next month. Moore went on to throw for two more touchdowns in the 2nd half as the Broncos sealed up the game. The Cowboys put a touchdown in with 5 minutes to ago, a Brett Smith pass to Josh Doctson, but by then it was too late for a Cowboy comeback. Brett Smith finished with 78 yards passing and 39 yards rushing. Redshirt freshman receiver Sam Stratton led rushers with 58 yards, running from the Wildcat. Tashaun Gipson led all Cowboy tacklers with 12 tackles.

The Pokes will next face off with Colorado State in the annual Border War with the Bronze Boot at stake. The Cowboys are looking to make it three wins in a row vs the Sheep from Fort Collins. The game will kickoff at 12:00pm from Hughes Stadium. The annual Border War run by both schools’ ROTC will be on Friday, as the crews from each side will meet at the border on highway 287 and the ball will be run back to Fort Collins.

In basketball action this week the Cowboy basketball team has been piling up some wins in their Jim Thorpe Classic tournament. The Pokes started off with a win vs. Portland State and followed that up with a win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Pokes will play Louisiana Tech later on today and look to go 3-0 in the tournament and try to move to 6-1 on the season. The Cowgirl basketball team has had a tough season to date. This past weekend they suffered losses to Northern Iowa and Loyola Marymount. The Cowgirls will play Creighton at home on Thursday with a 7pm tip off.

Go Pokes!

The Cowboys got on the board first with a 26 yard screen pass from Brett Smith to Brandon Miller. The Cowboys played most of the first half pretty sluggish, scoring only once more on a 3  yard Alvester Alexander rush to the endzone. At the half the Pokes were up 14-10 on a frigid day in Laramie. The Pokes were heavily favored in this contest. In the second half there was no doubt who was going to take over this game.

Brett Smith took over the 2nd half and showed why he should be the Mountain West freshman of the year. Smith is also in the running for the national freshman of the year according to some publications. Smith took over with his feet after the half and ran in two scores, the first a 10 yard scramble to the endzone. His second rushing touchdown of the game was far more impressive as Smith read the quarterback draw to perfection, hit the lane and ran for 69 yards. Smith was pulling away from the defense on his scramble down the field. The Cowboys finished the game with a 31-10 victory over the Lobos. The Lobos fall to 1-10 on the season, while the Cowboys are now 7-3, 4-1 in conference play.

The Pokes will next play Boise State on their “famous’ blue turf. It will be a 12:00opm kickoff and can be found on TheMTN.

The Cowboy basketball team picked up a win and a loss this past weekend, a win over Northern Colorado of the Big Sky conference and a loss at UW-Green Bay. They will next play at home vs. South Dakota on 11-22 at the AA. The Cowgirls picked up their first win of the season as they were able to defeat Chadron State on the home floor. They will next play in the Loyola Marymount tournament in Los Angeles and will play Northern Iowa first on 11-25. The Cowboy wrestling team fared very well in the Kearney Open, having six wrestlers win individual titles. Also competing was Joe LeBlanc and Shane Onufer in the NWCA all-star classic, which the elite wrestlers, one from each weight class, are paired off in one on one matches. Joe LeBlanc won his match by defeating Ben Bennett of Central Michigan while Shane Onufer fell to Josh Asper of Maryland. Great exposure for an up and coming Cowboy wrestling program.

Go Pokes!

The game started with wind blowing in the 30mph range and had gusts of more than 40mph. The goal posts at Falcon Stadium were swaying back and forth, making kicking conditions impossible. The Cowboys started the game red-hot as Brett Smith led the charge down field on a 14 play, 80 yard drive that covered more than 6 minutes when Smith punched the ball into the endzone from a yard out. The PAT missed as the wind managed to take the ball and sling it wide right of the goal post. AFA responded at the end of the first quarter as fullback Mike DeWitt took it in from 9 yards out. The teams played a lot of back and forth football but the Pokes punched in another TD right before halftime, a touchdown pass from Smith to Chris McNeill from 6 yards out. McNeill would later suffer a shoulder injury that would end the season for him. Two point conversion failed.

AFA look the lead late in the 3rd quarter when Mike DeWitt scored his second touchdown of the day, AFA was up 17-12. The Pokes responded in the 4th quarter when Brett Smith took in his second touchdown run of the game. Smith’s two point conversion pass was intercepted. Up 18-17 the Cowboys were clinging to their lead. AFA threatened to score late in the game to take the lead but the Cowboy defense game up HUGE once again late in the game as Ben Durbin stripped AFA of the ball and Mike Purcell recovered. This ended a Falcons scoring threat. The Pokes got another huge turnover when AFA bobbled a hook and ladder attempt and Marqueston Huff returned it 48 yards for a touchdown to seal the Cowboy victory. Huff caused one more turnover to end the game by intercepting a Connor Dietz pass.

The Cowboys pulled off the victory 25-17 in the Springs, the first time the Pokes have beaten the Falcons since 2005. The Cowboys are now sitting at six wins, one short of becoming bowl eligible. They will need one more win in their next three games to get to a bowl game against either New Mexico, Boise State, or the Rams in Fort Collins. Brett Smith led the Pokes in rushing with 86 yards, followed by Alvester Alexander with 84, and newcomer Kody Sutton, who saw his redshirt disappear this weekend, with 56. Smith also had 139 yards passing. The Pokes were led on defense by Gabe Knapton with 12 tackles, then Luke Ruff with 11. Josh Biezuns, our player of the week, had 10 tackles, 5 solo, 1.5 TFL and a forced fumble. The Pokes defense came up huge in the 4th quarter, keeping the Falcons out of the endzone to seal it. The Pokes will play on Saturday at noon in War Memorial Stadium against the 1-9 New Mexico Lobos, who got their first win of the season this past weekend by defeating the UNLV Rebels. New Mexico, who has struggled a ton this season, fired coach Mike Locksley mid-season due to poor performance and a recruit getting picked up for a DUI in his SUV.

In other Poke news, the Cowgirl soccer team fell just short of clinching the MW championship, falling to New Mexico in the title game. Cowboy hoops got back under way under new coach Larry Shyatt and they got back in a big way as they took D2 Western State College to the woodshed 78-39. Cowgirl hoops dropped a heart breaker as they lost to Utah State 62-56. Cowboy wrestling also got underway as they won the Northwest Open in Powell then the Cowboy Open this past weekend. No results have been posted from the Cowboy Open as of writing.

Go Pokes!

The second half wasn’t as friendly to the Cowboys as they were only able to get onto the scoreboard once. The Frogs settled into their offense as the weather began to worsen. The Frogs went on to rush for over 400 yards and scored two more rushing touchdowns. Freshman kicker Daniel Sullivan hit his career long as a Cowboy by kicking a field goal from 48 yards, the only Cowboys score in the 2nd half. The final score of this game ended 31-20. The Frogs had over 600 yards of total offense, while holding the Cowboys to 353 yards.

Freshman quarterback Brett Smith had a rough game as he was hit repeatedly, some not so honest, by linebacker Tank Carder, who will presumably be playing in the NFL next year. Brett Smith took a blow to the helmet from Carder that eventually knocked him out of the game. Smith fought to come back into the game but was held out by trainers for his safety. Transfer quarterback Colby Kirkegaard finished the game for the Cowboys. Carder wasn’t flagged for any hits.

The Cowboys will move past this game and prepare for a road trip down I-25 to face the Air Force Falcons. The Falcons have had an up and down year, but have recently secured their second straight Commander-In-Chief trophy with a victory over Army this past weekend. The Falcons are 5-4 on the season and are led by senior quarterback Tim Jefferson. The Pokes have not beaten the Falcons since 2005, but most of the games in recent memory have been decided by less than 10 points. The games always seem to be hard fought battles. The game will kickoff at 12:00pm from Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs.

Go Pokes!