Bohl feels Cowboys are playing more than just a team in opener
August 30, 2016
LARAMIE — Craig Bohl doesn’t see Northern Illinois as a football team.
The third-year University of Wyoming football coach sees the Cowboys’ season-opening foe Saturday night as much more than that.
“When you’re talking about Northern Illinois, you’re talking about a program,” said Bohl during his weekly news conference Monday. “In the last 10 years they’re in the top five (nationally) in winning percentage.”
Northern Illinois, a member of the Mid-American Conference, has done most of its winning over the last half of the last decade. Over the last six seasons, the Huskies are 65-19 (77.3 winning percentage). They were 8-6 last season, but still won its sixth straight MAC Western Division title despite playing four different quarterbacks due to injuries.
Another reason why Bohl describes Northern Illinois as a program and not a team — experience.
Seven redshirt seniors are listed as probable starters for the Huskies, along with five other seniors.
UW’s two-deep roster lists six senior starters.
Bohl ran down the list of strengths of Northern Illinois:
—A good dual-threat quarterback in senior Drew Hare
—A 1,269-yard rusher from last season in senior Joel Bouagnon, who is 6-foot-2, 230 pounds.
—Two big-play receivers in seniors Kenny Golladay and Aregeros Turner.
—Three returning starters along the offensive line, two of which are seniors, and the third, sophomore Max Scharping, regarded by some close to the program as potentially one of the best in school history.
—A physical defensive front, let by two senior defensive tackles. Along with an All-America cornerback in junior Shawun Lurry, who led the Football Bowl Subdivision last season with nine interceptions.
“We’re looking at an excellent football team. The good news is we’re an improved football team,” Bohl said. “It will be a great time for me to see where we’re at for this great test.”
Depth chart news
UW released its two-deep roster for Saturday’s game with some surprises.
Redshirt freshman Josiah Hall will start at one defensive end spot over sophomore Kevin Prosser. Hall, a walk-on who started his UW career as a linebacker, gives the Cowboys a little more size at 6-foot-1, 237 pounds. Prosser is listed at 6-2, 215.
“Both will play, and it’s not a knock on Kevin but more of a compliment for Josiah,” Bohl said.
Junior college transfer Rico Gafford will start at boundary cornerback. The 5-11, 180-pound junior beat out redshirt freshman Davion Freeman. Gafford signed with UW in December and was supposed to enroll in school in January, but an issue with a class credit not transferring to UW kept Gafford away from all team activities until this summer.
At the other cornerback spot, sophomore Antonio Freeman or junior Robert Priester will start. Priester was limited for much of fall camp with a hamstring strain.
Redshirt freshman Austin Conway is UW’s No. 1 punt returner. Conway joined the football team during the spring after he redshirted for the Cowboys’ basketball team during the 2015-16 season.
UW’s top two kickoff returners are senior D.J. May and sophomore running back Nico Evans. May led UW with 24 kickoff returns and a 26.2-yard average last season. Evans had two kickoff returns for 21 yards.
Bohl said true freshman kicker Cooper Rothe will handle both the place-kicking and kickoff duties. Other true freshmen listed on the depth chart were starting left guard Gavin Rush, and weak-side outside linebacker Cassh Maluia — a backup behind redshirt freshman Logan Wilson of Casper.
Quarterback shuffle
Hare is back as the Huskies’ starter after missing time late in 2015 with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
“Drew’s our guy, and all of our quarterbacks are healthy right now,” Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said Monday. “All of the ones who were injured have knocked the rust off and gotten back into a groove. Drew is no exception, and is in a good spot.”
Kind words
Bohl gave a synopsis of all the positions on this year’s team, and said this about redshirt sophomore starting quarterback Josh Allen: “From my perspective, I think he’s the most improved football player on our team. He’s leaned up, grown a little bit, has a live arm and really worked on his accuracy. The big challenge for Josh is how he handles the pressure of playing against an exceptional defense like Northern Illinois.”
Extra points
Bohl said UW is healthy for the opener, and no players will miss the game due to injury our suspension. … Northern Illinois is only the third team from the state of Illinois UW has played in football, and the first at home. The others were at Northwestern on Sept. 15, 1979 (a 27-22 UW loss) and Chicago on Oct. 6, 1928 (a 47-0 UW loss). … Saturday will be the ninth time in the last 11 years the Cowboys have opened their season at home, including the third consecutive year. UW has won seven of its last eight season-opening games at home, but lost last season 24-13 to Football Championship Subdivision foe North Dakota.