Poke Pride

Matthew Blaylock

Colorado Springs, CO  - Wyoming senior strong safety Luke Ruff has been named to the watch list for the 2012 Lott Trophy, award is given to a student-athlete who exhibits the same characteristics Ronnie Lott embodied during his Hall of Fame playing career: integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.

Ruff recorded 102 tackles during the 2011 season and will not only be a starter in 2012 but also a team captain. Of those 102 tackles 54 of them were solo tackles and two were for a loss.

42 players from around the NCAA are on the watch list for the Lott Trophy and Ruff was one of two players named to the list from the Mountain West Conference. Boise State senior linebacker J.C. Percy was the other MW defender named to the watch list.

Voters for the Lott Trophy include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, members of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation Board of Directors, the Legends Coaches and distinguished alumni of various schools around the nation. The winner, who will be announced at the annual black-tie gala in December, receives $25,000 for his institution’s general scholarship fund.

Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly was last year’s Lott Trophy recipient.

Matthew Blaylock

Laramie, WY – The Wyoming Cowboys released their final dept charts of spring drills Monday and even though he was listed at the bottom a couple of weeks ago sophomore quarterback Brett Smith is listed as the number one quarterback after spring drills.

Four seniors were listed at the top of their positions they are Korey Jones, Mike Purcell, Ben Durbin and Luke Ruff. Jones was listed the top outside linebacker while Purcell was listed at number one at defensive tackle. Durbin and Ruff were listed as tops at their positions defensive end and free safety respectively.

Sophomore and junior corner backs, Blair Burns and Marqueston Huff were named tops at corner back.

“I think our secondary has developed well throughout spring,” said Christensen.  “On our defensive line, I think we’ve also developed some depth there, and we got a good look at several guys this spring.  Our offensive line is another area that we’ve made progress.  There was a lot of competition in spring at the offensive line spots, and that will continue on into fall camp.”

On the offensive side of the ball senior Nick Carlson was listed as the number one center while senior Chris McNeill was named the top wide receiver.

Two juniors, Robert Herron at wide receiver andTyler Strong at guard, are also returning starters from 2011.  Sophomore quarterback Brett Smith and sophomore wide receiver Dominic Rufran round out the offense’s returning starters listed No. 1 heading into fall camp.

Sophomore Daniel Sullivan is also listed No. 1 at the place-kicking position after starting as a freshman a year ago.

“At receiver, we are young but those young players got a lot of reps this spring, and that helped them all improve, added Christensen.

Getting Colby Kirkegaard a ton of reps was beneficial for him, as well.  (Daniel) Sullivan really came along kicking the ball, and (Tim) Gleeson came a long way as a punter.  He still has a ways to go, but he has the leg strength that we need to be successful at that position.”

“I think Mark Nzeocha did some really good things this spring,” said Christensen.  “Darren White and DeAndre Jones really showed us how improved they have become.  We have two returning starters there in Burns and Huff, but those two young guys showed us that they can help us next year.  Chad Reese at safety has been extremely physical, which was nice to see.  Zack Berg really stepped up at linebacker as a redshirt freshman.  From an offensive line standpoint, I think Daniel Fleischmanhas made nice progress, as well as some of those guys at center and guard with Travis Bogard, Jake Jones and Zach Rushing all competing for playing time, along with our returning starters (Tyler) Strong and (Nick) Carlson.  At receiver, Eric Nzeocha graduating early from high school and getting in here this spring has really helped him.  James Caraway is a senior we moved over from defensive back, and he and Josh Smith both had nice spring camps.  I think Robert Herron and Dominic Rufran picked up where they left off last season.

“A lot of guys made good progress, which is what you hope every spring practice.  You don’t want just a few guys to make progress and the other guys to stay the same.  There were a number of guys this spring who certainly got better through spring.”

In terms of the progress the offense and defense made as a whole in terms of installation of schemes and performance as units, Christensen had this to add.

“It was a little more difficult offensively without Brett (Smith) out there — other than seven-on-seven drills,” said Christensen.  “Brett definitely knows our system well enough, so we shouldn’t have too much trouble making the progress we need in the fall.  Defensively, it was a new system but our kids picked it up well.  We still have to improve come fall, but I think we made nice progress in the spring.”

The Cowboys football team will have the month of May off before returning to campus in June and July for summer conditioning. They will report back for the start of fall practice on Sunday, Aug. 5, with the first practice of fall camp scheduled for Monday, Aug. 6.

Final Spring Depth Chart.

Matthew Blaylock

Former Wyoming Cowboys linebacker Brian Hendricks has signed a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins. Hendricks will head the Redskins rookie mini camp starting this Thursday where he will be playing alongside highly touted quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Matthew Blaylock

Two former Wyoming Cowboys who went undrafted in the seven rounds of the 2012 NFL draft found NFL homes Saturday night after the draft was over.

Running back Alvester Alexander who left Wyoming after his junior year to enter the NFL draft was signed by the Chicago Bears while former Cowboy team cornerback/safety Tashaun Gipson was signed by the Cleveland Browns.