Leonard stepping up for Cowboys

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming junior wide receiver David Leonard, 33, catches a pass this season against Texas.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

David Leonard will give you somewhat of an “ah-shucks” response. Quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels says the offensive scheme doesn’t really allow it.

But when Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen was asked earlier in the week if Leonard could be called the Cowboys’ go-to receiver, he finally relented and agreed.

“You can call David Leonard our go-to receiver,” Christensen said with a smile.

Leonard had a career-high 13 catches last Saturday for 97 yards in the Cowboys 30-28 win over Florida Atlantic University. For the season, Leonard now has 38 catches for 368 yards and one touchdown. He had 29 career catches in his first two seasons.

“I still don’t think I would call myself that (go-to receiver),” said Leonard, as the Cowboys prepared for Saturday’s homecoming contest with New Mexico (noon). “I think we have too much talent on this team that on any given day, anybody could have that big of a night. First-string, second-string, everyone who came in made a contribution. It was a team effort and that is what it took to win the game.”

Carta-Samuels kind of agrees without downplaying Leonard’s effort last week and during the season.

“I think in our scheme, unfortunately, we don’t have go-to players so much, it’s more like taking what they give you,” Carta-Samuels said. “David has done a great job of that. He has been an easy target for me. With his work ethic and the way he practices, I knew that was going to happen. It wasn’t a big surprise to me.”

There’s no denying, though, that when Carta-Samuels is on the scramble, one of his first looks is for Leonard.

“He’s 6-3 or 6-4, so he is bigger target than anybody else, but he gets open. He knows where to be on the field. He makes my job easier. I definitely look for No. 33,” Carta-Samuels said.

Leonard’s previous career high in receptions came in the season-opener against Weber State with seven. Although he went into the season with much higher expectations, he wasn’t expecting a 13-reception game.

“It’s very exciting getting that many passes thrown your way. Your feel proud knowing that you are helping out your team and that is the most important thing,” Leonard said.

Leonard credits the presence of Carta-Samuels, as well as the Wyoming coaching staff for getting himself and the rest of the team ready for the season, mentally and physically. He also said it is nice to have Carta-Samuels firmly entrenched at quarterback, with his ability to find the open receiver.

“If you see him running in the backfield, and if you get open, he’ll find you," Leonard said. "It is encouraging for a receiver to never quit on a play because it could be a game changer. We work on it every day in practice. He has great vision.”

Physically, Leonard also said that he is more prepared for the season, especially for the grinds of the fourth quarter. He said the new coaching staff brought in a program to develop players to increase speed and strength.

“It has worked tremendously,“ he said. “This off-season I felt like I really wanted to step up and be a big contributor for this team. Just doing a little extra work when you really don’t want to. Before you go to asleep, a few extra push-ups and sit-ups, anything that can give you an edge on an opponent.”

The Cowboys now feel that the fourth quarter is a time for them to excel. He said that they have become aware that they can’t be satisfied with ordinary; they can’t be satisfied with just doing the basics and the bare minimum.

“ We had to push ourselves to beyond limits that we didn’t know that we had. In these last two games that have been close, we ended up finishing in the fourth quarter, which is huge,” he said. “We’re a disciplined team,. We work on that everyday in practice. Coaches are always preaching. It is huge being disciplined, especially condition-wise. We’re doing all the things needed to finish up the games.”

While the Wyoming wide receivers have struggled at times this season, especially early, Leonard said that they are in a much more consistent groove, and they are beginning to understand what is going on. He added that it goes back to the hard work that they are putting in.

“We continue to do the same regiment after practice, continue to stay after and catch extra passes,” he said. “We’re focusing on the small things that makes us successful. It‘s kind of molding together and it is a good feeling.”

Now that the Cowboys have had two solid games back-to-back, it’s no time to stop improving.

“We’re going into conference play now and we have to let everything hang out,“ Leonard said. “It’s great to see the improvement that we have made, the steps that we have taken. Now that we are feeling pretty good, we have to continue to improve and not be satisfied with what we have done.”

Leonard borrows the old sports cliché of taking it one-game-at a-time and focus on the task in hand. Besides, he said that the Lobos will be hungry on Saturday and they have to match that hunger.

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“We have a great opportunity to get a streak going," Leonard said, "especially because this is a conference game; this is another big step for us and a huge challenge. We’ll step up to the challenge.”

Stewart embracing the move

Sophomore Brandon Stewart

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

A solid ending to his freshman campaign had Brandon Stewart coming back with potential and anticipation as one of the top receivers for the Wyoming Cowboys.

But Stewart struggled at times in Dave Christensen's new offense, and before he knew it, he was down on the depth chart, with his playing time minimal.

But Stewart wasn’t down for long. In fact, he’s moved up on the depth chart at a different position -- running back.

After a shoulder injury sidelined him in 2008 for the first five games, Stewart had 13 catches for 251 yards in the final seven contests. After the first two games in 2009, Stewart had just two catches for 17 yards. It was not exactly the explosive start he and many thought he was ready to give.

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In the last three games, Stewart has steadily improved as a running back, rushing for 17 yards against Colorado, 31 yards against UNLV and a team-high 79 yards in last week’s 30-28 win over Florida Atlantic University.

Whatever it takes to get on the field.

“I wasn’t on the field as much as I wanted to be. The changes they gave me, I wanted to give 100 percent every time, because I knew if I did that, I would get on the field more,” Stewart said. “I prepared myself to get out there and show them that I can play and I deserved to be on the field more.”

While he struggled at times this fall as a receiver, once the Cowboys became at full strength at the position, Stewart saw less and less time out on the field.

But Stewart had shown in the past that he could be a difference maker once he got his hands on the football and secured it.

Consequently, just give him the ball.

“I think they were trying to find a way to get me on the field,” Stewart said. “I couldn’t get on as much as a receiver, so they moved me to running back. I was ready to go. I’m enjoying it, it is fun.”

Stewart wasn’t upset with the position change, and in fact, embraced the move.

“I was definitely anxious to try it. I also enjoy having the ball in my hands, to be able to try to do something," he said. “As a receiver, you’re going to catch the ball and somebody is hanging on you or you are going to catch it out of bounds. It’s good to have the ball in your hand and see where you are going to go. I enjoy that.”

It certainly hasn’t been an easy transition, but learning the Wyoming blocking schemes is now beginning to pay off. Last week against FAU was proof of that.

It’s taken not only work on the field, but off the field. Stewart said he has had to “study up” on blocking schemes, which has been beneficial. Until then, he added, he would get the ball and just run to where he thought a hole would be open. Know he knows where he is supposed to go and where the whole is supposed to be open.

“Right when they moved me, it was kind of tough to figure out line fronts and what out linemen are going to do, how they line up,” he said. “Now, I am getting more comfortable figuring out how we’re blocking. Knowing our blocking schemes makes it a lot easier knowing where I have to go with the ball.”

It’s not like Stewart had never run the ball before, wither at Wyoming or in high school. He just hadn’t rushed it as a running back.

Now, when Stewart gets hit, its often from linemen and linebackers, rather than just defensive backs. And yes, he has noticed the difference.

“You definitely feel it after the game,” Stewart said. “You know you were in the trenches getting hit by the biggest guys out on the field. I think that is the biggest change. You definitely get hit more and you feel it more after the game. That’s why I try to stay low as much as possible.”

There has been a definite change in the Wyoming running attack, with quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels and fellow true freshman Alvester Alexander , No. 1 on the depth chart at running back, gaining much of the yardage as well.

Alexander and Stewart give the Cowboys a different attack, with Alexander more of a power and speed back, with Stewart a "downhill" speed back.

“I’m just downhill and hit the hole kind of runner. When we get inside the 20, he’s going to score. He puts points on the board for us.”

“I think he carries the ball really well. He’s a change of pace form Alvester," Carta-Samuels said. “I think they are different types of backs. Brandon is a special player. You see guys who work hard get rewarded. He is out there working his tail off. He’s embracing the role of running back and taking it to the next level.”

Last week, Alexander had just 50 yards rushing, but scored three times.

That’s fine with Stewart. He’d be more than content to gain yards in the middle of the field and let Alexander power his way into the end zone.

As long as someone scores.

“As long as we put points on the board, I’m happy,” he said.

The Cowboys are showing signs of improvement on offense, hence their two-game winning streak in which they have scored 30 points in both games.

Stewart said as a team that they are finally understanding what they have to do to get to where we need to be as a program.

Whether he is at receiver or running back, all Stewart wants to do is contribute to that success, instead of standing on the sidelines.

“Now that we have back-to-back wins, our team is feeling more confident and trusting each other. We’re ready to go again,” he said.
　

Carta-Samuels wins POW honors again

Freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels

Wyoming true freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels was named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Monday.

Carta-Samuels won the award outright this week, after sharing the honor with TCU quarterback Andy Dalton a week ago. He becomes the first Wyoming Cowboy on offense, defense or special teams to earn MWC Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks since the league began in 1999.


Carta-Samuels led the Cowboys to a come-from-behind road win at Florida Atlantic, highlighted by a 12-play, 91-yard, winning touchdown drive with 4:29 remaining in the game. On the final drive, the true freshman from San Jose, Calif., rushed for 28 yards and passed for 18 yards, accounting for half (46 yards) of Wyoming's 91 yards on the scoring drive.

On the day, Carta-Samuels accounted for 292 yards of total offense -- 223 passing and 69 rushing. He completed 76.3 percent of his pass attempts on the day (29 of 38), and had a quarterback rating of 120.35. He gained a total of 99 yards rushing, but due to three sacks ended up netting 69 rushing yards.

Carta-Samuels led Wyoming on scoring drives of 47 yards, 59 yards, 80 yards on two different drives and 91 yards. UW tied a season best by scoring 30 points versus FAU. Carta-Samuels connected with seven different Cowboy receivers on the day, and guided Wyoming's offense to 421 yards of total offense.

Carta-Samuels, Watts earn MWC honors

UW photo/Ian Watts was named MWC Special Teams Player of the Week. At right, quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels earned offensive honors.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen has not been afraid to go with his youngsters, starting six true freshmen Saturday in the 30-27 win over UNLV.

The Mountain West Conference recognized those efforts, naming a pair of Cowboy freshmen as its players of the week. Wyoming true freshmen Austyn Carta-Samuels and Ian Watts were both honored by the conference on Monday.

Carta-Samuels was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Week, along with TCU junior quarterback Andy Dalton. Carta-Samuels led Wyoming to a 30-27 victory over UNLV in his first career start. He completed 24 of 37 passes (64.9 percent) for 234 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 144.7. Carta-Samuels also rushed for 34 yards for 268 yards of total offense.

The freshman guided Wyoming on scoring drives of 57, 80, 73, 80 and 26 yards. The last 80-yard drive was made midway through the fourth quarter as Carta-Samuels led the Cowboys on a nine-play drive to tie the game at 27 all. He completed 4 of 5 passes on that drive for 33 yards and he rushed for 19 yards on a critical third-down and five situation to keep the drive alive.

With Wyoming facing a second down and nine yards on the UNLV 15, Carta-Samuels was forced to scramble from the pocket, he then hit Travis Burkhalter in the corner of the endzone on his third TD pass of the day to tie the game. Carta-Samuels would later lead the Cowboys on a game-winning drive in which he completed 4 of 5 passes for 32 yards, setting up Wyoming’s 28-yard, game-winning field goal.

“He started slow as we know in both halves,” Christensen said. “He caught on fire after that and made great decisions with the football, he made great throws with the football. He did a great job providing leadership for our offense and managing our offense. If I had to grade him, I’d give him an A for the game.”

Watts was named the Mountain West’s Special Teams Player of the Week, as he successfully made all three of his field-goal attempts from 29, 22 and 28 yards to provide the margin of victory over UNLV.

“It felt really great,” Watts said after Saturday’s game. “It’s a lot different than high school with getting just two field goals all season, then getting three in one game. I was nervous on the first one, then after that it was easy and there was no problem. It’s good to get the first game out of the way and that I did well.”

Never having attempted a field goal as a collegian, the freshman walk-on gave Wyoming a 3-0 lead with a 29-yard field goal in the first quarter. He added a second field goal in the second quarter to pull the Cowboys to within one point at 7-6, but it was his third field goal that saw the freshman perform under pressure. With Wyoming on the UNLV 11-yard line and a little over four minutes remaining in the game, Watts connected on a 28-yarder to put the Pokes ahead to stay at 30-27.

He was also a perfect 3 of 3 in point-after-touchdown attempts to score 12 of Wyoming’s 30 points on the day.

“Not bad for a guy that just showed up on my doorstep, huh?” Christensen said.

On Monday during his weekly news conference, Christensen was asked what it meant for two freshmen to earn player of the week honors.

“Anytime a true freshman can come in and play, you’re kind of hoping that they can perform to the level which gives you a chance to win,” he said. “I think the six freshmen that we started in that football game came out and played at a pretty high level. Most people in the country probably aren’t starting six true freshmen, but they have earned their spots. That’s one thing we have said from the get-go, the best players will play. They have put themselves in starting positions because of their performance in practice and they continue to perform in games.”

Air Force defensive back Reggie Rembert earned MWC Defensive Player of the Week honors, intercepting two passes, forcing one fumble and recovering another fumble, which he returned 47 yards for a touchdown.

Other Cowboy honors
For the second time this season, several Cowboys have been recognized by CollegeFootballPerformance.com as among the best performers at their positions in the nation.

Cowboy punter Austin McCoy was named the nation’s Co-Punter Performer of the Week. He shared the honor with BYU’s Riley Stephenson. McCoy averaged 53.2 yards on five punts versus UNLV. He had a long punt of 60 yards, and placed one of his five punts inside the Rebel 20-yard line.

“It was much better,” McCoy said on Saturday. “Finally everything is starting to click for us. We are trying to show what we are made of on the punt team because we have been getting better and better, and by far, this was our best week.”

McCoy s now just concentrating on punting, as he had been the team’s place-kicker for the first two contests, hitting just 1 of 3 field goals.

Christensen said punting is what McCoy has been doing and just punting is now making his job easier.

“He has punted well up to this point in time, but we haven’t always covered as well,” Christensen said. “Now that he was just able to focus on that, he boomed them.”

Sophomore cornerback Tashaun Gipson was one of only six defensive backs nationally to be recognized this week. Air Force’s Rembert was named the Defensive Back Performer of the Week.

Gipson intercepted two passes at critical points of the win over UNLV, and added four tackles on the day. Gipson’s first interception came in the third quarter with UNLV looking to break a 13-13 tie. The Rebels had a second and goal from the Wyoming 10-yard line when UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton threw a pass toward the endzone.

Gipson intercepted the pass at the Wyoming’ 1-yard line and returned it to the 4-yard line to end the drive for the Rebels.

With 7:41 remaining in the game and Wyoming having just tied the game at 27-all, Gipson intercepted his second pass of the day at the UNLV 37-yard line. Gipson’s interception set up Wyoming’s game-winning drive of 26 yards, culminating in a 28-yard field goal.

"I just saw the ball and I wanted it,” Gipson said on Saturday. “Both of those catches, I just clued on the quarterback, which was one of my biggest things coming in."

Earlier this season following Wyoming’s 2009 season-opening win over Weber State, Wyoming freshman strong safety Shamiel Gary was named the Co-Defensive Back Performer of the Week, while senior defensive tackle John Fletcher was one of only five defensive linemen in the nation to earn Honorable Mention honors that week.

Cowboys make the stops when it counted

Richard Anderson photo

Wyoming linebackers Gabe Knapton, 52, and Josh Biezuns smother a UNLV running back Saturday. At left is sophomore cornerback Tashaun Gipson.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

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The Wyoming offense bent, but did not break. Tashaun Gipson and Gabe Knapton made sure of that.

Gipson picked off a pair of Omar Clayton passes, one at the Cowboys own 1-yard line, and Knapton had one big pass breakup late and 17 total tackles, as Wyoming made the plays defensively it needed to, holding off the Rebels 30-27 Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

The high-flying Rebels offense, led by Clayton at quarterback, and talented receivers Ryan Wolfe and Phillip Payne, seemed to stay a step ahead of the Wyoming defense in the second half, twice breaking ties with effective touchdown drives.

Both times, the Wyoming offense battled back to get into the end zone itself to knot the game up again. After a 28-yard field goal by Ian Watts gave the Cowboys a three-point lead with 3 minutes, 20 seconds to play, the Cowboy defense needed one more big stop.

It got it when the Rebels failed to convert -- even get off a 50-yard field goal attempt in the final minute of play. UNLV did earn four first downs on that late drive, but stalled inside the Wyoming 30 on a 7-yard pass and two straight incomplete passes that led to the ill-fated field goal attempt.

“I thought we played pretty good,” Knapton said. “There were a couple of series out there where we let a couple of plays slip, but we all came together as a defense and stopped them when we really needed to.”

Although the Rebels finished with 386 yards of total offense, converting 10 of 17 third-down possessions, the Wyoming defense came up big on the final full UNLV possession.

“I think we just realized that we needed to do something," Knapton said. “There has been a lot of talk about going out there and playing four quarters. We didn’t really do it for all four quarters, but we came together and got fired up. It wasn’t what they said, it as just our own ideas of what we had to do.”

One of the biggest defensive stops in the game came early in the third quarter when the Rebels were looking to break a 13-13 tie. They got one yard short of the goal-line when Gipson made a diving interception in front of a Rebel receiver.

“No question that Tashaun Gipson’s interception (at the 1-yard line) was as big a play as any,” Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen said. “UNLV was having success moving the football. We talk about when teams get down in that area we have to make something happen and he did."

Late in the game, Gipson stopped another potential drive when he basically did the same thing, stepping in front of Clayton’s pass on the Vegas 37-yard line. Wyoming would then move down for the eventual winning field goal.

The two picks now give Gipson three on the season. He enjoyed caching the football on Saturday.

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"I just saw the ball and I wanted it,” Gipson said with a grin. “Both of those catches, I just clued on the quarterback, which was one of my biggest things coming in. Against Weber State and Colorado, the quarterbacks were kind of sloppy on their clues, so my brother (Marcell) and I got back to the basics. We started zoning in on the quarterbacks, which I thought was a vital part of those two big plays I had out there.”

The Cowboys secondary had a tough chore ahead of them with Clayton and the talented Rebel receivers. It was a test they accepted.

“It was a lot of fun,” Gipson said. “They had some great receivers out there, so it was a challenge for us. I credit coach Grinch, he kept preaching and harping at us to keep us focused because that is a good receiving corps. We came up big time.”

For some reason, the UNLV coaching staff elected to go after Gipson, despite his ability to defend and catch the football. Gipson said he “guessed” he had to show them.

“There was a lot of hype about their receivers," Gipson said. “They have some good players, but our secondary, and I have been saying this, is one of the best in the country. When we go out and make plays, we can make things happen.”

The Cowboys now have eight interceptions on the season, compared to nine of all of last year.

“We are just out there playing Cowboy Tough football,” Gipson said. “We want the ball. We have a different motto -- it’s all about the ball. We want the ball every time the ball is in the air. If they run, we want to strip it out. We’re just trying to put our offense in a better situation.”

Knapton just missed an interception on that late UNLV drive, but got a big pass knockdown.

“When you are flying around, like we do in practice, trying to get the ball, you are going to be more effective,” Knapton said.

Although the Cowboys are giving up an average of 416 yards a game, their play on defense has allowed the offense to work through some struggles and now show some success.

“In the first four games, we fell like we are better than we have played,” Gipson said. “The stats don’t prove that we are better than we played, but we want to prove to everybody that we can stop some of the best offenses, not only in the conference, but in the country.”

The Wyoming linebacking corps that also includes sophomore Brian Hendricks and senior Weston Johnson, is proving to be among the best in the conference. Hendricks leads the way in tackles with 50, followed by Knapton at 45.

“It’s trouble for an offense when we have two linebackers like Brian Hendricks and myself making tackles," Knapton said. " I think it was a team effort by the entire defense."
　　

Carta-Samuels has the right stuff in first start

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels scrambles out of the pocket Saturday against UNLV.

Wyoming-UNLV statistics

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Wyoming true freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels admits he has a little arrogance in him. Just call it confidence in your ability.

But nervous for your first collegiate start? Carta-Samuels is human, after all. He had a bundle of nerves pent up inside him early Saturday against UNLV.

It showed, as the Cowboys were handed a gift on the first possession after a bad snap past the Rebels quarterback that gave UW the ball on the 7-yard line. Wyoming had to settle for a field goal.

The Cowboys then punted on possessions two and three and then settled for another short field goal after stalling on the 5-yard line.

Four possession, six points, no touchdowns.

It was not exactly the start Carta-Samuels had envisioned.

So yes, he was a bit nervous early on.

“Did you see the first two drives?” Carta-Samuels said. “I had some miscues early. I’m glad we got the win.”

Carta-Samuels, however, got going late in the first half and once he did that, there was no stopping him. He finished 24-of-37 through the air for 234 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys won their Mountain West Conference opener with a tough 30-27 victory.

“I credit that a lot to my coaches, who did a great job on film with me and Coach (Dave) Christensen pulled me aside and he said it is going to be all right,” Carta-Samuels said. “He took the slow approach, the calming approach rather than yelling at me, which in my mind, makes things worse.”

All proved to be good for the Cowboys’ offense, as they finally got the monkey off of their back and into the end zone, ending a 10-quarter scoreless drought.

Besides, Carta-Samuels said that the first drive of the game is not his favorite drive, anyway.

“I prefer to see what they are coming out in and adjust to it. I was excited,” he said.

Was there a point in the first half where he began to lose a little confidence in himself?

“I may have thought that a little inside, but I wasn’t going to show it,” Carta-Samuels said. “After I completed a couple of balls in a row late in the first quarter, it was back, it was fine.”

And fine he was from that point on. He threw his first college touchdown pass on a 19-yard strike to sophomore running back Brandon Stewart with just 2:48 left in the first half.

“After he caught it, everyone is in the end zone celebrating and I’m looking around, thinking, ‘all right,’” he said. “Then I got there and was late and everyone tackled me. It was a lot of fun, your first college touchdown pass and the first TD pass for our offense of the season.”

After UNLV regained the lead at 20-13 in the third quarter, Carta-Samuels engineered a 5-play, 73-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver David Leonard down the right sideline.Again, after UNLV went back up 27-20, Carta-Samuels found wide receiver Travis Burkhalter in traffic in the left side of the end zone for a 15-yard TD pass.

In all three touchdown passes, Carta-Samuels was at his best, on the move, out of the pocket, looking for the open receiver.

He then moved the Cowboys down field for what proved to be the game winning 28-yard field goal by walk-on freshman Ian Watts.

Carta-Samuels said it might not be normal to all quarterbacks, but that ability to improvise and find the open man is normal to him.

“Without talking about myself, I think that is what sets me apart from other quarterbacks,” he said. “I like to drop back and pass, but I also like creating. If things break down, I can create. I love that stuff, drawing plays in the dirt. That’s exciting to me and I enjoy it. A lot of coaches in the country get mad at you and get on you, but our coaches are awesome about it. They allow me to try to make plays.”

Christensen said that Carta-Samuels made a lot of plays with his feet, getting out of the pocket.

“He’s special,” Christensen said. “I think we’ve found the guy who can run this offense proficiently. He made great throws under pressure. He ran the ball when things broke down, which is what you want to do. He did a great job of orchestrating the offense.”

Carta-Samuels was sacked just once in the game and he credits his line for doing a good job of protection,. The Wyoming offensive line, as well as the rest of the offense, is learning that just enough protection can now lead to good things with Carta-Samuels behind center.

“A lot of people say I was running for my life, but the play was developing, you have to let it develop,” Carta Samuels said. “I’m just bring to gain as much time as I can. Even though I am out of the pocket, if I throw the same pass that they wanted me to throw, that is what I did and coaches were OK with that, too.”

While Carta-Samuels improvised at times, the Wyoming offensive line is learning how to react. In fact, it‘s the end result that they are looking at the most.

“I’m thrilled with Austyn right now,” Wyoming center Russ Arnold said. “I’m really happy for him. His first start, to come away with a win. I heard coach say it but I was already thinking it. I think he grew up three or four classes in maturity. Not to say he was immature before, but it is awesome. He was in control. When we needed the scores, he got the scores today.”

Christensen said that some quarterback “have the knack.” His former QB at Missouri, Chase Daniel had that knack. He said Carta-Samuels has it as well.

“Things break down and Austyn did a great job of moving around. He has the ideal speed to run this offense,” Christensen said.

Burkhalter said that when Carta-Samuels goes on the move, it is backyard football, something that they practice daily.

“That’s what happens sometimes when the line breaks down,” Burkhalter said. “But I have never seen that in a game personally. You see it on TV, you see Brett Favre do it, but I have never seen a lot of college guys do it. He’s very under control when he is out there.”

Under control and composed; qualities you don’t normally see in a true freshman making his first start.

Leonard said Carta-Samuels had great composure after that slow start.

“In the second half, we had some big dives and we converted on big plays,” Leonard said. “He did a great job scrambling and made some big plays in the back of the end zone. He just stepped up.”

Added Arnold: “Nobody had to baby-sit him today. He stepped up and played awesome.”

When talking to the media after the win, Carta-Samuels showed that confidence one would expect. There was also a look of relief and joy on his face as he answered the biggest questions about his youth and inexperience.

And yes, he’s going to enjoy this day. Then it is back to work in preparation for Florida Atlantic next Saturday.

“I’m going to enjoy this one a lot longer than last week, that’s for sure,” Carta-Samuels said. “I had to forget last week pretty quickly. I’ll enjoy it tonight and wake up and go watch film to see what we did right and see what we did wrong, especially in that first quarter.”
　　

Walk-on Watts kicks way up depth chart

Richard Anderson photo/Freshman walk-on Ian Watts kicks during Tuesday's practice.


By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Ian Watts had planned to be in the stands watching the Wyoming-Texas football game at War Memorial Stadium a couple of weeks ago.

Instead, he kicked off to the second-ranked Longhorns.

On Saturday, Watts will handle the place-kicking duties for the Cowboys, as they return home for their Mountain West Conference opener against UNLV (1 p.m.).

Not bad for an un-recruited walk-on freshman.

To say the least, the last couple of weeks have been a lot more than he expected.

“I was told a few days before the first game against Weber State that I wouldn’t suit up for the first two games because I was a walk-on reporting on the first day of school,” Watts said on Monday. “I thought I would be sitting in the stands and all of the sudden I am kicking off against Texas. It was a shock, but it was a good shock. It came really fast, but I am excited to be here. I’m in a good place right now.”

Watts came to Wyoming from the Philadelphia area after a short, but successful high school kicking career at Radnor High School.

His quick progression on the football field gave him the confidence to go out and find a college to kick for.

“I felt I could start as a freshman, maybe kickoffs, get me playing time at least,” Watts said. “I really like the coaching staff and that helped my decision. You've got the offensive coordinator from Missouri, scoring a lot of points and Wyoming’s great defense with the offense. We should have it all. I really like that.”

Watts was perfect his senior season, although he attempted just two field goals. He was 19-of-19 on points after touchdowns.

“My problem was, although I was 100 percent on my extra points and field goals, our coach liked to go for it on fourth down,” Watts said.

Watts only competed two years at football, as his story is a normal soccer-player-turned-football-kicker tale.

“When the football team needs a kicker, they come over and say, “Who wants to kick?” I said, “I’ll give it shot and I did pretty well,’” he said.

While Watts was getting some interest from other schools, his decision to come to Wyoming was based some on the fact that last year’s kicker, Jake Scott, is a senior and Austin McCoy is more of a punter.

“With other schools, I would have had to go against a sophomore or freshman kicker and have to compete for three or four years,” he said.

With that said, his father, Bob, used the telephone to find his son a school.

Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen admitted that he was taken a little by surprise.

"His dad called me out of the blue and asked if his son could walk on here. I said, 'Fine, have him get in school and show up,” Christensen said. "He's an un-recruited walk-on that came from Pennsylvania to Laramie, Wyoming, that wanted to kick. Now, he's the starting place-kicker."

After his high school success, Watts competed this summer in the national combines in Denver and got a first look at the Rocky Mountain Region. For obvious thin-air reasons, he started looking in the region.

“My dad said, 'Guess what? They are the highest altitude team in the country,'” Watts said. “I always thought it was Colorado, but it is higher here. I was excited to come here. Last summer I was at the national combines in Denver and my punts were just sailing. I was like, ‘This is going to be great.’”

Then his dad and uncle joined him for the first time on Jonah Field to do some kicking.

“They were going so far. I was excited,” he said.

Christensen said that Watts, at 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, has a strong leg, great lift on the ball and is accurate.

“He missed three weeks of camp, so when he first got here his timing was off,” Christensen said. "This isn't high school, we've got a certain time it's got to get off and he's never been put under those pressures. He has now in the last three weeks."

Watts said it is a nervous time for him, and he hopes the Wyoming offense can get going and get into the end zone … at least early on.

“I just hope for my first time I don’t have to go out for a 45-yard field goal,” he said with a smile. “I would like to work my way up with a few PATs to get a feel for things.”

With the Wyoming offense not scoring a touchdown in the lats nine quarters, Cowboy fans would like to see that as well.