Stuhlsatz Has Found His Voice in Pokes’ Locker room

LARAMIE -- Ethan Stuhlsatz helplessly watched from the sideline as his defense allowed Central Michigan to rush for 339 yards.

With a heavily-taped ankle, Wyoming's middle linebacker -- and unquestioned leader -- attempted to play. In fact, he was taking pregame reps inside of rain-soaked Kelly/ Shorts Stadium before kickoff.

That's when the bad news was delivered.

"It was a little demoralizing," Stuhlsatz said on Monday. "I wanted to give it a shot, but a couple of those cuts, plants and taking on contact, I was just ... (coaches) came up to me and they didn't really like how I was moving. They told me they were gonna put Dash (Bauman) in.

"... I knew I was going to be a liability out there, so I was OK with it."

Not only is the Wichita native the team's leading tackler, he wears the green dot. That means defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl relays the play calls from the box directly into his helmet.

He directs traffic. He makes last-second decisions. Ultimately, no one in that unit makes more plays.

Angel Flores, play after play, reeled in the shotgun snap, waited for his blocking to develop and weaved his way through the Cowboys' defensive front and, most times, quickly into the second level. CMU averaged 5.7 yards per rush on 59 carries.

"It was definitely tough to watch," Stuhlsatz added.

Though he couldn't physically aid his teammates, he said he tried to keep Bauman calm and give him words of wisdom: Don't overthink it, believe in yourself, relax.

He also walked out of soggy Mount Pleasant after that forgettable 24-10 setback with a new perspective on this roster. Something needed to change -- and fast. Stuhlsatz said he felt there was a "disconnect." Energy was off. There are too many individuals, he thought.

First, the senior called a linebacker-only meeting, scheduled for the following Sunday when the team returned to Laramie. Then came the trip to the head coach's office.

There, Stuhlsatz told Jay Sawvel that he wanted to inject additional camaraderie into the roster. The suggestion: Let's ditch the cell phones and headphones inside the locker room.

That happened. Results followed.

"We weren't connected enough," Wyoming's third-year head coach said, immediately following last Saturday's 27-10 victory over visiting Hawaii. "We weren't playing for the love of playing with our teammates. We found that today. We played with a great joy."

There was also a players-only meeting last Thursday. Stuhlsatz said the embarrassment of the loss to the Chippewas, coupled with a challenge from the head coach and that device ban, re-centered this group. Unflattering headlines and stories throughout the week also brought this unit together, he added.

The rallying cry all week was: All of our goals are still in front of us. Forget about the non-conference season and focus on the Mountain West opponents on the horizon -- one game at a time.

"It's a much better dynamic," Stuhlsatz added. "The players' meeting was great. It was very productive. We got a lot of stuff off our chests. Reality is, screw everybody else, play for each other. That's what it needs to be about -- us.

"It's conference-play time. It's time to really hone in."

Wyoming did just that last Saturday in front of nearly 21,000 inside War Memorial Stadium. The critical mistakes that have plagued this team -- turnovers, missed tackles, costly penalties -- were nearly nonexistent in that lopsided win. The running game gashed the Rainbow Warriors for nearly 200 yards. Samuel Harris and Markell Holman, behind a young, surging front five, accounted for 181 of those, including all three touchdowns.

The defense bent, at times, but never broke, silencing Hawaii's famed run-and-gun attack. That included two red-zone stops, one of which was four consecutive plays inside the Cowboys' 5-yard line.

That 16-play, 74-yard drive resulted in a goose egg on the scoreboard for the visitors. Wyoming answered with a 99-yard touchdown drive, Holman breaking away for an 18-yard score on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

That unit allowed just 226 passing yards, more than 40 under Hawaii's average. It limited the opponent to 102 yards on the ground. That was only 4.3 yards per rush, a number skewed by two runs of 19-plus yards.

"He's a really good player," Bohl said on Monday. "He's playing well and we've got to keep him playing that way. Anytime you lose a guy -- in my opinion he should be an All-American candidate at the end of this year -- I think it's going to take a toll not only on his direct performance, but everyone's. "There's a big confidence from the whole group whenever he's out there."

That tender ankle limited Stuhlsatz to just 49 defensive snaps. He capped the afternoon with just four tackles, well under his average. Bauman, along with Steven Perez, filled in when needed. Building a 20-3 second-half lead certainly helped.

Stuhlsatz said he "slightly tweaked" his injury on a field-goal block and that he was operating at around "70%." On Monday, he said that number is already inching up with a much-anticipated meeting against North Dakota State on the docket.

It was news to him that a name and trophy had been given to this budding rivalry earlier in the day. His focus is on improvement and building on a foundation that was laid last Saturday.

The plan is to tape that ankle up, with the addition of a show spat, and go to work. The task at hand won't be an easy one. The unbeaten Bison have been balanced through four games, especially at the running back spot where DJ Scott and Myles Mitchell have already combined for 439 yards and six touchdowns.

"We watched a little film on them," he said. "You know, so far, they've had a great season. It's gonna be our job, defensively, to shut them down."

The Cowboys (2-2, 1-0) and the Bison (4-0, 1-0) will hookup in the first-ever Battle of the Basins this Saturday inside the Fargodome. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be televised on The CW.

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