Quick hits from camp: Pokes ahead of schedule

LARAMIE -- Wyoming has its first fall scrimmage around the corner on Saturday morning inside War Memorial Stadium. Tomorrow, the team is in full pads and will take part in a "third-down scrimmage" with Mountain West and Big XII officials in attendance.

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Here's some more news and notes as the Pokes completed their first full week of training camp:

* About that scrimmage. Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said his team will work on a bit of everything over the next 48 hours. "Saturday is going to be a really important day to see, not so much how we're running things schematically, but who can make plays, who can go up to the football when it's a contested ball, who can tackle somebody in the open field and who can run, block and do the things that we need to do," he said. "Then we'll have some integrated kicking, whether it's the field goal or the punt. That is going to be important. I think we'll probably see if we can get some kickoffs."

* Bohl said his quarterback room has been receiving a heavy dose of information over the past six practices. "We're probably at the installation point where their heads are swimming a bit," he said.

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* The Cowboys worked on two-minute drills Thursday. Bohl said he was impressed with the veteran offensive line. The secondary has been playing well so far this fall, he added.

* Bohl didn't say what exactly a "third-down scrimmage" is, but we can use our imagination, huh? Wyoming's offense was dreadful on third downs last fall, finishing 118th out of 127 teams in the nation with a conversion rate of .303. The Cowboys converted on just 27 of 89 third-down opportunities.

* On the flip side, UW's defense was ranked 30th in getting opposing offenses off the field on third down. Just 29 of 80 were converted against Jay Sawvel's group.

* Bohl did tease that the depth chart could see some movement after the weekend. Stay tuned.

* After the first week of practice, even with a new offensive coordinator and line coach, Bohl said his team is a little bit ahead of where they typically are this time of year. There's a reason for that, he said. "I'm sure that can be credited with the experience that we have within our football team," said Bohl, who is returning 95% of his roster from 2020. "But also, I think the focus and the resolve to be better -- to recognize that each one of these practices -- is very important. They're not perfect. That's why we call it practice. But I think we're making good progress. And we're on we're on task with our installation."

* On the injury front, Bohl said defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole was limited with a shoulder injury Thursday. Claude Cole, another defensive tackle, suffered a knee injury early in the fall. Bohl said other than that his team is healthy heading into the first scrimmage.

* There's a reason, Bohl said, his team is holding up health wise. "We are pretty intact as a football team, which is an indication that they've had a really good summer with conditioning," he said.

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