Wyoming was dealt
back-to-back blows following the departure of their starting quarterback and his back-up. Austin Carta-Samuels bolted for Vanderbilt while Emory Miller left for personal reasons. That leaves third-year head coach Dave Christensen with two true freshmen, Brett Smith and Adam Pittser. Smith enrolled early and was present for spring practice. Pittsner comes highly regarded as a dual-threat who slipped under the radar due to a run-first high school offense. According to ESPN, Pittser was the No. 15 QB in the 2011 class – ahead of signees from Oklahoma, Florida and TCU. To put it in somewhat of a perspective, Carta-Samuels was ranked No. 72 back in 2009 and went on the earn Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors.
The situation certainly puts the Cowboys behind the eight ball in a year that showed initial promise with virtually the entire starting lineup on both sides of the ball slated to return. Christensen runs a fairly sophisticated offense and Wyoming doesn't have the personnel to move the football and not be precise. Whoever takes the snaps though will have time to adjust with Weber State, Bowling Green and Texas State the first three weeks. After playing Nebraska, the Cowboys enjoy a bye week, and then play Utah State and UNLV and another bye before starting the meat of their schedule.
