LARAMIE – The Wyoming Cowboys practiced indoors on Thursday in a non-padded practice as they fine tuned their offensive and defensive schemes for Saturday’s Spring Game in War Memorial Stadium. The Spring Game will kick off at 2 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium and will be preceded by an Alumni Flag Football Game at 11:30 a.m.

Head coach Craig Bohl said he has been pleased with the attitude and competitiveness of his 2017 Cowboy squad throughout the 14 practices to date.

“I think we have a hungry football team,” said Bohl. “We’ve had a good camaraderie. Sometimes during spring football you will get a ‘we versus them attitude’, but I haven’t seen that. Certainly there are times during spring when the offense and defense spar around a little bit, but by and large I think they’ve really gone out and practiced hard against one another. We like the chemistry of this team. We like their focus, and we’ve had good leadership.”

Now completing his fourth spring as head coach of the Cowboys, Bohl was asked where he felt his team was at in its development this spring compared to previous years.

“I think we’re ahead of where we were last year,” said Bohl. “It has been very competitive. I believe our players understand their assignments better. We’re playing at a faster pace, and we’re deeper than we were last year. But we still have room to improve.”

As the Cowboys prepare for Saturday’s annual Spring Game, Bohl talked about what he hoped to accomplish on Saturday.

“One, we’re going to get another clear evaluation from Saturday’s Spring Game, and two it will give our players a sense of what it is like to play in a game,” said Bohl. “That game experience is something that is difficult to replicate in practice. A lot of the guys who will be playing for us next year will be in this game. It’s not like we’re holding anybody out because we’re concerned about injuries. While injuries are always something in the back of your mind as a head coach, we feel like right now we need to continue to move forward and make sure these guys get game experience.

“All the guys we’re counting on to have an opportunity to play meaningful game reps for us next season will play, except for a few who have had to sit out spring due to previous injuries. The Spring Game is going to be a pretty important game for our players.”

Bohl also detailed the structure for the Spring Game.

“We’ll play 10-minute quarters. We’ll make a determination in the second half whether we’ll have a running clock or not, but we’ll get in a good game on Saturday. We’re pretty healthy now, so it should be an exciting day. The teams have been pretty evenly divided. Most of the time the first offense will be on the field against the first defense and then the twos will be going up against the twos. It will be a good competitive game.”

Bohl also announced to media following Thursday’s practice that sophomore wide receiver Austin Conway will not play in the Spring Game due to a violation of team rules. Bohl also announced that Adrian King, a redshirt freshman linebacker, has decided to leave the Cowboy Football program.

Wyoming’s Spring Game on Saturday, April 22 will kick off at 2 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium. The Spring Game will be preceded by an Alumni Flag Football Game at 11:30 a.m. also in War Memorial. Both events are free and open to the public. Parking is also free in the Ford Stadium Lot east of the stadium. Fans may tailgate on Saturday from 10 a.m. until kickoff at 2 p.m. Open containers will be allowed in the Ford Stadium Lot only and only beer, wine and malt beverages will be allowed.

During Saturday’s game, the UW Athletics Ticket Office will be conducting a Select-A-Seat event. Ticket representatives will be located in the south end zone to assist fans in selecting and purchasing 2017 Cowboy Football season tickets. During the game, Wyoming’s own Kevin McKinney will be interviewing current and former Cowboys. Those interviews will be played on the War Memorial Stadium videoboard. Following the conclusion of Saturday’s game, Cowboy players will remain on the field to sign autographs for fans.

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