Cowboys not ready to have freshman QB turn it loose

LARAMIE» As a parent, when do you take the training wheels off your child’s bike?

When you do, there is the risk they crash and hurt themselves. But if you don’t, or wait too long, what does that do for their confidence?

That notion carries over to the University of Wyoming football team, in particular redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Vander Waal. He has started two college games, with mixed results.

Vander Waal completed his first seven passes in his first start Aug. 25 at New Mexico State. But due to a strong running game and dominant defense, UW didn’t need Vander Waal to do too much in the Cowboys’ 297 victory.

In last week’s home opener against Washington State, UW’s offense couldn’t consistently get into a rhythm. It uncharacteristically struggled on defense in a 4119 loss.

Through two games, Vander Waal is 21 of 41 for 204 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. He was 8 of 20 for 67 yards, with an interception against Washington State.

UW faces its second consecutive Power 5 conference foe Saturday at Missouri, and after the Washington State game, fans were asking: “When will UW let Vander Waal show what he can do?”

Some of that reaction was out of frustration with the loss, because there were crickets about it against New Mexico State. Some was based on UW’s urge to run the ball, which hasn’t changed since day 1, when Craig Bohl and staff were hired prior to the 2014 season. The Bohl formula to winning football — run the ball, wear teams down and leverage good defense — is something he hasn’t gotten away from.

It frustrates fans at times (some more than others), but that formula works. Bohl has won 67 percent of his games as a head coach, and is 1711 at UW.

Through two games, UW has run the ball 70 percent of the time. Against Washington State the Cowboys ran it 39 times and threw it 20.

So when is it time to take the training wheels off Vander Waal, so to speak? This is how Bohl addressed that question this week:

“If we consistently dial up what we have within our repertoire and our pretty complicated propassing trees, I don’t think that’s putting him in a good place,” he said. “But our playbook needs to expand a little bit. There’s no doubt that (we can’t) be onedimensional and go down there and beat the Missouri Tigers. We’ve got to put more on his plate.”

UW needs to be careful how it does that, though. And don’t expect to see Vander Waal throw it 40 or 50 times at Missouri — or at any point this season, for that matter.

If it does, the chances for winning are slim. Not because Vander Waal isn’t good enough, but because that’s not the formula in place, and this team isn’t built to do that. Not just because of a young quarterback, but also due to the pieces around him.

Vander Waal said he played “sloppy” against Washington State, along with the entire offense. He also said he’s ready to take on more responsibility.

“I definitely feel I am capable of it,” Vander Waal said. “I’m young, and I understand about the play calling, but I think I’m ready and capable of doing it.”