Bohl criticizes QB play in 2021, says he wanted to throw more
LARAMIE -- Don't tell Craig Bohl that he needs to shake up his offensive scheme.
He tired that in 2021.
No, seriously.
In a near 58-minute Zoom interview with the local media Wednesday, Wyoming's ninth-year head coach got heated when asked if offensive players like Levi Williams, Sean Chambers and Isaiah Neyor, among others, jumped into the NCAA Transfer Portal because of the Cowboys' run-heavy attack.
"I tell you what, we wanted to throw the ball more but it's hard when you go out there and watch practice and see a hitch route get thrown in the dirt," Bohl said. "So, you know, all this clamoring -- 'coach Bohl is just going to do three yards and a cloud of dust ... '
"That's a misstep. We want to throw the ball, I'd just like to have some quarterbacks that can throw the ball."
Ouch.
Chambers, who started the Cowboys first seven games under center, completed 50.8% of his passes to go along with six touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Williams got the reins of the UW offense over the final four games of the regular season and in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Kent State. The redshirt freshman connected on 60% of his throws and added nine touchdowns and five picks.
Williams and Chambers combined to the throw just 297 passes last fall. UW ran it 543 times.
Neyor hauled in a team-best 44 passes for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns. He added another on the ground.
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After the 52-38 postseason win in Boise, 10 Wyoming players entered the portal -- four on the offensive side of the ball -- in search of a new home. Williams is now at Utah State. Chambers reunited with former UW offensive coordinator Brent Vigen at Montana State. Neyor is at Texas.
Bohl took plenty of heat for saying he was going to "re-engineer" his offense in 2021.
The Cowboys, once again, ranked in the lower half of the country in passing yards, landing 117th out of 130 FBS teams at just 162.7 yards per game during Tim Polasek's first season as the offensive coordinator in Laramie.
Twice UW quarterbacks failed to crack the century mark in passing yards during a game.
Wednesday, Bohl said there was a reason for that.
"We lined up in empty (formations). We did all that stuff," he said emphatically. "But it's pretty disheartening when you're out there trying to throw a bubble screen ... Shoot, we ended up in practice working on throwing a hitch on first and 10. I mean, it was ridiculous where we were at."
Bohl thinks he has landed the right fit under center in Utah State transfer Andrew Peasley.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Oregon product played in nine games for the Aggies last fall, completing 54.9% of his passes. He connected on three touchdown passes and finished with 415 yards through the air in a limited role. Peasley also rolled up 161 rushing yards on just 25 attempts and scored one touchdown on a 59-yard jaunt against North Dakota in Week 2.
"We think he's an excellent player," Bohl said. "I think our system is going to speak to his skill sets and that he could do really well. So, we're excited about him."
So, will the offense look any different in 2022 with a new QB at the helm?
"If you're reading through the lines, we're going to throw the ball better," Bohl said. "We're not going to be one-dimensional, but I'll be damned if we get around here and think we're going to win the Mountain West Conference championship by throwing it 80%.
"That ain't going to happen."
Wyoming currently has six quarterback slated to be on the roster in fall camp. Joining Peasley is Caden Becker, Hank Gibbs, Evan Svoboda, Jayden Clemons and Gavin Beerup.