ERIC SCHMOLDT Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Thursday, February 7, 2008 12:00 am
LARAMIE - Four are in town, another is on the way and they'll all be in the hunt.
The Wyoming Cowboys signed 25 players on National Letter of Intent Signing Day on Wednesday - 22 of which will suit up this fall and three other greyshirts that will enroll a year from now.
Included in the signings were two quarterbacks that will help create a five-man battle for the most important position this spring.
"Whoever wants out on the practice field will be in the battle," UW head coach Joe Glenn said. "You've got to get it down to two people in a hurry and that'll be a challenge for Coach (Bob) Cole … but everybody's going to have a chance and that's what's exciting.
"We think there'll be a lot of competition at that spot."
Perhaps the most important signing was that of junior college transfer Dax Crum.
The sophomore, who played last year at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, enrolled at UW this semester and will challenge junior Karsten Sween, senior Ian Hetrick and sophomore Chris Stutzriem right away.
"I'm just going to go out and do my best and see what happens," Crum said Wednesday. "They're all good guys and great players and I'm excited to be here."
Crum, who was the NJCAA Co-Region I Offensive Player of the Year last year, threw for 227.6 yards per game. He also threw 23 touchdowns and just six interceptions at Mesa CC.
He was recruited by Colorado State, Louisville, Pitt and Washington State and will have three years of eligibility.
A fifth member of the quarterback race will join the Pokes in the fall.
Adam Barry, the 37th-ranked quarterback in the nation by Scouts, Inc., comes from Simi Valley, Calif., and gives UW one more option.
"We're going to go through spring football," Glenn said. "We won't name a starter in spring football, but you want to come into fall camp with a pretty good idea."
Sween is the team's most experienced signal-caller with 16 career starts, but was spelled during a 1-6 finish to last season by Hetrick, who appeared in 10 games.
Part of the process will be seeing how each quarterback meshes with the new offensive system set forth under Cole, the team's first-year offensive coordinator.
"I'm brand new, and since I'm brand new, they're brand new and let's go see who wins the job," Cole said. "You can tell they're all hungry to be the guy and that's a good thing for the program."
And the competition, Glenn says, will be a great thing as long as one of the candidates steps up and stands out. That will give Glenn a good idea of the plan heading into fall camp, and he hopes to have a starter named a few weeks before UW opens its season.
"It's probably got to go through spring ball," Glenn said. "I think we've got some competition.
"Game on."
OTHER COMPETITIVE BATTLES: The quarterbacks might be in the biggest battle, but it's not the only one.
Glenn said Wednesday that he expects a healthy competition on defense as well, particularly at cornerback, where the Pokes lost starters Julius Stinson and Michael Medina.
"We'll have a couple good young players coming in and a JC kid … so you're going to have good competition at corner," Glenn said. "We're going to have a lot of good linebackers … but who's going to start?
"We'll see what happens."
Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at (307) 266-0578 or eric.schmoldt@trib.com.
COWBOYS TRACKER
WEDNESDAY: Wyoming signed 25 new players - 22 of which will suit up this fall - on National Letter of Intent Signing Day.
QB1 BATTLE: Of the 22 newcomers, two - junior college transfer Dax Crum and Adam Barry - are expected to battle returners Karsten Sween, Ian Hetrick and Chris Stutzriem for the starting quarterback job.
HE SAID IT: "You've got to get it down to two people in a hurry and that'll be a challenge for Coach (Bob) Cole … but everybody's going to have a chance and that's what's exciting." - UW head coach Joe Glenn.