LOOK: Pokes all smiles at team’s annual media day

LARAMIE -- Smiles -- and plenty of confidence -- filled the indoor practice facility Friday afternoon in Laramie as the Wyoming Cowboys football team took part in its annual media day.

The league's press two weeks ago voted the Pokes to finish second in the Mountain Division behind Boise State this fall. UW even took home a couple of first-place votes.

Guess what that means?

Not much.

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Craig Bohl is entering his eighth season on the sidelines and mentioned in a postseason press conference that it's time to "kick the door down" and bring a conference title back to the Cowboy State.

Let's just say his players have fully bought in to what he's selling after a forgettable 2020 campaign that saw the team finish 2-4 in a COVID-19-shortened season.

The word "championship" came out of the mouth of every player in attendance. The energy level -- obvious.

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* All eyes under center as Wyoming opens fall camp

There's legit reason for optimism on the high plains. Wyoming returns 95% of its roster from 2020. That ranks second in the nation. The entire defense is coming back, including last year's opt outs Solomon Byrd, Rome Weber and Claude Cole.

The offense is basically intact, too.

Xazavian Valladay, the league's leading rusher the last two seasons, will have the luxury of running behind and offensive line that returns all five starters -- and their backups.

Sean Chambers, who is currently the front runner at the quarterback spot, is looking to bounce back from a season that was cut short. Like, three-snaps-into-the-season short. The redshirt sophomore suffered a broken leg in the season opener in Reno last October.

Can he find his rhythm in the new-look offense of Tim Polasek?

Follow along with 7220sports.com all through training camp as we bring you the latest from Laramie. Don't forget to download the free 7220sports.com app so you don't miss a thing. You can do that right HERE.

Check out some of the shots from today's media days by 7220sports.com photographer DJ Johnson: