Wyoming Lands Its ‘Coveted’ Quarterback in the Portal
LARAMIE -- Jay Sawvel yearned for consistency at the quarterback position last fall.
A running threat certainly would've helped, too, as his team limped to a 4-8 record on the back of an inept offense that averaged just 16 points per game.
Wyoming's staff thinks they have found their man.
Tyler Hughes Monday announced via social media he will be the next signal caller in Laramie after spending the previous four seasons at William & Mary, where he was once recruited by the Cowboys new offensive coordinator Christian Taylor.
The 6-foot, 200-pound Georgia native, who has one season of eligibility remaining, will slide under center for Kaden Anderson. The redshirt junior entered the NCAA Transfer Portal last week.
Sawvel said he was in the market this offseason for a quarterback who had only one or two years of eligibility remaining, with Gillette's Mason Drube and rookie Taylor Hasselbeck waiting in the wings. Landon Sims, who suffered a torn ACL late in the season, his third season-ending knee injury in his collegiate career, is still on the roster. So is Gage Brook.
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Sawvel has said it will be an "open battle" for the starting spot in spring and fall camp. Hughes was the team's top target in free agency, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Hughes became the first QB in the 132-year history of the William & Mary football program to throw for more than 2,000 yards and all 600 more on the ground. That came last fall when the Marietta product completed better than 66% of his passes and tossed 20 touchdowns to go along with just three interceptions. He also rushed for 670 yards and 11 scores on 155 attempts. That's an average of 4.3 yards per carry.
Playing sparingly over his first three seasons in Williamsburg, Hughes patiently waited his turn, backing up Darius Wilson, who capped his career at the FCS program in Virginia with nearly 7,000 passing yards and 106 total touchdowns.
Wilson was also a Taylor recruit.
Wyoming's offense, led by Anderson, averaged only 183 yards an outing, which ranked 111th in the nation out of 134 FBS teams. The 6-foot-4 Texan, who started all 12 games for the Cowboys last fall, threw for 1,971 yards while completing 56.3% of his passes. He tossed 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also lost three fumbles.
With the help of 15 sacks, Anderson finished the year with minus-39 rushing yards. He had a long of nine, which came in the season opener at Akron.
Hughes led the Tribe to a 7-5 record. Four of those setbacks were by 10 points or less.
His best outing came against Charleston Southern where he completed 22-of-33 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-7 rout of the Buccaneers. In an overtime win over Campbell late in the season, Hughes threw for 282 yards and a touchdown and rolled up 120 yards and a score on the ground.
He was also offered in the portal by UMass, Western Kentucky, Temple, Bowling Green, Ball State and the Cowboys' newest Mountain West foe UTEP.
Hughes joins 310-pound offensive guard Jason Maciejczak (Nebraska) as the only known commits. Wyoming's leading rusher Samuel "Tote" Harris and slot receiver Deion DeBlanc have also publicly announced they will return to Laramie for their sophomore season. On the defensive side of the ball, starting nickelback Desman Hearns and punter Bart Edmiston Jr. are also coming back for their final year.
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