Cody Tucker On the 2026 Cowboys: Expect More Points, Smoke And Mirrors Offense

The 2025 Wyoming Cowboys had few problems on the defensive side of the ball.

Offense was another story entirely. And as much as we all may believe in the adage that ''defense wins championships.'' you still need to score points to win games.

The Cowboys didn't score many points last season en route to a 4-8 overall record. They were even worse in conference play, finishing 2-6. Scoring an average of 16 points per game will do that.

Over the last six seasons or so, the Pokes are 40-9 when scoring 21 points. In modern college football, 21 points is not exactly an offensive explosion, but it's something that hasn't happened often enough for the Wyoming Cowboys

But the editor of 7220 Sports, Cody Tucker,  expects bigger and better things on offense in 2026. If the Cowboys can continue their recent tradition of strong defense, it could add up to a very interesting season in Laramie.

We sat down with Tucker this week to get his read on the 2026 edition of the Wyoming Cowboys.

You can hear the entire interview in the audio file at the bottom of this article

A New Offensive Coordinator And Quarterback Should Add Up To More Points

The changes start at the top, with new OC Christian Taylor, most recently with the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

Tucker says from what he's heard, the Cowboys will feature a "positionless offense," with skill players lining up in a variety of positions to take advantage of mismatches wth defensive players. He says it will be similar to what Utah has run the past couple of seasons ''with a lot of smoke and mirrors'' including pre-snap motion and a lot of deception. He says Utah "went with their strengths. They used the width of the field, the length of the field, a lot ot tight ends. But what I keep hearing is a positionless offense, a lot of smoke and mirrors.''

Of course it all starts with the quarterback, and Tucker thinks the Pokes have the perfect guy in Tyler Hughes, who comes to Laramie from William and Mary. Tucker calls Hughes a 'true dual-threat quarterback" who has the athletic ability to run the offense to perfection. In fact, he rates Hughes as better than Utes quarterback Devon Dampier, adding that "is high praise''

The new-look Pokes offense will get its first test on Saturday against traditional rival Colorado State in the 'Border War" at 4 p.m. in Fort Collins. It's no longer a  Conference game, with the Rams having left the Mountain West for the re-tooled ''Pac-12 Conference.

Hear the Entire Cody Tucker Interview Here