Wyoming's Lucas Wacha finds a home at middle linebacker

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - After spending the past three years switching between various roles, Wyoming senior Lucas Wacha has settled in at the middle linebacker spot.

With his physical skills and experience, coach Craig Bohl expects Wacha's presence in the middle to provide a lift to the Cowboys' defense.

"A lot better," Bohl said when asked how different that defense can be with Wacha there permanently. "We run a pro-style defense and there's a lot of moving parts out there. And that guy's really the quarterback of the whole thing. You wouldn't normally think of a linebacker being that way, but in the Tampa-2 system, that guy's really kind of in the middle of everything.

"So he's got to be somebody who's certainly aggressive and more so he's got to be somebody that really has a command of our defense, has an understanding of what our guys are doing in front of him, beside him and behind."

Wacha, who has started 26 games over the past three years, provides all of that.

During the offseason, he's added another 20 pounds of muscle. It's brought his game to another level, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Steve Stanard said.

"He put on some added size, so he's becoming a more physical player," he said. "I bet he was 205 or 210 in the season and now he's a consistent 225 to 230 right now. That will just continue to make him a more physical Mike linebacker. It's tough to play Mike 'backer at 205, 210. I think the added size has made him a much more aggressive player at that spot. With size comes strength and a little bit different attitude."

Even at his lighter weight, Wacha finished second on the team in tackles last season with 96, the most among the linebackers.

He started at weak-side linebacker for the first four games before moving to middle linebacker for the remainder of the season.

Stanard sensed a change in attitude - something that's carried over to spring drills.

"Once we put him in there, he became much more vocal last year," Stanard said. "Lucas is a smart guy. He does a good job getting the checks. He's a loud communicator, which you have to be at the Mike spot. You can't be timid, can't be soft-spoken. You've got to bark out the close calls and the checks and those things."

Wacha has been thrilled to remain in the middle this spring.

It's a spot Stanard feels is a natural fit.

"He's played all of them - Sam, Mike, Will - but I really believe Mike is right in his wheelhouse," Stanard said. "That's where his comfort is. He's seeing things a lot quicker. There's always some things we've got to keep working on, but I am encouraged about him settling in at that Mike spot."

Entering his third season in Bohl's defensive scheme, Wacha says he's finally understanding the defense "like the back of my hand."

He hopes that propels the Cowboys to heights they haven't reached since before he arrived in Laramie.

"It's my last go-round," Wacha said. "It's my last time I'll play at War Memorial Stadium. We go to Nebraska and all those other schools. We open up here.

"I just want to show how hard we've been working. The motivation is that since I've been here I haven't been to a bowl game. The motivation is to get that sixth, seventh win and potentially get more wins and fight for a conference championship."

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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com