DE Solomon Byrd disruptive â€~factor’ for Wyoming's defense
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - There’s a formula Wyoming uses to gauge the production of its players on game day.
Head coach Craig Bohl called it a factor score. Defensive assistant A.J. Cooper dubbed it a factor ratio. Regardless of the term, the explanation is simple: Players are graded on how many plays they make versus how many snaps they logged.
Defensively, those plays include anything that impacts the game. Making a tackle, getting a sack or an interception, pressuring the quarterback or doing the dirty work of occupying blockers to free up teammates to make the play are just some examples, Cooper said.
Not many have consistently graded higher than Solomon Byrd.
“He has one of the best factor scores on the football team,” Bohl said.
Byrd is among the youngsters that are taking on more prominent roles up front given the attrition along the defensive line heading into this season. The Cowboys lost five defensive linemen off last season’s two-deep, and the group has gotten even younger in the early going with fifth-year senior defensive end Josiah Hall missing the last two games with an arm injury.
That’s where Byrd has come in.
Listed as a backup heading into the season, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound redshirt freshman got his first career start against UNLV in Hall’s absence, though he’s been part of the rotation all season and hasn’t looked anything like a player that’s still relatively green. Byrd leads the Cowboys in sacks (3.5) and tackles for loss (5.5). He’s also tied for the team lead with three quarterback hurries.
“He’s not always a guy when he’s running around or he’s doing stuff that it looks the prettiest, especially at practice, but when you turn that game film on, he’s active,” said Cooper, who helps coach Wyoming’s defensive ends.
Byrd had a breakout game against Tulsa, notching 2.5 of the Cowboys’ seven sacks. He also forced a fumble, recovered one and broke up a pass.
“Even without the numbers, I think my assignment and execution (were good), which is just me doing my job,” Byrd told the Casper Star-Tribune. “I think I did that way better. I had less blown plays and stuff like that.”
Byrd is confident in his ability. He said he’s more mature and more focused than he was last season when he maintained his redshirt after playing sparingly in just three games, so he’s not surprised with how productive he’s been through the first five games.
Byrd followed up that Tulsa performance with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against UNLV, but he’s far from content with what he’s done. In fact, his showing against the Golden Hurricane is the only one he said he’s been satisfied with so far.
“Personally, I think I could be more productive than I’ve actually showed,” Byrd said. “I have a higher ceiling than what I’ve shown.”
Despite the numbers he’s put up getting after quarterbacks, Byrd doesn’t like to label his game. With 18 tackles on the season, he said he’s as confident in his ability to hold up against the run as he is his burst off the edge. Putting it all together week in and week out is the next step in Byrd’s development.
“While you see some of those big plays, there’s still some highs and lows out of him if that makes sense,” Cooper said. “As a pass rusher, continue to develop. He doesn’t know how good he can be there yet, which is OK. We’ve got to continue to work at that and refining what he does well. He’s got long arms, and he’s got really good power for a long kid like that. But the biggest thing is just being consistent.”
In other words, Byrd is just scratching the surface of his potential.
“He’s disruptive, he plays hard, and most of the time, he’s in the right spot,” Bohl said. “Not always, but we think he’s got a really bright future.”
___
Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com