Hoffschneider isn’t big enough to bowl over offensive linemen, so he wrestles them.
Just like he wrestles during the winter, wearing the brown-and-gold singlet of the Wyoming wrestling team.
Hoffschneider is the anchor of UW’s defensive line, which recorded only 19 sacks and allowed 179.2 rushing yards per game last season. But Hoffschneider said the line is “bigger, stronger and faster “this year and ready to be the strength of the team.
It starts with the diminutive but strong noseguard, Hoffschneider, a preseason first team All-Mountain West Conference selection this year who has an internal radar for the ball. Last year, he recovered a team-high three fumbles.
During Wyoming’s first scrimmage Wednesday, Hoffschneider kicked things off in style. He recovered a fumble and rumbled down the right side of the field before finally running into some blockers and stumbling out of bounds.
“Look for Dusty, “UW head coach Joe Glenn said. “I call him horseshoe. He’s always coming up with turnovers. Now we’ll work on his downfield running.”
Hoffschneider is listed at 5-foot-8 and 257 pounds, but at Wyoming’s media day on Friday, Glenn told a story about how Hoffschneider impressed coaches at a recent weightlifting session. Glenn said Hoffschneider lifted 425 pounds four times, then lifted 225 pounds 39 times.
In the winter, he wrestles along with offensive lineman Drew Severn on the Cowboys wrestling squad. Both Hoffschneider and Severn grapple at heavyweight, and both think it helps with their technique on the football team’s lines.
“Wrestling’s real similar (to the defensive line), you gotta take your area, and you gotta push through the guy and take him down and get some points scored, “Hoffschneider said. “It’s all about leverage and who’s going to get the upper hand.”
Junior Jake Mayes holds down the top spot on the depth chart at defensive tackle, and also backs up Hoffschneider at noseguard. Mayes has the unenviable task of filling the shoes of first-team all-conference selection Zach Morris.
But Mayes has been filling in since he got to Laramie in 2003, when he was forced to play in eight games in his true freshman season. Last year, he played in all 12 games, though he didn’t start.
Senior defensive ends Aaron Robbins and John Flora fill out the defensive line. Both players started every game for the Pokes last year and both finished with 44 tackles.
“Hopefully we’ll all come together and play great as a unit and get some things done, “Hoffschneider said.
Behind the starters, UW has a junior college transfer and two experienced backups on the defensive line. At the scrimmage Wednesday, defensive tackle Corey Mace kept getting his named called by coaches for his impressive play.
Mace is a transfer from Palomar (Calif.) Community College, which is also where cornerback Brandon Bell and strong safety Ron Rockett played.
The Pokes also have junior defensive ends Adam Diehl and Mike Groover to back up Robbins and Flora. Diehl and Groover both backed up Robbins and Flora throughout last season.
Robbins had two sacks in Wednesday’s scrimmage — UW didn’t allowing Corey Bramlet and the quarterbacks to be tackled, so they were touches, in reality — but it was Hoffschneider who had the best performance.
His eight tackles led the team.
His fumble recovery sparked the team.
“I’m a senior this year and more likely, I’m not going to move to that next level. This is all I’ve got, “Hoffschneider said. “I gotta give everything I can give, and hopefully it’ll turn out great and I want to be all-conference, I want to be defensive player of the year and stuff like that.
“You’ve got to make a lot of big plays and a lot of tackles and all around be a great player.”
Contact senior sports reporter Peter Hockaday at (307) 266-0595 or [email protected]
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