The rebuilding has begun. Again.

Wyoming's offseason has been a bit chaotic because of the departure of two-year starting quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels at the end of last season -- headlining an exodus of young players who contributed early to coach Dave Christensen's rebuilding project.

As Christensen enters year three of his tenure with the Cowboys, he starts over in finding a signal-caller who can direct what has been a fledgling spread offense.

"It's the hand we're dealt," Christensen told the Casper Star-Tribune. "We're going to put it up for competition, three guys are going to compete, and one of them's going to start. I don't find anything nerve-wracking about it. The rest of our team is mature. We've got depth. And we've got depth at quarterback; they're just young."

The offseason, however, has not created an abundance of enthusiasm after Wyoming followed up a 7-6 campaign during Christensen's rookie season in 2009 with a 3-9 struggle last season. The team gained nearly 400 yards rushing but somehow managed to become New Mexico's only victim in 2010. The Cowboys' 44-0 victory over arch-rival Colorado State gave the fan base some hope -- but that hope took a hit with the defections, led by Carta-Samuels.

Wyoming does have a lot of players familiar with Christensen's system on offense returning, a semblance of a running game with running back Alvester Alexander and a defense that now will have continuity after switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme last season.

Christensen landed eight three-star recruits, as rated by Rivals.com, which is his best since his arrival at Laramie -- so the appearance of a tenuous situation in the program may be unfounded.

The Cowboys, however, have to return to their 2009 role of competing for a bowl berth to restore confidence that Christensen can get the team moving toward a Mountain West Conference championship in the near future.

TOP OF THE CLASS

QB Adam Pittser (Richmond-Burton High, Richmond, Ill.) -- He is ranked as the No. 19 dual-threat QB in the country by Rivals, and he is the No. 13 recruit in the state of Illinois. Pittser led his team to an 11-1 record last season.

WR Josh Doctson (Legacy High, Mansfield, Texas) -- He was a first-team All-District 5-5A performer last season. He had 40 receptions for 604 yards and is a three-star recruit who can help the Cowboys fill the void left by departing senior David Leonard.

DE Miraldo Michel (Ellsworth Community College, Iowa) -- He will give the Cowboys depth at defensive end. He is a three-star recruit who finished with 40 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks for Ellsworth, which was No. 14 in the final NJCAA national poll.

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