LARAMIE — When Deion DeBlanc took a jet sweep around the right edge and dashed into the end zone from 12 yards out in the third quarter last Saturday night, two thoughts immediately crept into his mind.

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The first and most obvious, scoring a touchdown at the college level, the true freshman said, is a “dream come true.” The feeling was even better than he imagined.

It almost didn’t happen.

That was DeBlanc’s other reflection.

Following a Week-2 home victory over Northern Iowa, the highly-touted recruit found himself on the practice field, taking offensive reps with the scout team. Up to that point, though named the team’s starting punt returner, the young receiver had lined up in the slot on just six snaps.

That will happen when the guy atop the depth chart at your position is Chris Durr Jr.

Some of DeBlanc’s teammates wondered why he was working with the other reserves. They didn’t know a closed-door decision had been made.

Well, sort of.

 

 

Rookies can appear in just four games before losing a full season of eligibility. Was it really worth it to burn his redshirt with such little opportunity? DeBlanc posed that question to his head coach. Jay Sawvel agreed.

“I wouldn’t say that’s the end of Deion DeBlanc as far as this year, obviously, we still have two more games that we can utilize him. He may not redshirt at all, either,” Sawvel said prior to a home meeting with No. 20 Utah, calling the decision “shared.” “A lot of it is just based on his growth and then also a tangible role.

“You know, it’s hard for me to look at a guy and go, ‘Hey, we’re playing you five plays a game, eight plays a game, and you lose your year of eligibility.'”

 

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Turns out, it was even harder for DeBlanc to explain that determination to some befuddled veterans on this roster.

“Just, a lot was going through my mind,” he admitted, adding he never wanted to be labeled just a “return man.” “I made the decision too early and didn’t talk to my teammates about it … I needed to go fix that. So, I went up to him, as a man, and was telling him, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to do what’s best for the team.’

“… I’ll do whatever it takes to get this team winning.”

DeBlanc never saw the field against the Utes. The following Saturday night in Boulder, he hauled in one punt in a loss to Colorado.

Sawvel, after addressing the Houston product’s current status, said he would be “judicious” about when and if to play him the rest of the season. Injuries, he added, could play a role.

It did.

Last Saturday night in hail-covered Laramie, Durr was sidelined with what Sawvel is calling an “upper-body” ailment. DeBlanc, arguably the jewel of the 2025 recruiting class, was inserted.

His impact was immediate.

That dash to the goal line wasn’t his first 12-yard gain of the night. The first came in the opening quarter. DeBlanc also picked up a 4th-and-2 with his legs, racing past a Rebel defender and reaching the ball out past the orange marker. He finished with one catch, too. That went for 11 yards.

On 24 offensive snaps, DeBlanc picked up two chunk plays.

His quarterback wasn’t surprised.

“He’s really fast,” Kaden Anderson said from behind the podium, following that 31-17 setback. “I think, in fall camp, I threw him up a post ball and he hit like 21-and-a-half miles an hour or something like that. In full pads, too, which is nuts. So, he’s going to be a really special player. He’s going to come along. Him and Durr are going to be like that dynamic duo and they can really tear it up in the slot.”

 

 

Will Durr play this Saturday when San Jose State comes to town? Sawvel said Monday he thinks the sophomore will be “OK,” but would know more as the week progressed. If not, he added postgame, there’s a hungry, refocused wideout waiting in the wings.

“Deion’s a really good athlete, and we’ve seen him on a come here recently where his level of play has picked up,” Sawvel continued. “You know, he’s going to be a good player for us. He really is. There’s a lot of things that he can do.

“… I’m glad he’s here, and I’m glad that the lights are turning on for him in a positive way.”

So is DeBlanc.

Admittedly, his confidence took a hit in the opener in soggy Akron, failing to catch a punt in the air that rolled deep into the Cowboys’ red zone. He had another gaff, too, hauling in a kick inside his own 5-yard line, another big no-no. He was replaced by fellow receiver Charlie Coenen.

Sawvel said DeBlanc was nearly in tears.

He failed to corral another punt last week against UNLV. That was a product of not being assured in the elements. That miscue, he said, was playing it safe. Coaches, though, were unhappy with him running after the loose ball and standing by it.

The self-induced mind games didn’t take over that time.

“I knew I had to play a big role in this offense because Chris wasn’t playing,” he said.

What if that is again the case this Saturday?

“I’m ready, as always,” DeBlanc said with a smile. “That’s a fact right there.”

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