Pokes’ New ‘Gunslinger’ Has Brought Clarity, Renewed Vigor

LARAMIE -- "Clarity."

That word, along with erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit on the road in the last outing at New Mexico, has added some much-needed pep in the step, Jay Sawvel said Monday during his weekly press conference.

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Scoring six offensive touchdowns with a new starting quarterback under center didn't hurt matters, either. Neither did a 170-yard debut from Wyoming's "rusty" senior running back.

"We know what we look like when Harrison Waylee plays," the rookie head coach said, referring to the latter, who missed the first eight games of the season with a knee injury suffered late in fall camp. "I knew what we would have looked like if Harrison Waylee played weeks before."

That wasn't the case with Kaden Anderson, though, Sawvel added.

The 6-foot-4, 221-pound redshirt freshman enrolled early at Wyoming, coming in the spring of 2023. He brought his twice-torn right ACL with him from Texas prep powerhouse Southlake Carroll.

In other words, Anderson buried himself in the playbook, taking his time getting back into playing shape and seeing meaningful reps.

That operations manual belonged to former play caller Tim Polasek. Sawvel, until he took the reins of the program last December, was a stay-in-his-lane defensive coordinator on Craig Bohl's staff.

In other words, no one really knew what they had in Anderson.

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In that 49-45 victory over the Lobos, the curly-haired QB completed 20-of-29 throws for 342 yards and three touchdowns. A Cowboy signal caller hasn't thrown for that many yards since Cam Coffman did that in 2015. Anderson, who has thrown for 719 yards and five touchdowns while also completing 63.2% of his passes, also found the end zone with his legs.

That outing earned him Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors. Anderson was also named the Manning Award recipient.

"There's an evolution, there's a growth, there's a progress that comes," Sawvel said of his young signal caller. "That's why sometimes things take time to sort out and figure out. This isn't the same guy that was going out on the field this time of year last year, or the same guy that was going out on the field in April. So, no, I think that there's a renewed vigor among a lot of people in the building."

In other words, that's part of the reason it took Sawvel and his staff eight weeks to pull the plug on former starter Evan Svoboda.

Anderson, late in the third quarter in Albuquerque, went toe-to-toe with 250-pound edge rusher Moso'oipala Tuitele after he tossed an interception deep in UNM territory. It was in response to what was perceived to be a hit to the head.

Yellow flags flew.

It wasn't for targeting or a personal foul for roughing the quarterback, but unsportsmanlike conduct -- on both.

Sawvel wasn't a fan of the extracurriculars, but even he can't deny, it was a sight to see.

"The fact that he does that and did that, you know, was something that a year ago at this time, if you told me that that's what he's going to do, I would say, there's no way," he added.

Malique Singleton said Anderson's stats didn't pop out to him and his teammates nearly as much as that on-field interaction did.

"His personality and, kind of who he is as a person, is very unique," the sophomore defensive back said. "It's something that you can latch onto very easily, and a lot of guys want to follow it.

"... He'll get after dudes on the other side of the ball and it's great. That brings juice and energy and you're like, let's go. That is a needed thing, especially from someone in that role."

Anderson admitted postgame he needs to "calm down" a bit. Once he did, after throwing that pick into double coverage, he said he only got better.

"It was fun, man," he said with a smile. "I was just out there having fun, playing ball. It was a really great time."

It typically is when Anderson has the ball in his hands.

He has started 27 possessions in five games this fall. Nine of those have resulted in touchdowns. Three have culminated with a field goal. Anderson has thrown three interceptions, including two in the fourth quarter of a loss at San Jose State, and the offense has stalled out eight times with him at the helm.

In the last two outings, however, No. 12 has led the Cowboys on six touchdown drives -- four in a row to open the game in Albuquerque -- and tacked on all three of those John Hoyland makes. Wyoming has punted the same number of times.

"Not that he doesn't care, but he's a gunslinger," Singleton added. "When you think about a gunslinger, they just go and rip the ball downfield. They'll throw a pick, you know, like he did last week, and he comes off to the sideline and he's like, I don't care, we're going to go right back out there and score.

"That's what I mean."

This Friday night the Cowboys will travel south to Fort Collins and take on hated-rival Colorado State. Anderson is getting some firepower back in his unit with the addition of speedy wideout TK King, who missed the New Mexico game with a head injury. Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg has been cleared, too, after suffering a collarbone injury against the Lobos.

Waylee, again, will be right behind him in the formation.

In his true laidback fashion, Anderson said the moment wasn't too big in Albuquerque.

It won't be inside Canvas Stadium, either, he added.

"I'm just excited for this CSU game," he said. "I'm really looking forward to that. There's going to be a lot of fans there, and hopefully it'll be a sold-out stadium. I'm really looking forward to that."

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.