Sawvel, Unlike Last Year, Not Naming Starting QB Quite Yet

LARAMIE -- In December of 2023, just a handful of days after being named the 33rd head coach in Wyoming football history, Jay Sawvel didn't hesitate when naming his starting quarterback.

"Now, people can compete -- the best players are going to play -- but I told him, 'this is your show.'"

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He was referring to Evan Svoboda, a big-armed junior, who two weeks later led the Cowboys on a game-winning fourth-quarter drive to knock off Toledo in the Arizona Bowl.

Svoboda did indeed step under center during the '24 opener in Tempe. His first pass attempt of the season was picked off and returned for a touchdown in a lopsided loss at Arizona State.

While there were peaks, including a two-rushing touchdown performance in a victory over Front Range rival Air Force, the valleys were just too low to overcome.

Svoboda fired just four touchdown passes over the first seven weeks. He tossed six interceptions during that same time frame. He never eclipsed the 200-yard mark through the air.

Statistically, he was the least-efficient signal caller in the FBS.

Before former head coach Craig Bohl rode off into the sunset after a decade-long stint in Laramie, he left Sawvel with these words -- re-recruit Svoboda.

He was eventually replaced by Kaden Anderson with just four weeks remaining in the regular season. Svoboda made the transition to tight end, a position he will again play this fall.

On a sunny November afternoon in Albuquerque, the Southlake, Texas product torched the Lobos' secondary to the tune of 342 yards and three touchdowns. Anderson added another on the ground as the Cowboys overcame a late 10-point deficit to hold on for the 49-45 win. That performance earned him Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors.

Sawvel said postgame, "I think we found a quarterback."

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Does that mean Anderson will be named the starter in August when Wyoming opens the season at Akron?

"No, I don't want to do that right now," Sawvel said on Thursday. "You know, look, Kaden knew we were going to bring another quarterback in. He didn't care about competing and everything that way. So, obviously, because of experience and time around here, you know, he's going to be the guy that people have to beat out."

That transfer Sawvel is referring to is Landon Sims, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound sophomore, who spent the previous season at East Central Community College in Mississippi.

The Alabama native threw for 1,760 yards and 13 touchdowns. He added three more on the ground while rolling up nearly 270 yards with his legs. Sims was named a First Team All-Conference selection and helped lead the Warriors to a No. 7 ranking.

Sawvel said throughout the month of February he liked to head to the High Altitude Performance Center around 8 p.m. and get a workout in when no one else was around. There were times when he returned to his office an hour later to grab his car keys, he added, and there would be a noise coming from across the hall.

"I'd walk by and there's Landon Sims, sitting in a staff room, watching video at 8:45 or 9 p.m. on a Friday night," he said, adding the redhead is the son of a football coach.

Sims has already learned Jay Johnson's offense, Sawvel continued. So has true freshman Mason Drube.

Could we see the Gillette product on the field this fall? That's not entirely out of the question.

"We're not going to put any limitations on Mason Drube," Sawvel said of the 6-foot-3, 205-pound rookie. "We're not putting any limitations on any of the five quarterbacks that we've got this spring. So, look, if Mason Drube beats everybody out, he'll be the starter. OK, great. Now, do we expect that? He's a true freshman in his first semester here. But there's not going to be a limitation."

Drube, the top recruit in the state of Wyoming, connected on 23 touchdown throws while amassing 2,434 yards through the air during his final season at Campbell County High School. He completed 60% of his attempts in the process.

Michigan State, Washington State and Boston College, among many others, extended offers. He chose Laramie, a place where his late father, Kirby Drube, once lined up at tight end.

Sawvel said he will remain very cautious when it comes to burning a year of eligibility for the local standout. He thinks Drube could be in this program for the "long haul" in the era of the transfer portal.

"We're just going to let him go and we'll just see what happens," he added. "I'm excited to see him really mature the whole way through."

Sophomore Gage Brook is still on the roster. So is 6-foot-5 southpaw Deyon Batiste, who redshirted last fall during his first year on campus.

Sawvel is high on them, too.

While there are still 40 practices to go between the start of spring ball on March 25 and opening day Aug. 28 in northeast Ohio, one thing is clear to the head coach -- the future -- and present -- is bright in the QB room.

"I do see a path where I think that there's several years of solid quarterbacks in this program right now," Sawvel said. "Anytime that you can look at that and go, Hey, there's a chance that we could be OK at this position, which is the most important position there is, for a prolonged period of time, then I think there's the first and foremost step to being a healthy program."

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