Turning point, unsung hero and what’s next for UW football

TEMPE, Ariz., -- Evan Svoboda was in no mood to chat about specifics Saturday night, his answers repetitive and brief.

Who could blame him?

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Wyoming's junior quarterback was coming off the worst outing of his young career, connecting on just 6-of-15 throws for 42 total yards. To make matters even worse, the Cowboys' newest No. 17 under center was playing less than 10 miles from his hometown, in front of dozens of friends and family inside a sweltering Mountain America Stadium.

The 48-7 ambush Svoboda and the Cowboys endured in the desert was sparked on the second snap from scrimmage.

That's when the Mesa product took the shotgun snap and placed the ball in the belly of running back DJ Jones before ripping it away and firing a dart in the direction of tight end Nick Miles.

It didn't make it that far.

Arizona State linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu briefly drifted into coverage before stepping right in front of the pass and cruising 29 yards down the sideline and into the end zone, sending the 48,000-plus in attendance into a frenzy.

"I mean, it sucked, for sure," Svoboda said postgame. "But, you know, one play at a time. You can't dwell on that last play. You just got to keep moving forward."

Fiaseu, a redshirt junior, said he was simply following the play call.

"I did my job," he told the local media. "When you do your job and you execute, good things happen. I was glad I scored, but I just did my job."

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Svoboda threw his second interception of the night on the next possession. This time it was Keyshaun Elliott with the grab. The Sun Devils would tack on a 29-yard field goal and score on four consecutive drives.

Arizona State amassed 499 yards of total offense, including 241 on the ground. Sam Leavitt, making his first-career start under center, completed 14-of-22 attempts for 258 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses. The run game, led by Cam Skattebo, averaged nearly five yards a carry.

The visitors gave up a number of explosive plays. One, a 68-yard jaunt to the end zone, began as a simple dump pass to Kyson Brown. Tight end Chamon Metayer also turned a harmless-looking heave into a 25-yard score.

The icing on the cake came in the third quarter when Svoboda threw a lateral to TK King, who not only dropped the pass, he failed to jump on the fumble. Justin Wodtly didn't. The redshirt junior scooped up the ball and rumbled in from six yards out to extend the Devils' lead to 41-0.

This was the worst opening day loss in Wyoming history. It is also the most-lopsided setback since Boise State thumped the Cowboys 63-14 back in 2014.

It all started with that opening pick.

"We took a gut punch on the second play of the game, and we didn't really recover and respond the way that we needed to respond," said Jay Sawvel, who was making his head coaching debut Saturday night. "... We just did not execute very well -- in any phase of it -- for a quarter. Then once we got into that mode, we weren't able to dig ourselves out."

Arizona State 48, Wyoming 7

UNSUNG HERO

Sawvel was asked if he had any positive takeaways from this lopsided loss. Sarcastically, he mentioned Jack Culbreath, the senior transfer from Virginia Military Institute.

He's the punter.

While Culbreath did indeed have a solid outing -- eight punts with an average of 47 yards an attempt -- it was a back-up defensive end that stuck out in this one.

If it wasn't for a Tyce Westland sack on a 3rd-and-4 inside the Wyoming 10-yard line, this final score is likely a whole lot worse. The 6-foot-5 junior edge rusher from Pleasanton, Neb., came crashing off the left side and unceremoniously dumped Leavitt for a loss of five yards.

ASU would settle for a 29-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 with 6:19 remaining in the first quarter.

Westland was also credited with two more tackles, both of which led to no gains.

QUOTABLE

"it's pretty frustrating, for sure. I was more embarrassed, I would say. You know, that's definitely a team that, I mean, they obviously played the better game. We didn't play much of a game, to say the least. But, yeah, it was frustrating. Pretty embarrassed at the moment."

-- Wyoming defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole said postgame

"It sucks, but, you know, like I said, you just have to flush it, respond and move on. Learn and grow from it. You just got to live and learn."

-- Wyoming QB Evan Svoboda on having a tough game in his home state

"Look, I believe in everybody in that locker room. There's not an issue of like, well, you know, after seeing that, I don't think that we can do things that we want to do. We certainly can, but we know we have to play a lot better. We have to get a lot better. And, you know, that starts with coaches and it goes all the way through. But we all have to look in the mirror and own it."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel and his confidence level after Saturday night

"Our kids love football. I think that was the easiest thing to take away is the passion they have for the game. They play really hard. They practice really hard, though, so it really is a reflection of how we've been practicing. We've played hard, but what I was proud of was we grew from playing smart. There were a few times that we had personal fouls toward us from the opponent, and our guys didn't respond, and last year, we would have lost our minds. And for us to be able to just lock back in and go make the next play and continue to make the next play, is a lot of growth for the football team."

-- ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham on his team's performance

WHAT'S NEXT?

In what was maybe once viewed as a "cupcake," this upcoming matchup with FCS foe Idaho just got a heck of a lot more interesting. The Vandals (0-1) will pay a visit to War Memorial Stadium Saturday for the Cowboys home opener. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be televised on TruTV.  Idaho gave mighty Oregon all it could handle Saturday before eventually falling to the Ducks, 24-14.