What Happened to Wyoming’s Defense in Albuquerque?

LARAMIE -- What on earth happened to Wyoming's defense last Saturday?

Jay Sawvel, who is still a defensive coordinator at heart, shook his head in disgust when the subject was broached.

There's a good reason for that, too.

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New Mexico bullied that unit to the tune of 576 yards of total offense, 412 of that coming on the ground, courtesy of quarterback Devon Dampier and running back Eli Sanders.

That duo, who scored five of the Lobos' six touchdowns, did all of that damage on just 29 attempts. That's an average of 14.2 yards per rush.

"No. 1, we played slower than what we needed to for one thing," Wyoming's rookie head coach said following the 49-45 win in Albuquerque. "Secondly, we had some guys that, you know, like, you can't guess football. You can't sit there and go, I think this is going to happen. We had some guys get out of position at certain positions and create big plays. So, some of that's inexcusable."

The Cowboys offense, led by Kaden Anderson, who was making his first-career start under center, rolled up 604 total yards and also found the end zone six times. The redshirt freshman threw three touchdowns, connecting with John Michael Gyllenborg, Jaylen Sargent and Justin Stevenson. He also added another score on the ground in the team's second victory of the season.

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It was that defense, though, that finally got off the mat in the final frame, sparked by an interception for a touchdown from nickelback Wrook Brown. Edge rusher Tyce Westland put a bow on that one, wrapping up Dampier in the backfield for a strip sack. The junior even jumped on the loose ball.

"It was really frustrating because this whole week of practice we've been working hard getting things right," said Westland, who tallied two tackles. "Then, to come out here, doing that performance, It wasn't what Wyoming defense should be. I'm glad we got the win."

What were Sawvel's thoughts roughly 48 hours later?

He said Monday his true thoughts on that forgettable outing weren't fit for cameras and microphones. Remember, he's already gotten himself in hot water for comments made from behind that very podium.

Sawvel proceeded to talk shop, pointing out things like empty sets, offensive schemes, one-high and cover-four defenses. There were missed tackles, assignments and angles. Lack of depth didn't help things, he said, especially on the back end.

That's why he's jumping on a plane today, he added, to continue his recruiting efforts.

In layman's terms: It was bad.

"We didn't play well defensively at all," Sawvel said. "I was really disappointed in a number of players in terms of how they played, OK, first and foremost. Look, there's some other players in situations that I think are kind of out there in name and spirit. They're not out there in full body right now, and we got to go through that."

Colorado State is approaching the batter's box after the bye week.

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and Co. average 364 yards per game, 182 of which comes through the air. The other 180 can be credited to running backs Avery Morrow and Justin Marshall, who have combined to rush for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns.

On deck is No. 12 Boise State and its Heisman hopeful, running back Ashton Jeanty.

Wyoming's defense allows 427.1 yards per game. That ranks 114th out of 133 FBS programs. Aaron Bohl's unit also gives up nearly 200 yards a game on the ground.