Turning Point, Unsung Hero and What’s Next For UW Football

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., -- What Jay Sawvel would give for a reset button right about now, huh?

The legendary John Madden himself couldn't concoct a play design like the one that ultimately cost the Cowboys a crucial road victory Saturday night in Colorado Springs.

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Instead of putting the ball in the belly of running backs Terron Kellman, Samuel Harris or even Sam Scott -- a trio that racked up 170 rushing yards, 49 more through the air, along with two touchdowns -- Jay Johnson, Wyoming's much-maligned offensive coordinator, decided trickery was the choice.

Lined up at the Air Force 3-yard line, staring at a third-and-goal against statistically the worst defense in the country, it was former starting quarterback Evan Svoboda who clapped his gloved hands, took the shotgun snap and faked the inside handoff to Scott.

The 6-foot-5, 251-pound senior, without hesitation, then heaved up a forgettable throw that will be talked about around these parts for years to come:

Safety Roger Jones Jr. plucked the easy interception out of the air in front of fellow tight end John Michael Gyllenborg four yards deep in the end zone and fell to his knees, derailing a promising drive and what would've been the go-ahead score.

Svoboda's 10th-career pick proved to be his most costly.

"He made a mistake on it, right? They have a guy sitting over the ball. The play was open," Sawvel said postgame. "The guy that was supposed to cover Jay Mike has eyes in the backfield, but there's a guy over the ball (in the middle of the field). We can't throw it with the guy over the ball, and so we got to coach him better in that situation, because we should have tucked it in and got what we could get out of it without throwing the ball in that situation.

"But, we made a mistake. So, anytime there's a mistake made, it's a coaching mistake. So, that's the way we got to look at."

Air Force, led by a record-breaking performance from signal caller Liam Szarka, marched the Falcons 80 yards on eight plays. Running back Kade Frew eventually cruised into the end zone from nine yards out, giving Air Force a seven-point lead with just 5:28 remaining in regulation.

Not all was lost -- until the next Wyoming drive.

Kaden Anderson, the Cowboys' actual quarterback, was flushed out of the pocket and coasted backward before firing a pass off his back foot in the direction of Michael Fitzgerald.

It didn't make it that far.

Safety Michael Mustell stepped in front of that ill-advised throw at the UW 29-yard line. Air Force connected on a game-clinching 40-yard field goal five snaps later.

"That was a bad decision," Sawvel said bluntly. "All right, so, I mean, again, he tried to force something that was off-balance and force it back across. You know, look, I mean, we can say whatever we want, it was a decision that we couldn't make."

Anderson, who capped his day completing 23-of-29 throws, now has six interceptions in seven outings this fall. The sophomore has also lost three fumbles.

Wyoming's offense once again showed its wild inconsistency in this one, turning just three of its nine total possessions into points, including what would be a meaningless 14-yard touchdown toss to Fitzgerald with just 1:02 to play.

There were the two aforementioned turnovers. Three ended in punts. The half ran out on another.

Air Force's defense, entering this game, was allowing an average of 40 points per game, which ranks that unit 132nd out of 134 FBS programs. It was also giving up nearly 500 total yards, including a nation's worst 323.3 through the air.

Wyoming finished with just 211 in the latter category.

"I feel like everyone, every play, needs to do their 1-11," wideout Jaylen Sargent said, referring to the number of players on the field. "You know, if a couple people don't do their jobs, the whole play is gonna fall apart.

"... I feel like that's the reason why."

This staff, in the most important part of the game, mashed the wrong button on the controller.

"Everybody's pissed, you know? I mean, that's what they're supposed to be, right? Everybody's supposed to be pissed right now. Everybody's supposed to be upset right now," Sawvel said.

Wyoming is now 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in Mountain West play.

Air Force 24, Wyoming 21

UNSUNG HERO

Someone on the defense always has a big game against Air Force, right?

Brian Hendricks, the Cowboys' current defensive ends coach, tallied a school record 23 tackles in a game from the linebacker spot against the Falcons back in 2009. Fellow 'backer Ward Dobbs registered 18 in 2006 and Jim Talich (1996) and Daryl Harris (1989) matched that number against the cadets.

Tyce Westland was that guy on Saturday afternoon.

The senior edge rusher was responsible for a team-high 14 stops, including 10 of the solo variety. The Pleasanton, Neb., native added two tackles for loss and broke up a pass, too.

Wyoming finished with just one quarterback hurry in this one. That also belonged to Westland.

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"They got us last year, so this felt pretty good to come out on top. Just a full-circle moment all around. It’s so cool to be able to see Kaden succeed in what he’s doing on the opposite side of the ball, and then on the alternative side, to have it click for us today. I’m the luckiest running back in the country. You see how those O-linemen have been playing these past two weeks. They’ve been playing out of their minds. My stats are proof of that."

-- Air Force running back Owen Allen on facing his former Southlake Carroll High School teammate Kaden Anderson.

"We knew that Wyoming was going to be a tough opponent, and we knew that this was going to be a really gritty game. To go out there, kind of run the ball down after down and make some big plays here and there, it was definitely good to get back to the fundamentals, so to speak."

-- Air Force running back Kade Frew following the 24-21 victory over Wyoming.

"Yeah, disappointed. That kind of wraps it all up. You're, you know, pissed off. Sorry if I can't say that, but, yeah, it's my last time and this is a big rival for us. So, always one you want to win. It's probably one of the most physical, toughest games we play all year. And I think we had a lot of opportunities. You know, I'm never going to talk about the offense, but defensively, we fell short a couple times."

-- Wyoming's senior safety Andrew Johnson on the mood inside the postgame locker room.

"I mean, obviously not the best, you know? Our teammates need to be there to pick him back up, you know, because he's a good person and he's a good athlete."

-- Wyoming wideout Jaylen Sargent on supporting his teammate Evan Svoboda after throwing a crucial fourth-quarter interception.

"One of the keys that we said going into this game: we're not going to win this game if we're minus in turnovers. In the fourth quarter, we're minus two -- there's the ball game, you know? And if we're not minus two in that situation, then, you know, we're going to probably be in a better situation and probably have a happier locker room right now."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel on the late mistakes that likely cost his team a road victory Saturday in Colorado Springs. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Wyoming (3-4, 1-2) and Colorado State (2-5, 1-2) will meet next Saturday in the 117th edition of the Border War. This will be the final meeting between the two long-time rivals as members of the same conference. The Rams will begin play in the new-look Pac-12 in 2026. The Cowboys have won seven of the last nine meetings, but CSU holds a 60-51-5 advantage in the overall series, which dates back to 1899. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.