Bye Week Notebook: Aztec Dominance Sparks Off-Season Wish List

LARAMIE -- Just before kickoff last Saturday night, Jay Sawvel said he took a long look around Snapdragon Stadium, the three-year old home of San Diego State football.

The natural grass was perfectly trimmed. The colors -- red, black and gray -- still vibrant. The new-stadium smell was still lingering in the air, too.

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One thought came to the head coach's mind in that moment: "I feel bad for these guys."

Huh?

"I think a game like Saturday night makes you appreciate being at Wyoming," Sawvel added. "In one sense, that's a beautiful stadium, and they have a really good team. They had a promotion the other night where you come dressed as an empty seat, because there was nobody there.

"... That's why I like coaching here."

The announced attendance inside the home of the Aztecs was 24,325, roughly 11,000 below capacity.

That's a stretch. A big one.

Then came the dig at SDSU's departure to the new-look Pac-12, which becomes official next July.

"It doesn't matter what your TV market is ... that showed as much as anything," Sawvel said. "There was nobody at that game. (SDSU head coach) Sean Lewis is a great dude and a really good coach. They have a very good football team."

It was likely Lewis who felt bad for the visitors after the final whistle sounded.

Wyoming's offense was limited to just 185 yards on the night, 75 of which came on the opening possession. That resulted in a three-yard touchdown toss from Landon Sims to running back Sam Scott.

That was also the last time the Cowboys got on the scoreboard in a 24-7 setback.

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Starting quarterback Kaden Anderson completed just 12-of-24 passes for 93 yards. He was picked off three times -- all in the first half -- which led to 10 immediate points.

That's more than that defense needed.

For good measure, though, wideout Michael Fitzgerald also coughed up a fumble inside Aztec territory. Another scoring opportunity wasted.

SDSU entered this outing, allowing just over 10 points a game. That's good enough for second in the country. Wyoming averaged 2.5 yards a carry in the running game. That number reached only 3.6 through the air.

Boise State crashed the College Football Playoff party last season. Air Force has featured ferocious defenses. Fresno State always seems to have NFL talent on that side of the ball, too.

"Going into it, we had a pretty strong feeling about how good they were, and then, after watching them, in the six years that I've stood on the sidelines, that is the best Mountain West defense that I've seen, period -- at all the levels," Sawvel said. "They've got pass rushers, they've got speed at linebacker, they've got physicality all the way through and they have good cover guys.

"So, like when you come and combine all that together, I mean, the windows were going to be tight and the timing was going to be tight."

That performance was so impressive, Sawvel added, he has already begun to formulate his offseason transfer portal plans.

"Watching that game the other night I saw a couple things that they had, and I was like, 'I kind of like to have that too, you know?'" he said. "So, there's going to be a couple things that we've got to try to find. There's going to be a defensive end, a safety and a receiver with physicality."

Trey White is the type of edge rusher Sawvel covets.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound junior tallied two sacks and added three tackles last Saturday night. He has six quarterback takedowns this fall and 18.5 over the previous two seasons. White also was partially responsible for Wyoming's first interception of the night. Watch him dip past left tackle Rex Johnsen before lunging at Anderson's legs.

Sawvel already once attempted to land Dalesean Staley on the open market.

The 190-pound safety, who racked up five tackles and broke up a pass against the Cowboys, spent the first two years of his collegiate career at Northern Iowa before signing with Lewis' Aztecs in 2024. Wyoming, supposedly, was on his short list, Sawvel added, but wasn't interested in joining a program with two senior starters, Wyett Ekeler and Isaac White.

Sawvel also admittedly has a man-crush on Jordan Napier. It's easy to see why, too.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore snagged four passes for 91 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown pass in the Aztecs' 27-24 victory in Laramie in 2024. Napier added four more receptions for 43 yards in the last outing. He also finished with two carries for 17 yards on two carries, including a seven-yard jaunt to the end zone in the second quarter.

Linebacker Brayden Johnson -- all 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds of him -- appeared to have a beat on Napier in the backfield. He shed that would-be tackle and waltzed in with ease.

Sawvel said he will vote for all three, along with a handful of other Aztecs, to the All-Conference team.

"It's gonna be hard to do," Sawvel said of his lofty wish list. "You want to know what we're trying to find, that's what it's going to be."

Here are some other tidbits from the head coach's bye-week press conference:

* Sims is indeed out for the season. The sophomore signal caller suffered a left knee injury in the second quarter of Saturday night's loss and it looked as bad as it is. While Sawvel didn't get into the details, only saying it was a season-ender, Sims' reaction after the hit said it all. Sawvel also said it's likely the Alabama native won't even be ready to go next season. Sims has already suffered two torn ACL's in that knee.

* Rosters will be limited to just 105 across the FBS next season. Sawvel said this injury to Sims, along with the second ACL tear for left tackle Nate Geiger, made him pick up the phone Monday and make a call to the league office. He wanted to know when the next oversight meeting is, because with the two listed above not likely to be ready to play next September, Sawvel said, that already takes up two roster spots. "You have to budget out positions," he continued. "You have so many running backs, so many of this, so many of that. The plan in this program all along was to have five quarterbacks. Well, Landon Sims is one of those five quarterbacks."

* The Cowboys' offensive line didn't allow a single pressure a week prior in a 28-0 win over Border War rival Colorado State. That all changes in this one. SDSU, led by White, tallied three sacks and finished with 10 pressures on Anderson. There was also a critical false-start call on Johnsen and a hold levied against right tackle Braylon Jenkins early in the fourth quarter. That drive began inside the Aztecs' 20-yard line. After they walked it back 15 yards, running back Terron Kellman was dragged down for a two-yard loss. Fitzgerald's fumble came next. "I think that we needed to do a better job in certain situations with the pressure and that type of thing," Sawvel said. "But, you know, a lot of that has to do with the fact that you could put on about any game that they've played, and there's been that magnitude of pressure. So, a lot of that has to do with the players that they play with on that side of the ball."

* Evan Eller's right arm is in a sling. Sawvel didn't specify what the injury is for Wyoming's starting middle linebacker, but if there was a game this Saturday, he would be "very, very questionable."

* Jayden Williams was suspended for at least one game because of a "violation of team rules," Sawvel said, adding it had nothing to do with a failed drug test. The 302-pound sophomore did not travel with the team to SDSU. Has he been reinstated? "That'll get re-evaluated this week," he said. Larry Wilson was forced to move from the edge to defensive tackle in Williams' absence. Douglas product Tegen Seeds also lined up for a career-high 12 snaps. The redshirt freshman also picked off a Jayden Denegal shovel pass in the first half.

* Cornerback Dainsus Miller (hand surgery) should return Nov. 15 for the Fresno State game. Samuel Harris, who got bent up in a pile and slowly made his way to the sideline in San Diego, is also good to go, Sawvel said. Tyson Deen suffered what appeared to be a scary injury on special teams and wideout Deion DeBlanc slowly walked off the field that night, too. Sawvel said all should be in the lineup in two weeks.

* Wyoming currently has 19 verbal commits for the 2026 class. We will take a look at all of those players during the bye week. The NCAA's early signing day is set for Dec. 3. National signing day will take place Feb. 4, 2026.

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