Wyoming Football: News and Notes Ahead of Colorado State

LARAMIE -- Wyoming's rookie head coach Jay Sawvel grew up in Barnesville, Ohio, roughly 108 miles east of Columbus, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Legends like Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer, among many others, have roamed the sidelines inside the world famous Horseshoe.

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The first two names on that list are members of the College Football Hall of Fame. So is Howard Jones, John Wilce, Earle Bruce and John Cooper. The latter name above one day will be enshrined in Atlanta, too.

Those guys won national championships. Those guys claimed numerous Big Ten titles. Those guys won a lot of football games.

Ultimately, though, what most fans remember when they think about those head coaches is their record against their most-hated rival, Michigan.

Sawvel said the same can be said for Wyoming's No. 1 nemesis, Colorado State, who the Cowboys will meet for the 116th time in history Friday night inside Canvas Stadium.

"Look, when you become a head coach, these are the games that you're most excited about," the 53-year-old said Monday during his weekly press conference, referring to the annual Border War. "You know, there's going to come a point in time where people are going to look back on my time at Wyoming like people look back on Craig Bohl's time at Wyoming. One thing they see is he was 7-3 in this game. So, that's a big positive, right?"

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Sawvel has already been a part of this game four times, serving as Bohl's defensive coordinator.

He openly wondered what the Cowboys' response would be in 2021, entering CSU week on a four-game losing skid. Would fans even show up? They did. So did the team, mainly quarterback Levi Williams and running back Titus Swen, who combined for 282 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 31-17 victory over the Rams.

Of course, Sawvel mainly recalls a fourth-quarter interception by nickelback Keonte Glinton, who stepped in front of a toss to future Mackay-Award winning tight end Trey McBride.

The following year in Fort Collins, Bohl gave Sawvel some steep marching orders: Hold CSU's offense to 10 points or less.

Wyoming's defense did just that in a 14-13 win, allowing just a pair of field goals. Tory Horton, who is out for the season, was responsible for the lone touchdown that night. That came on a 72-yard punt return early in the first quarter.

"When you hear that on a Sunday night, like, that's kind of hard to do," Sawvel joked, referring to Bohl's demands for his unit. "... We had a lot of satisfaction in that, because we played real well."

In coaching stops at Notre Dame, Ferris State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Minnesota and Wake Forest, Sawvel coached in a number of trophy games. He's battled for the Jeweled Shillelagh, the Anchor-Bone Trophy, the Traveling Wheel, the Bronze Stalk Trophy, Paul Bunyan's Axe and many, many others.

The Bronze Boot, the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of Friday night's contest, Sawvel said, is special.

"This is like a real, real, real rival that's an hour and fifteen minutes from you, that sits in a neighboring state," he said. "That's a whole lot different than some (of these games) ... We're going to go down there, it will be sold out, you know, they'll have the majority of the fans, the majority of the people and it's a huge game. It means a lot to everybody in this state, and I'm sure it means a lot to the people there and in their program, too."

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Here's some other news and notes from Sawvel's pre-Border War presser:

* Edge rushers Braden Siders (unknown) and Sabastian Harsh (knee) are not expected to play Friday night in Fort Collins. Running back Sam Scott (knee) is also "very questionable to doubtful," to suit up against CSU, Sawvel added. Offensive guard Wes King (knee) is out for the season. Wide receivers TK King and Jaylen Sargent both recently suffered head injuries. The former missed the New Mexico game. The latter was hurt in Albuquerque. Those two are expected to be in the lineup. So is tight end John Michael Gyllenborg (collarbone), who capped his game against the Lobos with a sling on his right arm.

* For you uniform nerds out there -- like me -- it appears the Cowboys could be wearing all white from head to toe Friday night inside Canvas Stadium. Here's a little teaser from the athletics department.

* Sawvel told a story last week about his former boss, Lou Holtz, quizzing his teams at Notre Dame before the annual rivalry meeting with USC. What Wyoming's head coach left out was the part about the staff also taking this written test about the history of that game. "So, we go in an auditorium like this, and I'm taking this test," Sawvel added. "Urban Meyer was the receivers coach and he's having to take the same test. (Holtz) brings them to us on the plane. I think I missed one question. I was 24-of-25 or something like that. (The test) said 'cleared for game.' I'm wondering to myself, what would have happened if I would not have passed this thing?" While Sawvel won't be giving his players any CSU exams this week, he said they will have some rivalry tidbits in store for this roster."

* Is there a little extra pep in the step after erasing a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit in Albuquerque, coming away with a win and having a much-needed bye week? You bet. "There's a clarity to certain things right now, you know? I mean, we know what we look like when Harrison Waylee plays," Sawvel said. "... We know how Kaden Anderson played in that game." Waylee, who missed the first eight games of the season after suffering a knee injury late in fall camp, rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown against the Lobos. Anderson, a redshirt freshman quarterback, gashed New Mexico for 342 yards and three scores through the air in that 49-45 road win. He also added another touchdown on the ground in his first-career start.

* Sawvel was also asked about the psyche of signal caller Evan Svoboda, who lost the starting job to Anderson. By all accounts, he has been Anderson's biggest fan, supporting his teammate despite his demotion. Wyoming's head coach said the junior is a team captain for a reason. In fact, he garnered the most votes. "Look, the character of Evan Svoboda is ridiculously off the chain," he said. "There's a lot of guys that I've dealt with in my coaching career, if you made a similar move, they'd have been already packed up and gone from the program -- and that's not him. It never will be him."

* Sawvel, along with CSU head coach Jay Norvell, will meet at the border off Highway 287 Thursday afternoon for the annual "game ball run" performed by the ROTC units from both schools.

* This week has a little added importance for Wyoming's junior tight end Clay Nanke. He spent the previous three seasons at CSU, the first two as a defensive end. Quarterback Gage Brook is from Fort Collins. So is safety Jones Thomas. His father and grandfather played for the Rams. Nickelback Malique Singleton's dad also suited up for CSU in 1997. Defensive ends coach and former linebacker Brian Hendricks was destined to be a Ram. His dad and grandfather also wore the green and gold. He slept on that decision and ended up at Wyoming where he tallied 309 tackles. More importantly, he hoisted the Bronze Boot three times.

* Wyoming has won three in a row over the Rams and 11 of the last 15. The Cowboys own a 31-25 advantage since the Bronze Boot was introduced to the rivalry back in 1968. CSU leads the overall series, 59-51-5.

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