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

LARAMIE -- Evan Svoboda reeled in the shotgun snap, faked the handoff to his running back and immediately bolted to his right.

Wyoming's 6-foot-5, 245-pound quarterback planted his right foot and cut up field after patiently waiting for a key block by tight end Justin Erb that sprung him into the open.

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He left three Aztecs -- safety Dalesean Staley, edge rusher Trey White and linebacker Kyle Moretti -- in his wake, pulling away from that trio from the 40-yard line in. Svoboda, like he did in his last outing against Air Force, crossed the white stripe and began to celebrate in front of the fans in the end zone.

This time the north side got the show.

That 51-yard dash, which came on the first snap of the fourth quarter gave the Cowboys a seven-point lead.

It was brief.

Despite having all the momentum, including 23,000-plus in attendance at full throat, it took the visitors just four plays to erase all those fuzzy feelings.

"There were just catastrophic mistakes throughout the game," a visibly upset Jay Sawvel said during his postgame press conference.

Wyoming's rookie head coach pointed to this very possession as one of those.

After a pass breakup and an incompletion, Danny O'Neil, facing a 3rd-and-10 from his own 20, calmly climbed up in the pocket and heaved a 53-yard strike to fellow freshman Jordan Napier. The 18-year-old paid no mind to the chaos on either side of him and slipped into the opening.

Wyoming nickel back Malique Singleton stumbled, failed to locate the ball and couldn't recover in time to become a deterrent.

Sawvel said his defensive front was in the midst of a "twist play." He added his defensive ends, who were supposed to crash, instead aborted the mission. On the backend, Singleton, he said, just didn't make the play.

"We could've called something different up front that maybe it would have kept us in a position where we didn't allow that to happen," he said. "So, there's a lot of second guessing that we can do, but we have a shared responsibility at all levels of the team, and everybody owns some piece of this game today."

It just got worse from there. For Sawvel, Singleton and the Cowboys.

On the very next snap, the Aztecs' rookie signal caller again connected with Napier. This time it was a 27-yard dime into the corner of the south end zone.

That drive, which chewed up all of 49 seconds and amassed 80 yards, served as the counter punch. SDSU would tack on a 28-yard field goal on the ensuing drive. The score never changed over the final 7:35.

"I mean, look, at times you just have to make a play, you know? I mean, it comes down to (something) as simple as that, right?

"... You know, that's what happened there," Sawvel said.

Though this particular sequence served as the turning point, untimely miscues and self-inflicted wounds remain. Dropped catchable balls, badly overthrown passes and head-scratching penalties again rued the day.

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Svoboda tossed two first-half interceptions, including one that was returned by Eric Butler 43 yards for a touchdown.

"It's tough, you know? I think we were excited and we had a lot of energy," defensive end Sabastian Harsh said, referring to that long touchdown jaunt by Svoboda. "We were always, you know, in the right spot and stuff like that, it's just a matter of winning that play. So, it didn't go our way. It didn't go in our favor. I just think that's something we'll have to live with."

Jordan Bertagnole has some simple advice for Singleton, a sophomore nickelback who was playing in place of Wrook Brown, the original starter who was forced to move to safety because of a bevy of injuries in the secondary.

"Flush it," the senior captain said. "You know, being a young guy, they're going to target you. Sometimes you're going to have a 50/50 ball that you have to make a play on. You're not going to make every single play, but be able to respond and move on to the next play. If you get got two plays in a row, then go on to that third play.

"... I'm here for a reason and I just have to go make a play this time."

San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24

UNSUNG HERO

Christian Jones didn't stand a chance.

A simple misstep forward from the 6-foot-9, 315-pound left tackle left him exposed. Wyoming's Braden Siders took care of the rest, dusting the junior around the edge and getting a right hand on the ball just as O'Neal was set to throw.

The loose change fluttered through the air and right into the awaiting arms of linebacker Connor Shay.

The Cowboys entered this contest with just one takeaway on the season, tied for the fewest in all of college football. O'Neal, who had yet to throw an interception on his first 126 attempts, finally earned a blemish on his résumé.

Though Siders' stats might appear to be modest -- four tackles and half-a-tackle-for-loss -- the 6-foot-3, 252-pound junior left his imprint on this one, especially in the absence of fellow end Tyce Westland. He also helped draw attention away from Harsh, who had an impressive outing with six stops, four for loss and a sack.

QUOTABLE

"This one hurts. It's going to hurt everybody. We have to bounce back next week. We have to get some bodies back that will help us. We have to get better."

-- Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel after the loss, referring to the number of injured players, including both starting safeties Isaac White and Wyett Ekeler, along with the team's two starting offensive guards Wes King and Jack Walsh, among many others.

"It's emotional. I mean, it's tough because everybody in the locker room wants to see everybody else win. So, it's kind of a group thing. So, games like that, you know, it's kind of like, well, we have to come closer together from this, just pull together and look at our strengths, fix our weaknesses and stuff like that."

-- Wyoming defensive end Sabastian Harsh on team morale after falling to 1-5 overall on the season and 1-1 in Mountain West play

"It's always tough, to be honest. Losing a game, but starting a season 1-5, definitely it gets to you because, you know, you see the potential in the team. I mean, every single game comes down to five plays, maybe, that determine the outcome. I can think of one that I was in, that that I got got, so that breaks my heart. Like, I had an opportunity to make a difference on a certain play. I mean, going back, you're not going to make every single play, but knowing that I had an opportunity and that I missed, certainly hurts."

-- Wyoming defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole on his emotions after returning for a sixth season

"I think definitely in the fourth quarter. We beat ourselves up in a multitude of things. After they scored and they went up 27-24, we had to get a drive going. We couldn't. And some things in the first half, some drives where we could have not had a penalty here, not had a penalty there, we would have been all right."

-- Wyoming running back Sam Scott referring to the number of mistakes the Cowboys made in this home loss

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Cowboys will try to right the ship next Saturday in a place that hasn't been too kind to them in year's past, San Jose State. Wyoming has squared off with the Spartans seven times in the Bay Area. The last win came back in 1996. That's three straight losses inside CEFCU Stadium. SJSU fell 31-24 Saturday in Fort Collins. It's the second setback in three weeks for first-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo, who led his team to a surprising 3-0 start out of the gate. Wyoming has a slim 7-6 advantage in the overall series with the Spartans, but has lost five of the last six meetings. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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