The Cowboy football team’s start has been anything but smooth. With a new head coach, a first-year starting quarterback, and an injured top running back, the team’s offense has been at a standstill. In three games this year, the offense has accounted for 30 total points. The Wyoming football program has not started 0-4 since 2000, when they went 1-10.
Coach Jay Sawvel knew this week against the University of North Texas would be important to the morale and identity of the team moving forward. “This is a huge game for us,” he said, “Everybody in the organization knows that and we’ve got to play really, really well to have a chance to win.”
The game started with some promise, as the Cowboys marched down the field and scored a 30-yard field goal on the first drive of the game. Later, in the second quarter, quarterback Evan Svoboda found running back Sam Scott in the midfield for a 41-yard catch and run touchdown. Even the special teams looked to make a rebound from last week’s kickoff return for a touchdown. Tyler King took a kick off 105 yards to the house right before the end of the second quarter, and it looked like the Cowboys had life going into the locker room at the half.
But the Cowboys struggled in the second half. The team failed to score and tallied only 60 yards of offense. The defense held up considering they spent much more time on the field and were worn down early in the second half.
Despite the poor performance four weeks through the season, Coach Sawvel said that the team is sticking together. “There’s no division. There’s no pointing fingers or this side’s not doing this or this guy didn’t do that. We’re all in it, we all know it. We all understand the fact of what we’ve got to do to get better.”
The loss puts the Cowboys at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference standings heading into conference play. If the team has any hopes of salvaging this season, they must win out in conference play.
This is a tall order that starts with the Airforce Academy this Saturday in Laramie. The teams met up last year in a thrilling contest that ended in a heartbreaking loss for the Cowboys. The Falcons will not be led by Zac Larrier who proved to be a problem for defenses last year.
