The Wyoming football team sits with a 1-6 record after its 24-14 loss against San Jose State University. This is the worst start to a season for the Cowboys since 2015 when they finished 2-10.

Head Coach Jay Sawvel’s first year has been defined by a struggling offense. The Cowboys didn’t score in the first half against the Trojans and three of their first-half drives went for negative yardage.

Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda had only 51 passing yards in the first half. Coach Sawvel admitted before the game that Svoboda needs to play better.

“There are five or six throws that need to be made in that game the other day. He knows this,” said Sawvel.

Wyoming ended the game with freshman quarterback Kaden Anderson running the offense. Anderson went 4/11 for 116 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

Wyoming sits in last in the Mountain West Conference in total offense and yards per play. The team is the second to last in scoring offense, averaging 17.1 points per game. Despite those statistics, Coach Sawvel said he’s not pivoting from Svoboda anytime soon.

“We’ve got a first-year starting quarterback that has a high level of talent, a high level of hard work, and a high level of care about the program,” Sawvel said when asked about the idea of benching Svoboda. “When you make a change at that position, you typically don’t get that guy back.”

Sawvel seems to be alluding to the threat that Svoboda could choose to transfer schools after this year if he is benched. This is very common for quarterbacks in the era of name image and likeness and unlimited NCAA transferring. There have been no previous comments that suggest Svoboda would leave.

The Cowboys will return to Laramie to take on Utah State this Saturday at 5 p.m.. The game will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network.