SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jay Sawvel was enjoying a Dove chocolate ice-cream bar on the plane ride home Friday night.
The third-year University of Wyoming football coach left an eight-game road losing streak behind him on his way out of California following a 16-13 overtime win over San Jose State at CEFCU Stadium. The Cowboys erased a 13-6 fourth-quarter deficit to improve to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West.
While it was the furthest thing from pretty from an offensive standpoint, UW made plays when it mattered most. That included a 5-of-6 mark on fourth down and a forced turnover on downs on the Spartans’ opening possession in overtime.
Junior Erik Sandvik sealed the win with a walk-off 21-yard field goal.
The win came after the Cowboys’ offense faced plenty of scrutiny following a 28-0 road loss to North Dakota State last weekend.
“We got to overtime and you have a three-minute TV timeout or whatever. I just said a little prayer,” Sawvel said. “I said, ‘Look, these guys work so hard, let them be rewarded for it.’ They (were).
“For all the noise that sometimes happens when you don’t play well and you don’t ‘this’ and you don’t ‘that,’ they just listen, and they do exactly what we want them to do. They know that we can be pretty good.
“We fought. We’re not a work of art yet. We have a lot of work to do. (Offensive coordinator) Christian Taylor is pulling his arms off his body and everything else right now. I probably read the riot act of the offense more times on a headset today than I ever have. … It’s a work in progress, but it’s going to be a lot better of a work in progress when we get back (to practice) Sunday coming off of this.”
The Cowboys dominated the time-of-possession battle by more than 20 minutes. UW racked up 231 rushing yards on 53 attempts, with senior quarterback Tyler Hughes leading the way with 92 yards.
Was Hughes’ game perfect? Far from it. But he responded to the outside noise calling for his job by delivering in critical situations.
Hughes hit tight end Jake Wilson for an 8-yard touchdown — Hughes’ first touchdown pass against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent this season — to tie the game 13-13 with just over six minutes left to play.
He then picked up 18 yards with his legs in overtime to set up Sandvik’s game-winning field goal at SJSU’s 3-yard line.
“He fought and played,” Sawvel said about Hughes. “All I told him to do during the week is just go play. Go play football. If something breaks down, go play. Go be yourself. Go lead. He did.
“… We have a lot of things to clean up. Sixteen points is still not where we want to be, but it got us a win tonight, and I was really proud of the group.”
Hughes went into the weekend ranked 129th out of 131 qualifying quarterbacks in the FBS with a passing efficiency rating of 107.21. While he was limited to 114 yards on 16-of-24 passing with an interception, he helped win the game with his determination on the ground.
Eleven of his 27 rushing attempts went for at least five yards.
“(Hughes is) a competitor, and that’s the one thing about him,” safety Brooklyn Cheek said. “You can talk to him for 30 seconds and figure that out. He wants to win every game.
“He’s just like the rest of the team. He’s human. Everyone makes mistakes. … He comes back, and he doesn’t think about it. He just goes and goes and goes and never stops. That’s my favorite thing about Tyler while watching him play.”
Players aren’t immune to external pressure. Hughes sat down with WyoSports on Monday to talk about what UW’s offense needed to fix after averaging just 14.2 points per game through five games (135th out of 138 FBS teams).
“You need 11 guys to do the right thing for the play to go right,” Hughes said. “… Football’s a complementary game, and you have to be able to trust the brother next to you.”
Sawvel and Taylor haven’t wavered in their confidence in Hughes, despite his early struggles at UW. The opinions of those inside the locker room are the only ones Hughes pays any mind to.
“I’m a very confident person within, but I value the opinion and I respect those guys the most,” Hughes said. “The fact that I know that they’re behind me, it helps a lot. Those are the two most important people to me in this building.”
The win at SJSU was also UW’s first road conference win since beating New Mexico in 2024. It was the Cowboys’ first win in San Jose since 1996.
“I can’t wait to get on a plane and actually be a little happy,” Cheek said. “I’m excited just for this team to get the day off and hang out (Saturday) and get this win. It’s been something that we haven’t gotten since Akron (last year). This is our first win in California in the 21st century, so it’s great to get that win.
“… I love to win, no matter where it is.”
Wilson’s fourth-quarter touchdown grab was the first of his career. He admits it was a special moment that was only magnified after it led to a win.
Wilson also credited Hughes for helping will the Cowboys to victory.
“He put the team on his back right there,” Wilson said. “It was awesome just to be a part of that, because to win for him — not only him, but for this coaching staff — it was awesome. I’m so glad we got that done.”
Everyone knows the 24-hour rule. Once Sunday hits, the Cowboys’ focus shifts to a home matchup with Northern Illinois next weekend.
But first:
“We get ice cream on the plane, so we’re going to be happy,” Sawvel said.