LARAMIE, Wyo. — After offensive struggles resurfaced against North Dakota State, the Wyoming Cowboys are trying to correct their mistakes before a Friday night game at San Jose State.
It’s no easy task, as coach Jay Sawvel said the team made blunders on the field and in the minds of many players.
“I talked to a couple of players today who said, ‘Coach, I knew it was a big game, I just didn’t wanna make a mistake, and I played slow,'” Sawvel said. “Then we gotta unpack that part of it too.”
Senior linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz said after the NDSU game that the first-play turnover didn’t affect morale or the play, but Sawvel said it led to a “torpedoing” of the team.
The offense finished with just 162 yards against the Bison. For senior offensive lineman Rex Johnsen, the on-the-field mistakes were evident, and he was blunt about them.
“On the offensive side, we could say almost everything went wrong,” Johnsen said. “Everyone needs to do their job and just get better. We’re just going to keep going to practice and getting better and better.”
To fix that offense, Sawvel is watching film and examining what is working for the Pokes.
“You look at things of saying, ‘okay, what are we good at?'” Sawvel said. “Who are the people that need the ball? Is there a bigger emphasis that we need to make that we’re not making right now in certain ways? And then there’s a kind of educational psychology to it with some players, too.”
For the mental side of adjustments, as a leader, Johnsen is making sure negativity doesn’t creep in.
“The biggest thing for me is just to stay positive for the guys, knowing that I have their back, and knowing that they’re gonna have my back,” Johnsen said. “We just need to play complementary football on all three phases.”
Defensively, an impact player for the team has been true freshman Therman “Boogie” Williams, who is also trying to help out on the psychological side of the game.
“It’s just all about making sure you finish doing your job,” Williams said. “As long as you’re doing your one-of-11 [job], that’s kind of my big thing, making sure that I’m not the one slacking off. So that allows me to stay focused throughout the game.”
Preparing for the San Jose State Spartans, it’s an opportunity for the offense to string things together. The Spartans allow 381 yards per game, but Johnsen made sure to clarify that the team isn’t overlooking them.
On the other side of the ball, SJSU’s offense is third-best in the Mountain West and the second-best passing offense under transfer quarterback Luke Weaver.
But the Spartans’ offense is less reliant on the pass this year, with the addition of running back Jabari Bates, who leads the conference in all-purpose and rush yards.
“They’re still down the field heavily in the pass game, and Weaver’s a very good quarterback for them,” Sawvel said, “but they’re also leaning on a run game with Jabari Bates a whole lot more than what they’ve ever done before. So it creates a little different element.”
Despite the addition of Bates, the Pokes defense is ready for another pass-heavy attack and looking to secure the team’s first win in San Jose since 1996.
“We know they’re gonna throw the ball,” Williams said. “They don’t throw it as much as they did in past years, but we know it’s gonna come. We know we’re gonna have our opportunities. So, it’s capitalize on the opportunities you get, and then make sure that we stop everything else that’s thrown at us.”
Wyoming and San Jose State kick off Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. for a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network, and it will air on the Cowboy Sports Network.