LARAMIE \u2014 Jay Sawvel had a list ready to go when he reached the podium Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The third-year University of Wyoming head coach pointed to five key focal points as the Cowboys (3-3 overall, 2-1 Mountain West) turn the page to the second half of the season. UW is coming off a 16-13 overtime win at San Jose State, which snapped an eight-game road losing streak dating back to last season.<\/p>\n
UW returns home for a matchup with MW newcomer Northern Illinois (0-5, 0-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n
Sawvel\u2019s list of necessary improvements included:<\/p>\n
Turnover margin: The Cowboys are 132nd nationally with an average of minus-1.17 turnovers per game. \u201cOur turnover margin is minus-7 right now,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cRegardless of what the whole season accumulative is, starting this week, these next six games, we need to be positive. We need to work to try to be positive-6. We need to try to be plus-1 each game.\u201dOutgain opponents: The Cowboys are 129th in the country in total offense at 301.8 yards per game. The defense is 82nd at 362.2 yards allowed. \u201cA couple times early in the season, we had an issue with explosive plays defensively,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cThe other night, San Jose had two plays that were 25 yards or more. When you are at two (of those plays) or less, you\u2019re going to give up about 10-14 points a game. When you\u2019re at three or more, you\u2019re going to give up mid-to-upper 20s. So, cutting those back is one thing. Offensively, it\u2019s going to be (about creating more).\u201dThird-down conversions: UW\u2019s offense is tied for 123rd nationally with a third-down conversion rate of 31%. The Cowboys\u2019 defense is 87th at 39.2%. \u201cThat has to flip,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cIf that flips, it gives us more opportunities to have the ball and create more explosive plays and it gives the other team less opportunities with the ball to create explosive plays.\u201dPenalties: The Cowboys are fifth in the Mountain West in penalty yardage at 51.2 per game. \u201cWe have the fewest penalties of the teams that have played six games. So, penalties have not been a problem,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cWe\u2019re averaging 51 yards of penalty yardage a game. I want to get that under 40.\u201dRed-zone offense: UW is tied for 116th nationally with a success rate of 76.2% in the red zone. Of the Cowboys\u2019 21 opportunities inside the opponent\u2019s 20-yard line, they have settled for seven field goals. \u201cOur red-zone touchdown percentage, we\u2019re 9-fo-21 (43%),\u201d Sawvel said. \u201c\u2026 I want that red-zone touchdown percentage to be 75%.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to be where we want to be at the end of the year, these five things here will determinate that,\u201d Sawvel added.<\/p>\n
UW goes into Week 7 tied for 135th in the country in scoring offense at 14.5 points per game. NIU is the worst offensive team in the country with an average of 12.4 points.<\/p>\n
Overlooking an opponent is not a position the Cowboys are in, Sawvel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done nothing around here,\u201d he added. \u201cWe haven\u2019t won a championship in 30 years. We haven\u2019t had a 10-win season in 30 years. We won a game Friday night that we should have won by 14 points and we had to go to overtime to win. We have to get better. So, there\u2019s not going to be \u2018too much\u2019 or \u2018too little.\u2019 Nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that\u2019s going to be said about Northern Illinois and what their record is or isn\u2019t. They\u2019ve played some good people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys haven\u2019t won back-to-back games since beating Akron and Northern Iowa to open the 2025 season. That won\u2019t be a point of discussion this week, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll we\u2019ve talked about and all we will talk about is just this one game, this one week and this one practice. That\u2019s really all that it got back to,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cWe had enough players that were disappointed in their performance at North Dakota State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sawvel admitted UW\u2019s 28-0 road loss to North Dakota State left a bad taste in the locker room. Their mindset shifted against San Jose State, and he\u2019s hoping that mentality stays the same this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things we talked about was that maybe we made too much of the opponent when we played North Dakota State,\u201d Sawvel said. \u201cWe really just (need to) talk about us. That\u2019s what we really want to talk about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to get better. We have so many things that we\u2019ve got to get better at, so that\u2019s where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n