Observations from Wyoming football's season-opening loss

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TEMPE, Ariz. — Unfortunately for Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel, the 48-7 desert devastation will not be fast forgotten. Coaching debuts live on in one’s memory like a first love. For nearly everyone else associated with the Wyoming football program, eradicating the memory of Saturday night’s thorough beatdown at the hands of the Sun Devils should be relatively easy.

There were other players on the Cowboys’ roster, who like coach Sawvel, were making long-awaited debuts. Whether it was Keany Parks making his first start at cornerback; or senior Connor Shay doing likewise at linebacker; or freshman Chris Durr Jr., who had his first collegiate reception and touchdown, the memories will remain.

The defeat was thorough in every facet of the game. From Arizona State’s opening tackle on defense in which Keyshaun Elliott stopped Wyoming tailback DJ Jones for a minimal 1-yard gain to the pick six by Zyrus Fiaseu. From the six-headed monster at running back for ASU coupled with two athletic quarterbacks combining to rush for 241 yards on 49 attempts to a defense that forced three turnovers and limited the Wyoming passing game to 78 yards.

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There wasn’t one area where Wyoming felt positive as it trudged off the field at Mountain America Stadium.

“We didn’t execute well in any phase of (the game) for a quarter and then once we got into that mode, we weren’t able to dig ourselves out. We didn’t have the fight to do that,” Sawvel said. “That’s a coaching thing. We’ve got to get a lot better as a football team. It’s one of those things. Fortunately for us, it counts as one even though it feels as if it should count as four or five right about now.”

It will be a painful rewatch of the game film for the Wyoming players and coaching staff, but a necessary one. One doesn’t learn from success, only mistakes teach lessons. Improvements must be made.

“We’re definitely going to watch the tape (Sunday) and Monday and then we’re going to flush that one and move on,” defensive tackle Jordan Bertagnole said. “And we definitely have a mature group that can do that and bounce back.”

Here are nine observations the Cowboys will likely take away upon reviewing the game film.

1. Team was beset by turnovers and penalties

Wyoming put itself behind the eight ball on the second play of the game with a poor read on its first pass play. Quarterback Evan Svoboda’s pass on the short comeback route to tight end Nick Miles was undercut by linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu and returned 29 yards for a touchdown.

It was the first of three turnovers for the Cowboys. They also failed to pounce on a loose football after a lateral to wide receiver Tyler King in the flat was ruled a backwards pass. Instead of covering up the football, ASU defensive end Justin Wodtly scooped it up and carried it into the end zone for another easy score.

On top of failing to protect the football, the Cowboys routinely made mental mistake after mental mistake that stalled offensive drives or gave ASU a shorter field to work with. On their second drive of the game, immediately following the interception, the Cowboys were whistled for a procedural penalty and two false starts which led to a poor throw deep over the middle of the field on third-and-23, a throw that sailed on Svoboda and landed in the arms of ASU’s Elliott.

There was a personal foul on a late hit to quarterback Sam Leavitt and another on a horse collar tackle on a first-quarter punt.

Midway through the second quarter, Wyoming had been flagged for seven penalties and 65 yards to just one for Arizona State.

For a team that averaged the third-fewest penalties in the Mountain West last season with 3.9 accepted flags per game, seven in the first half was drastically off the mark.

Wyoming didn’t protect the football, nor did it play heady football through the first two quarters. It beat itself and the Sun Devils simply threw more fuel on the fire.

2. Tackling was atrocious across the board

Though there were moments where players shined, the biggest takeaway on defense from the coaching staff and team captain Bertagnole was the frequent missed tackles. Poor angles taken to the football were a major root cause for the Cowboys. And when a Cowboy did get to a ball carrier early, often the defender didn’t bring enough power behind his pads to drive the ball carrier backward, rather they were carried for additional yardage.

There were a few players who shined as exceptions. Senior safety Isaac White led the team with nine tackles. Before he left the field early in the fourth quarter with an injury, White made several plays to stop ball carriers for short yardage in space. Nickel corner Wrook Brown made a few plays at the line of scrimmage, but he also was shook in space by ASU ball carriers multiple times, too.

3. Westland was a standout

Tyce Westland, a junior defensive end, provided an early sack on third down deep in the Cowboys territory to hold the Sun Devils to a field goal on their first offensive possession. Westland was able to use a speed rush to whip the ASU tackle and executed a strong tackle when he reached Leavitt. The former walk-on also showed the ability to stem a block with his left hand, scrape down the line and make a tackle for loss against running back Kyson Brown. Braden Siders provided the team’s only other sack much later in the game.

4. Dropped passes

Wyoming shot itself in the foot by failing to make the plays that were there to be made.

Case in point was well designed double screen pass early in the second quarter to King, who simply dropped the ball. Had King made the catch, the Cowboys offensive line was well set up to lead him untouched deep into the heart of ASU territory, if not the end zone. Later in the game, King also dropped a bubble screen attempt that led to the Sun Devils' scoop-and-score touchdown.

5. Inability to get off blocks

Aside from the noted plays by Westland and Siders, there were scant examples provided by the Cowboy defenders in which they were able to beat their man. Jaden Williams added a quality tackle for no gain in the third quarter, but ASU averaged 4.9 yards per carry on 49 attempts.

“Just getting off blocks and making plays, that’s what you’ve got to do," Bertagnole said. "You have to tackle well. Especially if you want to come win on the road, coach Sawvel has harped on it a lot, you have to bring good defense and we didn’t have a good defense today.”

6. Jack Culbreath is a potential All-MW punter

Culbreath attempted eight punts and averaged 47 yards per punt with three that traveled at least 50 yards. Sawvel did note the one in which Shay was penalized for a horse collar tackle, was kicked to the wrong side of the field.

7. Svoboda can’t play any worse

The quarterback made his first start since assuming the mantle of QB1 (and second of career) and performed as poorly as he has at any level. Svoboda finished the game 6-of-15 passing for 42 yards and two interceptions. Backup quarterback Kaden Anderson entered the game in the fourth quarter and went 4 for 5 for 36 yards and a touchdown.

There is no plan to make a change at quarterback after one week. Sawvel and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson have seen Svoboda command the offense far better than what he showed against the Sun Devils.

For what it’s worth, his teammates have his back.

“He’s a leader on this team, he’s a captain and we all love him to death. Everybody is going to have an off day,” Bertagnole said. “I mean, we’re just going to build and we have his back. And so, (I’m) really looking forward to getting back to the war and being able to bounce back from this one.”

8. Beaten in the trenches

The Wyoming running game never got on track against ASU, finishing with 74 rushing yards on 24 carries for 3.0 yard per carry average. Jones ran hard for much of the night, finishing with 43 yards in his UW debut, but simply found few creases to showcase his quickness. Svoboda also had minimal time to throw throughout the game and was sacked three times on 18 drop backs.

9. Young receivers got open, made plays

Though the opportunities were limited, a handful of receivers displayed positive moments.

Alex Brown broke free downfield on a double move in the third quarter only to see Svoboda miss him short and wide. Two plays later, King beat his defensive back on a go route only to be overthrown. Brown didn’t net a reception and King finished with one catch for 23 yards.

Then there was Durr Jr., who caught three passes for 16 yards and a touchdown.

Quotable

Svoboda was contrite postgame while accepting blame for his poor performance. His message was he has to turn the page quickly. “It sucks but you just have to flush it, respond, move on and grow. You live and learn,” he said. “There’s a lot of room to grow. A lot of learning experiences. Coach Johnson kept emphasizing that throughout the game.”

“What they saw tonight wasn’t very good. Biggest thing I can tell the fan base is we’re going to go back to work on Monday and we’re going to have a better football team on the field next weekend.” -- Sawvel Follow UW beat writer Anthony Dion on Twitter @anthonydion03

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