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‘He’s a tough dude’: Sawvel praises LB Perez after Air Force win
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel told Pokes News he thought he was finished recruiting linebackers in Steven Perez’s class. The Cowboys already had a commitment at the position, and the spot was filled.
Then he watched Perez’s game film.
“It was just like, ‘this guy's too good to pass up, we need to take him,’” Sawvel said.
Perez finished with a career-high 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops, and recovered a fourth-quarter fumble in Wyoming’s 28-14 victory over Air Force at War Memorial Stadium. The redshirt freshman led both teams in tackles as the Cowboys earned their third straight win and improved to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the Mountain West.
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Through eight games this season, he has 54 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two fumble recoveries.
In an exclusive interview with Pokes News, Perez said backfield movement and motion had given him trouble as he adjusted to Wyoming’s new offense during fall camp. With more game experience, he began recognizing what was happening without letting it slow him down.
“But just being able to start playing the game and understanding the ins and outs of football, the backfield movement, the motions, they just start to affect you less, which allows me to play faster,” Perez said.
The Falcons ran the ball 63 times Friday night, keeping defenders busy. Wyoming finished with 92 total tackles.
Perez’s 17 tackles surpassed his career-high 10 at North Dakota State University earlier in the season.
With Wyoming protecting a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter, Air Force went for fourth-and-2 from its own 43. Defensive tackle Ja’Quan Redfern forced a fumble by quarterback Josh Johnson, and Perez recovered at the Air Force 49 with 8:20 remaining.
Perez said he saw the ball and jumped on it. “I was just in the right place at the right time,” Perez told Pokes News after the game.
“Quan's always going to make big plays when they need to be made. That's what he does,” Perez said.
Perez’s fumble recovery gave Wyoming possession and set up Tyler Hughes’ 15-yard run, in which he ran around and through multiple Air Force defenders to the one-yard line. Running back Markell Holman punched it in with a 1-yard touchdown run, leaving 3:04 in the fourth quarter and giving the Pokes a two-score lead.
Perez spent his 2025 redshirt season learning from the older players in Wyoming’s linebacker room. He told Pokes News what he’s learned from Ethan Stuhlsatz and Gary Rutherford.
“He teaches me how to play the game of football the right way,” Perez said when talking about Stuhlsatz. “The mindset that he brings to a defense, physicality-wise, is something that I really aspire to be like.”
“He’s such an energetic person to be around. He's so fun,” Perez said about Rutherford. “There's no time around Gary that your morale is going to be low.”
Rutherford finished with 12 tackles, and Stuhlsatz added 11, joining Perez in double figures.
Perez arrived in Laramie in 2025 from Banning High School in Wilmington, California. He recorded 356 career tackles in high school, including 107 as a senior.
Pokes News asked Perez postgame Friday night about his development since joining the program.
“A big reason you come here is to be developed as a linebacker, which Wyoming has a super big history of doing. That's what really stood out to me,” Perez said. “So just being able to be developed by Coach Donoval, Coach Bohl…those are probably the two best people you could ever have in your corner.”
After Friday's game, Pokes News asked about Perez, and Sawvel praised his toughness.
“When you have him here, the motor and the way he plays, and he's a tough dude. He's a state champion wrestler. He's a badass is what he is,” Sawvel said. “And he plays that way. And he's going to do nothing but get better and better and better in this program…pretty proud of him.”
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