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Wyoming Is in First Place, and Jay Sawvel Wants His Cowboys to Enjoy It
EL PASO, Texas – Wyoming arrived in El Paso with a four-game winning streak.
Make that five.
Wyoming won its fifth straight game Saturday night, beating UTEP 27-15 at the Sun Bowl. With New Mexico out, the Lobos are in second place, and the Cowboys now lead the Mountain West standings with two games remaining.
Head coach Jay Sawvel knows the challenge ahead when New Mexico visits Laramie Friday night.
"I want them to enjoy this next week," Sawvel told the media when asked about keeping his team focused with first place on the line. "I want him to embrace what this is."
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Wyoming is now 7-3 overall and 6-1 in conference play. Since losing to North Dakota State, the Cowboys have beaten San Jose State, Northern Illinois, Air Force, UNLV and UTEP. Three of those victories have come on the road.
Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium with first place on the line.
"I can't wait to see our fans next week. I can't wait to see what War Memorial looks like next week. I know that our fans will fill it," Sawvel said. "I cannot wait to see what that looks like."
Saturday night’s victory also had its share of problems.
The Cowboys managed just three points after halftime and fumbled three times.
"We just wallowed around a little bit offensively," Sawvel said of the second half. "Turned the ball over twice. That was inexcusable."
"Everybody's happy we won, but nobody's sitting in there overly pounding their chest," Sawvel said. "We know we won. We get on our plane, we go back."
Those mistakes will need attention before Friday's matchup with New Mexico, as the Lobos defense has been among the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers.
However, Wyoming has come a long way since early October. A team that lost three of its first five games now finds itself in the conference championship conversation.
Sawvel hopes playing meaningful games in November becomes the standard.
"I want this to be a thing every year, right? That's the whole goal of the program going forward," Sawvel said. "But sometimes people don't always get this shot…I want them to enjoy this next week and how this is going to feel."
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