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Wyoming’s Response to Adversity Leaves Sawvel Frustrated After Road Loss
Updated: 5 hours ago
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Jay Sawvel used some version of the word “frustrated” again and again Saturday afternoon.
Frustrated with Wyoming’s response to adversity, Cowboys’ leadership, inconsistent offense, and a team that still struggles to respond when something goes wrong.
Wyoming’s 24-10 loss at Central Michigan dropped the Cowboys to 1-2. Wyoming fell behind 17-0 by halftime, surrendered 339 rushing yards and repeatedly missed opportunities to change the direction of the game.
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Sawvel said preparation and effort weren't the primary problems.
“What we didn't do is respond to adversity when we got to that in the certain point in the first half the way we needed to and, you know, and then dig ourself a three-score hole at halftime, right?”
Sawvel brought up the leadership.
“That's been frustrating because I think that by and large there's maturity on the team, but our leadership, it's got to be better,” Sawvel said. “It can't be us coming in at halftime and getting changed. It can't be us coming in a lightning delay and getting changed. We've got to be able to change it while we're on the field. That was really frustrating.”
A week earlier against Northern Colorado, Wyoming trailed before a weather delay helped provide a reset and the Cowboys eventually rallied for a 21-13 victory.
Against Central Michigan, Sawvel didn't want another halftime speech or interruption to get his team going.
By the time Wyoming began showing signs of life Saturday, the hole was already too deep.
Central Michigan quarterback Angel Flores scored on runs of 25 and one yard in the second quarter as the Chippewas took a 17-0 lead into halftime. Erik Sandvik's 37-yard field goal put Wyoming on the board in the third quarter, but Brock Townsend answered with a 38-yard touchdown run to make it 24-3. Markell Holman's six-yard touchdown run with 14:56 remaining provided the final points.
Wyoming finished with 342 yards of offense compared with Central Michigan's 371, but CMU overwhelmed the Cowboys on the ground with 339 yards on 59 attempts.
Sawvel took responsibility.
“I take responsibility for every piece to it,” Sawvel said. “I'm in charge. I take responsibility to every piece to it. Like I said, it's shared. We made mistakes collectively.”
The mistakes weren't from any certain phase of the game.
Sawvel pointed to dropped passes, missed opportunities in the passing game, and Wyoming's inability to recover mentally when something went against the Cowboys. He also brought up Bart Edminston, Jr. kicking two balls out of bounds.
“We've got to be better at responding,” Sawvel said. “You've got some leadership, and those leaders have to lead. You also have a lot of youth in certain positions and they have to understand what it takes to fight back if something doesn't go right.”
Sawvel said Wyoming can't allow its mental state to be dictated by whether the first few possessions go its way.
“Had we come out, kicked off and got a three and out and scored, we'd probably been a completely different game just from our own mental psyche, and it can't be that way,” Sawvel said. “We've got to work through that, and I'm frustrated with that.”
There were opportunities.
“We dropped too many balls today, and some were big plays,” Sawvel said. “Some are plays that you look at and go, okay, if you're going to win the game, you've got to make this play.”
Tight end Kyle Frendt was one of Wyoming's offensive bright spots, catching four of his targets for 95 yards, including a 39-yard reception. Tyler Hughes completed 14 of 30 passes for 173 yards but was intercepted twice. Hughes also led Wyoming on the ground with 78 yards on 10 carries.
Both interceptions came at costly times.
“The first interception, really disappointing 'cause the back's wide open in the flat and that's another first down,” Sawvel said. “Then the second interception, they fall off in a goal line coverage and we throw the ball, it's a misread. And we've got to be better in those situations.”
The defensive frustration may have been even greater.
Central Michigan entered the game with an offense built heavily around its running game, and Wyoming knew what was coming. It still couldn't consistently stop it.
Flores rushed 28 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Jayden Clerveaux added 81 yards on 12 carries, Vaughn Blue finished with 55 on 15 attempts and Townsend gained 41 yards on two carries.
“We knew what we were getting,” Sawvel said. “It wasn't like they did something that we didn't see or anything like that. But there was a kind of a faith or confidence that we would hold up and prevent leaky yardage on some things. We allowed too much leaky yardage to where things got to second and twos and threes and all that.”
Sawvel also put responsibility on the coaching staff.
“There's obviously some things there defensively that we have to be a lot better at and schematically a lot better with,” Sawvel said. “That’s a coaching thing. We've got to improve that piece to it.”
The Cowboys were without linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz, and Sawvel said his absence was noticeable against the run.
“Not having Ethan Stuhlsatz really showed for us today in a lot of plays,” Sawvel said. “That's not an excuse, but when you take out a good player, sometimes it magnifies and we needed him in certain areas, running alleys, doing some things that way. That was a big loss for us.”
Sawvel's frustration points to several areas.
“I'm disappointed in our whole thing offensively right now because we've been so inconsistent,” Sawvel said. “We've been so spotty. That's not a knock on Coach Taylor. It's not a knock on anything else that way, but we have been too much of our own worst enemy far too often.”
For a team that spent the offseason trying to reshape an offense that struggled in 2025, the lack of production has become another source of frustration.
“I'm really disappointed in our production right now,” Sawvel said. “I've got faith in our players. That's not the issue there. But I think there's a lot of things that we've got to improve, and we’ve got to take ownership of that all the way through: coaches, players all the way through.”
Then Sawvel put a name to what may be Wyoming's biggest problem through three games.
“I don't want to say it's a confidence problem,” Sawvel said. “I think there's a resilience issue to us right now a little bit when things don't go right.”
Wyoming didn't quit. The Cowboys outscored Central Michigan 10-7 after halftime and shut the Chippewas out in the fourth quarter.
But once again, Wyoming didn't produce the response its coach wanted until after falling behind.
“This sucks, but we've got to do a better job in the moment when things don't go right of collectively fighting back,” Sawvel said. “I think there's positives that we can draw in certain ways, but there's a lot of negative that we have to overcome.”
“Okay, so what?” Sawvel said. “You flush it, and you move on, and we've got to go to the next series, and we've got to play that series really well. We didn't do that enough.”
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