COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Mountain West Conference issued a public reprimand to Wyoming football coach Jay Sawvel on Sunday in response to his public criticism of game officials following the Cowboys’ game against Utah State on Saturday.

Sawvel was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 27-25 loss for arguing a pass interference call against Wyett Ekeler. The combined 30 yards in penalties moved Utah State into position to score a touchdown.

Sawvel addressed the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during his postgame news conference.

“Yeah, I regret that,” he said, according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “I thought it was a pretty quick hair trigger, too. I don’t want to say a whole lot else about that stuff, because, to be honest, right now, I’d say I’m a horses— head coach, and I think we’ve had some horses— officiating.”

The Cowboys are 1-7 in Sawvel’s first season.

LARAMIE, Wyo. — In what may be become Wyoming’s most remembered conference game of the season, the Cowboys were forced to hand over the Bridger Rifle trophy to the Utah State Aggies after a 27-25 home loss. Six lead changes, back-and-forth quarterback switching and a call so controversial it warranted an official statement from the referee made this evening one the Pokes won’t soon forget.

Wide Receiver Tyler King was having a good game. He rushed for 79 yards, received for 52, ran a 21-yard kick return and ran a 54-yard touchdown constituting half of Wyoming’s touchdowns tonight. When he was on the field and had the ball in his hands, the Cowboys were getting downfield.

That was until he received the ball and an ensuing tackle that knocked him to the ground and made him fumble the ball, which Utah State took advantage of by running away with it. King was knocked to the ground and had to be assisted walking off the field. Cowboys fans were enraged because there was no call for targeting.

Following the game’s conclusion, Mountain West official Cal McNeill, lead ref in tonight’s contest, released a statement defending the lack of call.

“The play in question was reviewed for all elements of targeting and did not meet the requirements for rule 9-1-3. The offensive player was a runner, not a defenseless player,” McNeill said. “In that situation, in order for it to be targeting, it would have had to have been leading with the crown of the helmet.”

In his post game press conference, Wyoming Football Head Coach Jay Sawvel accepted the decision. Although, he added that it was not a positive force in momentum-building and did make a comment earlier in the conference suggesting that he didn’t think the officiating has been up to snuff.

“We got the ball deep in their territory,” Sawvel said. “We’re at least going to get something out of it, right? And flip—the ball is in our territory. If I remember right on that series, we stopped them in that situation but, still, we were in a position to get points.”

It’s circumstances like that that explain the disparity between touchdowns and total offensive yards: a ratio 2:470. Instead, the bulk of Wyoming’s points were field goals from kicker John Hoyland. Hoyland scored a total of 12 points for the Cowboys in the contest.

The other noticeable change in the Cowboy’s offense was the team’s new two-quarterback solution. Starting quarterback Evan Svoboda wasn’t performing to the caliber expected of him, but backup quarterback Kaden Anderson still has uncertainties surrounding his leadership and play-making. The solution? play them both.

In total, Anderson rushed for a gain of 33 yards. He passed for 182 yards and was 15-24 on attempts. Svoboda, meanwhile, passed for 12 yards and had an interception.

Whether this will continue to be the offensive strategy for the Pokes or whether one will usurp the other is something Sawvel did not make a definitive comment on.

“With the quarterbacks, it’s something that we have to go back, watch all the videos and see where we’re at with certain things,” Sawvel said.

Anderson spoke at tonight’s press conference as well. There, he dismissed the potential notion that he was at all discouraged by the new system, even in moments where he drives the ball close to the end-zone just to be switched out with Svoboda.

“I had a three-and-out there and coach said he’s gonna ride the hot hand. I did have a three-and-out in the second quarter,” Anderson said. “When he pulled me or whatever, I was fine. I love Evan. I feel like we support each other very well.”

Either way, Sawvel said he doesn’t think the offensive capitalized well on the opportunities they had in the second half and especially the third quarter where the defense held the Aggies to just nine yards.

“We won the third quarter six to nothing. With the way that we played the third quarter, both offensively and defensively, that should have been 10. It should have been 14. There could have been some separation in the game,” Sawvel said. “I think the fact that we didn’t win that quarter by a margin bigger than six to nothing, with the way that quarter went, there’s a big chunk of your reason why we lost.”

The Cowboys now move down to 1-7 for the season and 1-3 in conference-play. The team has just four more contests to go in the year, with only one being at home. That final home game is against 6-1 and nationally ranked conference powerhouse Boise State Nov. 23. Before that, the Cowboys will head to Albuquerque to play the New Mexico Lobos next week at 2 p.m.

For more information on the University of Wyoming Cowboy’s football team, including the team’s current roster and schedule, visit the university’s athletics webpage.

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