Just How Bad Has This Wyoming Offense Been Through Three Games?

LARAMIE -- Jay Sawvel said during the offseason he and his staff would identify the team's Top-10 offensive players.

Those guys, Wyoming's rookie head coach added, will get the lion's share of the workload.

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We now know who the first two names are on that list: running back Harrison Waylee and tight end John Micheal Gyllenborg. The latter is the only one to see the field so far this fall. He's played a grand total of eight snaps and has zero targets.

Waylee underwent knee surgery in late August. His return to the lineup isn't "imminent."

Has the loss of those two impacted this Cowboy offense that much? Sawvel thinks so. The defenses this team has faced through three weeks hasn't been too helpful, either.

"I'll be honest, too, you're standing on the sideline and you look out there and see that (BYU) defense, I mean, there's some ass up there," Sawvel said last Saturday night, moments after a 34-14 home loss to the Cougars. "You know, when you're looking at that front, and you're looking at the way that the secondary looks and how the linebackers look, it's not a bad looking club. I stood out there on that sideline at Arizona State and there's ass at all levels. I mean, they look good. It's not a bad team.

"So, we have to get better, but I'm also not going to just trash our whole organization because we've lost to a couple people that, you know, we need to play perfect to beat."

Just how bad has Wyoming's offense been so far under the leadership of coordinator Jay Johnson?

* Total offense: 201.7 yards per game (132nd out of 133 FBS teams)

* Scoring: 11.3 points per game (131st)

* Passing offense: 114.7 yards per game (128th)

* Rushing offense: 87 yards per game (120th)

* Sacks allowed: 8 (112th)

* Third-down conversions: 16-of-46 (99th)

* Completion percentage: 34-of-77 (131st)

* Passing yards per completion: 10.1 yards per catch (108th)

* Time of possession: 26 minutes (118th)

* Turnovers lost: 5 (109th)

If there's one bright spot with this unit it's in the red-zone category. Wyoming is perfect -- four touchdowns, one field goal -- inside its opponents' 20-yard line. Only five trips in three outings, though, paints its own picture.

What has gone wrong? That question was posed Monday to a number of players and coaches.

"We've got to go out and make plays," said Shannon Moore, the team's tight ends coach. "... If I have to go block my guy, I better block my guy in the run game. If it's my opportunity to catch a ball, I better go catch a ball. Everybody's got to do their part. All 11 guys have to do their part, and that's just part of it. That's why football, I think, is the ultimate team sport. It takes all 11 guys to do it. When our number is called, no matter what it is -- a run play, a pass play, pass protection -- we have to go win that play and win that battle against our defender.

"We just need to do our job. If we do our job at a high level, and 11 guys do that, then we're going to be all right."

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So far, that hasn't been the case.

In last Saturday's loss to rival BYU in front of a capacity crowd inside War Memorial Stadium, Wyoming amassed just 77 yards on the ground. Starting running back DJ Jones finished with just 17 yards on 14 carries.

How does that happen?

"Getting a run game established at the University of Wyoming is a critical, critical thing," Sawvel said. "Right now, we've not done that to the level of what we need to. Now we've also had, you know, you can go back (and look at) the number of tackles that we have broken. That has not been where it needs to be. So there's a shared responsibility all the way around that we have to improve at. And part of it is, we're not, finishing enough plays, either with the run or with the block, at times."

Evan Svoboda has drawn a brunt of the criticism for the Cowboys' offensive struggles. Warranted? In some cases, yes. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior has been off target and, according to his head coach, has missed reads downfield. He hasn't looked comfortable in the pocket and has been unable to extend plays with his feet.

Here are his numbers through three weeks:

* Passing yards per game: 102.7 (120th)

* Completion percentage: 30-of-70 (116th)

* Passing efficiency: 75.96 (117th - dead last)

* Passing yards: 308 (128th)

* Yards per pass attempt: 4.4 (116th)

Sawvel again last weekend gave a vote of confidence to his signal caller, despite the numbers above. He said he won't "cut the tree down" after just three games, two against Big-XII opponents.

TK King believes in the guy under center, too.

"I really think it just comes down to not only just Evan finding us and seeing the right guys that are open, but I feel like it comes down to him having time, as well," said the sophomore wideout, who snagged three passes for 52 yards against BYU. "All of it comes down to being able to execute the play. All 11, we all have a certain job to do here and we all have to execute.

"So, it's not just on the quarterback or on the O-line -- it's on everybody."

Gyllenborg said Monday he expects to get more reps in Denton as the Cowboys travel to the Lone Star State to take on North Texas. That team allowed 66 points in a lopsided road loss last Saturday in Lubbock. It also features one of the worst pass defenses in the nation, allowing more than 322 yards per game through the air.

What does that tell the junior? Not much.

Wyoming is simply focused on improvement, he said.

"I think it's a tough question to answer, because, you know, obviously things haven't gone good, so everyone's trying to look for answers," Gyllenborg said. "Maybe fans are trying to point fingers, but we know in the building that there's no finger pointing. We all know, as individuals -- whether you're a starter or backup -- we just got to keep working, keep putting in that effort every week, every day, and just keep focusing on, what do we got right now? Who's our opponent this week? What can we do? What's the best thing? What can I do to play my best on Saturday? To be best prepared?

"... I know that everyone else is going to have the same mentality."

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players