Copyright San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego State and Wyoming are both coming off big shutout rivalry wins as they come into Saturday’s Mountain West game. SDSU beat Fresno State 23-0 to retain The Old Oil Can trophy a couple hours before Wyoming defeated Colorado State 28-0 in the Border War to get back the Bronze Boot trophy. While intent on avoiding a letdown, neither team is building this game up the way they did last week’s opponents. “Things get different when you talk about a team that’s 60 miles down the road,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said. “It’s a rivalry game that everybody’s going to talk about, (especially) when you’ve lost that game from the year before. … I don’t know that’s going to be a thing this week. We’re not bordering with them. We’re not going to keep playing them from what I understand.” SDSU is headed to the reconstituted Pac-12 next year, while Wyoming remains in the Mountain West. There are no plans to continue a series that stood 19-19 before the Aztecs’ 27-24 win last year in Laramie. Host SDSU (6-1, 3-0 MW) is a 10 1/2-point favorite against Wyoming (4-4, 2-2) in this game: About the Cowboys Sawvel was promoted from defensive coordinator last year after coach Craig Bohl retired. The Cowboys struggled for the better part of two decades before Bohl guided them to six bowl appearances over a 10-year span as head coach. That’s quite an act to follow for Sawvel in his first opportunity as a head coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest and Minnesota before coming to Laramie. The Cowboys finished 3-9 overall and 2-5 in conference play last season — the exact same records as SDSU. Like the Aztecs, Wyoming has already surpassed last year’s victory total. This season has been marked by ups and downs. The Cowboys beat Akron and Northern Iowa to open the year before three straight losses against Utah, Colorado and UNLV. A win over San Jose State, a loss to Air Force and the win over Colorado State followed. Wyoming still needs to find two more wins over its last four games (against SDSU, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii) to be bowl eligible. The offense The Cowboys have one of the nation’s least productive scoring offenses, averaging 21 points a game (111th nationally). Their struggles stem from red-zone issues: Wyoming has scored on only 79% of its trips inside the 20-yard line, a figure that ranks 103rd nationally. Sawvel was encouraged by a 28-point effort against Colorado State, though the Cowboys did not score over the game’s final 24 minutes. “We put a little more stress on defenses than what we had before,” said Sawvel, noting run plays with backup quarterback Landon Sims and different looks in the red zone. Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson (146-for-245, 1,634 yards, 11 TD/6 INTs) is averaging 204 passing yards per game. Anderon’s go-to option is junior wide receiver Chris Durr (37 catches, 398 yards, 4 TDs), who has more than twice as many receptions as anyone else on the team. Half of the receptions by graduate wide receiver Michael Fitzgerald (6-100, 3 TD) have gone for touchdowns. Wyoming’s running backs room is deep, with freshman Samuel “Tote” Harris (76 carries, 430 yards, TD), senior Sam Scott (68-346, 2 TD) and junior Terron Kellman (50-302, 4 TD) sharing the load. The defense Wyoming’s defense, allowing 19.8 points a game (32nd nationally), is responsible for making the Cowboys a .500 team. The D has limited opponents to 183.8 passing yards a game (27th) while allowing 159 yards a game (91st) against the run. Keeping Colorado State off the scoreboard was especially gratifying. With the game in hand, Wyoming was playing its reserves late in the fourth quarter when the Rams reached the red zone before turning the ball over on downs. Cowboys starters were coaching up their teammates during the two-minute timeout and Colorado State facing fourth-and-4 from the 5. The reserves returned to the field and drove the Rams backward for a 5-yard loss. “That was a must thing for them to get that shutout,” Sawvel said. “We’re doing a pretty good job in a number of areas to make people work to create drives. … We’re going to have a big challenge with that this week.” Linebackers Brayden Johnson and Evan Eller are the team’s top two tacklers, with 48 and 46, respectively. Johnson also has two interceptions, sharing the team lead with safety Desman Hearns. Nose tackle Ben Florentine has been the team’s best pass rusher, collecting a team-high five sacks. Did you know? Ten of the past 16 games between SDSU and Wyoming have been decided by five points or less, and the past four get-togethers have been decided by a total of 11 points. San Diego State (6-1, 3-0) vs. Wyoming (4-4, 2-2) When: 4 p.m. Saturday Where: Snapdragon Stadium TV: CBS Sports Network
