Wyoming’s offensive woes take center stage in loss to Hawai’i

The writing was on the wall.

This season was a dud.

And this game further casted doubt as the Cowboys venture into the offseason.

One would have hoped that Wyoming could rally for one final time as a unit and put up a fight.

Jones Thomas’ 50-yard pick-six of Hawai’i quarterback Micah Alejado did just that.

But then the inevitability that is Wyoming’s absent offense erased any momentum that the interception created.

It was a rerun episode of a scene all-too-often watched this year.

I will give credit to the coaching staff for letting backup quarterback Mason Drube play a full game and letting him learn on the fly with 32 pass attempts and 11 carries.

That move at least gave a glimpse of what the quarterback position may hold in the future if someone from the transfer portal isn’t brought in to compete.

In all honesty, the running game disappearing was the biggest surprise, as the team collectively ran for 54 yards on 28 carries.

1.9 yards per carry.

That’s bad, folks.

No single runner tallied more than 17 yards.

Aaron Bohl’s defense did its best to keep Wyoming within arm’s reach, but the dam broke in the second quarter when the Rainbow Warriors scored 13 points in five minutes go up 20-7 at the break.

An early third quarter run by Cam Barfield sealed the deal for Hawai’i as they reached win number eight.

You could tell that there was some pent-up frustration as the Pokes became a bit testy as the game wore on, evidenced by a Cowboy getting roped up with a Rainbow Warrior for no particular reason.

It was the most fight shown all night.

There’s not a ton to say about Wyoming’s last game of 2025.

The offense stunk.

The defense played its heart out until all hope was out the window.

The sideline was lifeless.

The fact that this game wasn’t on linear television and had to be viewed either on Spectrum Sports or the Mountain West Network tells you all you need to know.

Punter Bart Edmiston was the “star” of the night, being called on seven times to punt for a total of 312 yards, including a long of 66 yards and two that landed inside the 20-yard line.

From a 10,000-foot view, this was an underwhelming season in Jay Sawvel’s second year. Back in the preseason, Vegas oddsmakers put the season win total at 5.5 wins.

With no bowl game to play in, they will finish 4-8.

There are bevy of topics that will need to be touched on this offseason, the most important being hiring a new offensive coordinator that can puzzle-piece a coherent offense together.

Jovon Bouknight had one solid game after taking over for Jay Johnson, but posted minimal results after the Border War.

Sawvel also mentioned the NIL aspect of where Wyoming currently stands.

He mentioned last week that in order to compete for a Mountain West title, “If we get up to around $2.5 million, we’ll win a whole bunch of games.”

In that same conversation, he highlighted how Boise State is “…north of $4 million” when it comes to NIL and that San Diego State is not operating via “nickels and dimes.”

With the offense, he has made no bones about how this offseason is critical for the growth of the program and how there needs to be a remodel between now and August of 2026.

Next year is a make-or-break type of season with four of the top seven teams in the final conference standings leaving for the Pac-12.

Even Colorado State, despite going 2-10, has positive momentum with the hiring of veteran head coach Jim Mora.

To replace the top half of the conference is Northern Illinois (3-9, 2-6 in the MAC) and UTEP (2-10, 1-7 in Conference USA).

With the makeup of the new Mountain West, it feels like this will be how it tiers out as of now:

TIER ONE

• UNLV (10-2, 6-2 in ‘25)

• New Mexico (9-3, 6-2)

• Hawai’i (8-4, 5-3)

TIER TWO

• Air Force (4-8, 3-5)

• Nevada (3-9, 2-6)

• Northern Illinois (3-9, 2-6)

TIER THREE

• San Jose State (3-9, 2-6)

• Wyoming (4-8, 2-6)

• UTEP (2-10, 1-7)

Throw in their non-conference slate of Colorado State, Northern Colorado, Central Michigan, and UConn, and this team needs to reach a bowl game.

If Wyoming truly does make the needed changes this offseason, there is no reason that they can’t beat anyone I listed in tiers two and three while being somewhat competitive against tier one.

The floor is 6-6.

Eight or more wins – now we are in business.

But in the event they finish below .500 for a third-straight year, I think it will be time to pull the plug on the Sawvel era.

We will look more into what that might mean as the offseason nears, but 2025 was certainly a step backwards for the Wyoming Cowboys.