Know Wyoming’s Foe: San Jose State Spartans

* A University of Wyoming press release contributed to this story

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowboys hit the road for the first time in conference play with a trip to the Bay Area to take on San Jose State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. MT inside CEFCU Stadium.

It will mark the first road contest for Wyoming in nearly a month of action.

Get our free mobile app

The contest will be streamed on the Mountain West Network and is also available on the MW App. The game will be televised locally by NBC Sports Bay Area with Larry Beil on the call and David Fales, who was briefly a quarterback at Wyoming in 2011, analyzing the action with Lindsay Pallares on the sidelines.

The game will also be available on the 26 stations of The Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call, Kevin McKinney on color and Erick Pauley on the sidelines.

Harsh in the Backfield: Defensive end Sabastian Harsh was all over the backfield for the Cowboys against San Diego State. He recorded a career-high four tackles for loss. The four tackles for loss tied a school record done seven times with the last coming from Youhanna Ghaifan against Texas State in 2017. It also tied for the most by a MW player this season and tied for the second most by a player in the nation this season. He leads Wyoming with eight tackles for loss this season. That number ranks second in the MW and No. 22 in the nation.

Offense Gets Going Again: The Cowboys offense once again recorded a season-high on Saturday. After recording a season-best against Air Force Wyoming rushed for a season-high 190 yards and passed for 191 yards for 381 yards of total offense. UW also ran a season best 72 total plays in the game against SDSU. Wyoming had 361 yards in the win over Air Force.

Svoboda Makes Plays with Arm and Legs: Quarterback Evan Svoboda threw for a career-high 191 yards against SDSU. He threw a season long 70-yard strike for a touchdown for the longest pass of the season. He also recorded a 51-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter for the longest run by a Cowboy this season.

Sargent Scores First Touchdown: Wide receiver Jaylen Sargent recorded a 70-yard touchdown reception against SDSU. It was the first of his career and the longest reception of his career. He added two catches, tying a career-high and recorded a career-high 84 yards receiving in the contest. The 70-yard strike was the longest since John Michael Gyllenborg had a 89 yard reception against Hawai’i last season in Laramie.

Defense In the Backfield: Wyoming’s defense was in the backfield all night against SDSU. Wyoming tied a season-high with 10 tackles for loss in the contest. UW had nine tackles for loss against Idaho earlier this season. UW has 36 this season averaging 6.0 per game for the season. Harsh led the team with four and Dante Drake recorded 1.5 for a career-high along with linebacker Shae Suiaunoa.

Another Strong Third Quarter: The cowboy defense had another strong third quarter. UW allowed only 21 yards of total offense in the quarter. UW allowed only 21 yards to Air Force in the third quarter the previous game.

Rushing Defense Stands Out: The Cowboy defense was solid against one of the nation’s top backs against SDSU. Marquez Cooper averaged nearly 116 yards per game but was held to 87 yards on 27 carries. UW allowed only 102 yards on the ground for a season low.

The Veterans on the Defensive Line: The Wyoming defensive line has a great mix of both veterans and newcomers. The group of defensive ends Sabastian Harsh, Braden Siders, DeVonne Harris, Tyce Westland, along with nose tackle Jordan Bertagnole, have combined for 89.5 tackles for loss in their careers. Bertagnole leads the group with 24.5 with Siders adding 22 in his career. Harris has recorded 19 in the Brown and Gold with Harsh having 17. Westland, who missed the San Diego State game with an undisclosed injury, has recorded seven in his young career.

Drake Has Career Day: Defensive tackle Dante Drake had a career day for the Cowboys against SDSU. He recorded a career-high five tackles in the contest. He also recorded a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss for the Cowboys. He has eight tackles on the season with 3.5 of those tackles coming for a loss.

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS VIA 7220SPORTS:

* Midterm Report: Wyoming's offense at the halfway point

* Wyoming Football: News and notes ahead of San Jose State

* Pokes can't hang on late, fall to visiting Aztecs, 27-24

* Turning point, unsung hero and what's next for UW Football

* LIVE FILE: Wyoming vs. San Diego State

* Rants and Raves: SDSU Edition

* Injuries, for the first time, hampering Wyoming's Isaac White

* Jay Sawvel on Chris Durr Jr: 'We need to get him the ball'

J-Mike is a Target for UW: Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg grabbed four catches for 48 yards to lead the Pokes against SDSU. He has four or more catches in the last three games. He leads the Pokes this season with 13 catches for 174 yards averaging 43.5 yards receiving per game.

Another Big Day for Scott: Running back Sam Scott had another strong day rushing the football against SDSU. He recorded 94 yards on the ground after recording 97 yards against Air Force. He leads the team in rushing this season with 274 yards averaging 45.7 yards per game.

Thumbs Up: Safety Andrew Johnson, who is playing with a broken thumb added six tackles for Wyoming against SDSU. He has five or more tackles in three of his last four games. The six tackles were a season best and career best. He has 26 tackles on the season to rank fifth on the team.

Big Game for Shae: Linebacker Shae Suiaunoa recorded 10 tackles against SDSU missing most of the second half in concussion protocol. He has recorded double-digit tackles in back-to-back games for Wyoming and has 23 over his last two games. He also added 1.5 tackles for loss in the game and has 4.5 tackles for loss in his last two contests.

Interior Youngsters Have Day: With veteran Ben Florentine out with an injury, the interior defensive line rotation was young. But the group of Dante Drake, Jaden Williams and Jayden Williams added 11 tackles on the night for the Cowboys. The Williams added three tackles each in the contest with Drake adding a career-high five tackles.

Another Solid Day: Punter Jack Culbreath had another solid day punting the football. He recorded seven punts averaging 42.4 yards per punt. He had three kicks inside the 20-yard line and a long of 57 yards. For the season, Culbreath is averaging 42.7 yards per punt with 11 inside the 20-yard line and eight punts of 50 yards or more.

Cowboy Injuries: The Cowboys have been on the end of bad luck this season with injuries. The Pokes have 12 players from the first depth chart and 15 players with Harrison Waylee and Daiwaiian McNeely that have been injured this season. That group has missed a combined 41 games. Weak-side linebacker Connor Shay and offensive guard Alex Conn, according to Sawvel, will likely miss the game at San Jose State.

Third Down Defense: The Cowboys held BYU to 2-of-11 on third down for the night and held North Texas to 4-of-14 on third down and AFA to 4-of-12 and SDSU to 3-of-13. Over the last five games, Wyoming is holding opponents to 14-of-63 for 22 percent. UW ranks first in the MW and eighth in the nation holding teams to 28.6 percent on third downs.

About the Spartans: The Spartans (4-2 overall, 2-1 Mountain West), coming off a 31-24 loss at Colorado State, are 3-0 at home this season, including a thrilling 35-31 victory over Nevada on Oct. 5 inside CEFCU Stadium.

"We play a really good team this Saturday, a 4-2 team that's two one-possession games away from being undefeated," Sawvel said on Monday. "Coach Ken (Niumatalolo) is a very good coach. He does a lot of great things in the programs that he's been in. He has done a really good job there."

SJSU has been using a two-quarterback system over the previous two outings. Sophomore starter Emmett Brown has completed 59% of his passes this season for 1,551 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions while junior Walker Eget has completed 71.1% of his passes for 397 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

"They throw the ball downfield," Sawvel added. "I mean, it's a downfield passing team. They average 331 yards a game passing the football, so it's a major challenge, in that regard."

The Spartans have a Biletnikoff Award candidate in quarterback-turned-wide receiver Nick Nash, who leads the Mountain West with 62 receptions for 806 yards and 10 touchdowns. During SJSU’s 27-21 win over Wyoming in 2021, Nash started at QB and finished with 150 yards passing and a touchdown and added 112 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

"That is kind of obscene in six games," Sawvel said, regarding Nash's number of catches, which he leads the nation at 10.3 per outing. "He has 10 touchdowns. So, he's an excellent player, great at the reception point, a big body, an experienced player and a really good athlete."

Defensively, junior linebacker Jordan Pollard leads the MW with 60 tackles and junior defensive back DJ Harvey returned a fumble for an 85-yard touchdown and also had an interception, a sack and seven tackles against the Rams.

The Cowboys lead the all-time series 7-6 but are looking to stop a two-game losing streak to the Spartans. UW’s last win in San Jose was a 45-22 romp in 1996 on the way to a 10-2 overall finish. The first meeting between the programs was in 1959 when Bob Devaney’s Pokes prevailed 28-7 in San Jose.

Meet the Spartans:

* Head coach: Ken Niumatalolo (1st year) 4-2 overall record, 2-1 in Mountain West play

* Offensive coordinator: Craig Stutzmann (1st year); Defensive coordinator: Derrick Odum (8th season)

* Record in 2023: 7-6 overall, 6-2 in Mountain West Conference

* Offense in 2024: Average 33.5 ppg, 416 ypg (84.3 rush, 331.7 pass)

* Defense in 2024: Allow 26.2 ppg, 373.8 ypg (166.2 rush, 207.7 pass)

* Key Players - Offense: Emmett Brown (QB - 118-200, 1,551 yds, 16 TD, 4 INT; 24 rush, -21 yds, TD), Walker Eget (QB - 32-45, 397 yds, INT; 4 rush, 19 yds), Floyd Chalk IV (RB - 71 rush, 334 yds, 7 TD; 4 catch, 27 yds), Jabari Bates (RB - 39 rush, 176 yds), Nick Nash (WR - 62 catch, 806 yds, 10 TD), Justin Lockhart (WR - 25 catch, 403 yds, 3 TD), TreyShun Hurry (WR - 13 catch, 205 yds, TD), Jackson Canaan (TE - 13 catch, 160 yds, TD), Jacob Stewart (TE - 16 catch, 136 yds, 2 TD)

* Key Players - Defense: Jordan Pollard (LB - 60 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 PBU, INT), Robert Rahimi (S - 38 tackles, sack, PBU, 2 INT), Jordan Cobbs (LB - 31 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT), Taniela Latu (LB - 29 tackles, PBU), Isiah Revis (DB - 28 tackles, 3 PBU), Ethan Powell (LB - 27 tackles, 2 PBU, INT), DJ Harvey (DB -26 tackles, sack, 3 PBU, 2 INT, FR, TD)

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players