Wyoming Faces UNLV Special Teams Challenge in Las Vegas
Coach Jay Sawvel acknowledges punt coverage errors from last season while preparing for a rematch against UNLV.
By Amelia Gupta ·
The Wyoming Cowboys meet the UNLV Rebels on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The two teams are set to play at 8 p.m. inside Allegiant Stadium. The game will air on CBS Sports Network. Both squads enter the contest with identical 5-3 records. Wyoming holds a 4-1 mark in conference play, while UNLV stands at 3-1.
The matchup carries specific weight for the Cowboys' special teams unit. Last October, UNLV blocked two punts for touchdowns inside hail-covered War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. UNLV gunners Jaden Bradley and Kayden McGee both ran untouched around the edge to take the ball directly off the foot of Wyoming punter Bart Edmiston. The Rebels scored on both plays to secure a 31-17 victory.
Jay Sawvel, the head coach of the Cowboys, identified the slow operation as the primary cause of those failures. He noted that the direction of the spiraled snap put Edmiston directly in the path of the rush. The personal protectors barely moved, allowing the Rebels to breeze by for both rejections.
"Those two breakdowns, that's a big chunk of the game right there, you know?" Sawvel said during his weekly press conference last Monday. "So, we have to get better with it, and we have to address it."
UNLV special teams have remained active this season despite not blocking a punt in eight games. In a 31-24 win over Northern Illinois last Saturday, the Rebels successfully executed a fake punt on fourth down at their own 31-yard line. Safety Logan Christensen took the snap and gained seven yards. UNLV also faked a punt in a home victory against Cal.
Coach Dan Mullen of UNLV called for an onside kick at the start of the second half in that Cal game. A facemask penalty against Skylar Vann negated the attempt, resulting in a kick from the UNLV 20-yard line. Mullen credited special teams for the win in Laramie last year, stating that the unit won the game for them.
JB Hall, Wyoming's first-year cornerbacks coach, oversees the kicking game. He acknowledged the history between the two programs but emphasized the current consistency of his unit. Hall stated that his players have been sound and fundamentally executing the game plan to this point in the season.
