(Autumn McPherson Photo)
Senior running back Sam Scott was asked about his emotions after suffering a loss to Nevada in his last home game as a Cowboy. Scott paused for a good five seconds, the room completely silent as he contemplated the question.
“Devastated,” he eventually said. “Devastated is the word.”
There’s no other way to describe the Cowboys’ 13-7 loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack at a sold-out War Memorial Stadium. Not only was former quarterback Josh Allen in town to become the first player to have his jersey retired in program history, but it was also senior night for a group still battling for postseason qualification.
17 — Forever a Cowboy.
— Wyoming Athletics (@wyoathletics) November 22, 2025
The first @wyo_football jersey to be retired belongs to @JoshAllenQB. pic.twitter.com/YqYtmAmnh3
Under the circumstances, it was hard to feel like the Cowboys would lose this one to a 2-8 Wolf Pack team that had only just picked up its first win against a conference and FBS foe, thrashing San Jose State 55-10.
However, the game quickly devolved into a defensive slugfest, one the Cowboys slowly fell behind in.
And it was the same old, same old from the previous two losses the Cowboys suffered to extend their losing streak to three.
“We’re not scoring points, we’re not putting ourselves in position, we’re not creating much of anything,” a frustrated Jay Sawvel said postgame. “I’m not going to stand in front of everybody and say this is a personnel issue.
“We’ve been offensively challenged around here over a few-year period of time—but what we’ve done is taken a step back from that, and that’s what’s frustrating in this situation.”
The Cowboy offense just couldn’t get anything going—as has been the case ever since they dominantly defeated Colorado State 28-0 in their last home outing. Since then, they’ve scored just 17 points in their last three games.
“You should never lose a game 13-7 in today’s modern football,” Sawvel said. “It’s been frustrating. This is three straight games we scored in single digits and I felt good about the energy and the intent of our players.”
TWO. IN. A. ROW. #RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/A9Wl8NVOYT
— Nevada Football (@NevadaFootball) November 22, 2025
Regardless of the Cowboys’ ineptitude offensively, they still had a chance to win the game on their final offensive possession. The Cowboy offense had 2:22 with three timeouts to drive down the field from its own 18 after the defense forced a crucial punt.
Up to that final drive, the Cowboys offense had only produced an uninspiring 25 yards in the second half. Their only points came in the third quarter, courtesy of a Wolf Pack fumble on its own 21-yard line, followed by a pair of defensive penalties that established the Cowboys’ only points.
The Cowboys offense, however, suddenly found a spark in that dire moment. Quarterback Kaden Anderson led the Cowboys down the field, overcoming a near pick at midfield as well as a near touchdown being ruled incomplete. Freshman wideout Deion DeBlanc eventually converted a crucial fourth-and-3 in the red zone, downing the Cowboys at the one yard line with just over 10 seconds remaining in the game.
It was soon after that everything fell apart.
After spiking the ball to stop the clock on first down, Anderson proceeded to check a pass down to Scott in the backfield, who couldn’t escape the Wolf Pack defense and was swallowed up for a loss of four yards, with the clock still running. With no timeouts, Anderson and company rushed to the line and were able to get a play off in the nick of time—but nothing would come of it as Anderson’s pass intended for Michael Fitzgerald was swatted to the turf.
“The goal was to try and get three plays, and two of those as passes,” Sawvel said of the Cowboys’ playcalling at the goal line. “We did a poor job communication-wise on the second-down play.
“When it all broke down, [Anderson just had] to throw it out of the end zone and we didn’t do that. We kept the ball in play, guy gets tackled.”
While the entire contest culminated in those final few plays, it was a game full of tiny mistakes that ultimately cost the Cowboys.
In just one drive, the Wolf Pack converted a fake punt and the Cowboys were called for two straight penalties gifting Nevada 30 yards. To cap it all off, the Cowboys were later called for an offsides penalty on a Wolf Pack field goal attempt, which then allowed Nevada a fresh set of downs it converted into a touchdown.
Tack on a pair of missed field goals—which included a miss from 54 yards out—and you don’t exactly have a recipe for success.
“We went from a three-and-out to multiple penalties, them getting maybe like 30 [total] yards of offense on us on that whole drive,” senior linebacker Evan Eller said. “That’s just the type of stuff you look at and you got to take the next step on.”
The little things continue to haunt this Cowboys team, who move to 4-7 and are ineligible for a bowl for the second straight year. The reality of the loss fell especially hard on a senior group that Sawvel has praised all season long.
“Outside of my own kids or anything like that, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t trade in this world than to see that group of seniors have walked off that field today as a winner,” an emotional Sawvel said.
The Cowboys will close out their season next Saturday on the road at Hawaii, with kickoff set for 9 p.m.
