LARAMIE – Craig Bohl picked up the phone on Saturday night for a one-sided conversation with his successor.
 
"He said, 'I'm going to talk to you for about 20 minutes, just listen,'" Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said during his Monday press conference.
 
Bohl, UW's head coach from 2014-23, wanted to provide Sawvel with some perspective on the 2-8 start to his tenure leading the program.
 
Sawvel said there was a lot of great advice from Bohl that he might reveal down the road. He shared this from the pep talk"
 
"(Bohl) relayed different things to me about the fact that he had two 10-win seasons back-to-back at North Dakota State and everybody just felt like this is what's supposed to happen. Then they had a 3-8 season and there was like a recenter that had to happen after that. Then they won three straight national championships."
 
There is no way to sugarcoat this season. It has been a disappointment for Sawvel, his staff, the players and most obviously the loyal fan base.
 
But there are several reasons why UW has struggled after winning nine games during Bohl's final campaign.
 
The Pokes were without running back Harrison Waylee and tight end John Gyllenborg to start the season. Then additional injuries started to pile up on the offensive line, running back, defensive line and secondary as UW faced a grueling schedule that included Big 12 contenders Arizona State (8-2) and BYU (9-1).
 
After a 1-7 start, which included losing one-possession games to Idaho (17-13), San Diego State (27-24) and Utah State (27-25), Sawvel decided to make a change at quarterback by replacing Evan Svoboda with Kayden Anderson.
 
UW won a 49-45 shootout at New Mexico in Anderson's debut as the starter, but the offense was unable to take advantage of its opportunities during last Friday's bitter 24-10 loss at Colorado State.
 
"Look, there's a lot of things that go into this," Sawvel said. "We have not established momentum in our season because of losing close games at home. I think that's a big piece of it (against CSU). We played a team that had momentum going in their season and we were a team that didn't have momentum going in our season.
 
"We didn't bring the energy we needed to bring to that game to reestablish it in that game. That was frustrating from that standpoint."
 
Now the Cowboys host No. 13 Boise State in the home finale on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium (5 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
 
The Broncos (9-1, 6-0 Mountain West) are ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and are in position to earn the Group of 5 berth in the College Football Playoff if they win out.
 
Boise State's star running back, Ashton Jeanty, is in contention for the Heisman Trophy and leads the FBS in rushing with 1,893 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and 26 touchdowns. UW will likely be without both of its starting defensive ends, Sabastian Harsh and Braden Siders, while defensive end DeVonne Harris and safeties Wyett Ekeler and Isaac White continue to play through injuries.
 
"This is probably the best Mountain West team that I've seen in the five years that I've been in this conference coming here this week," Sawvel said. "So, it's a big challenge when you're playing a team that right now is on track to play in the playoff."
 
After getting hired, Sawvel talked about finishing the final leg of the MW championship race for Bohl, whose 2016 team defeated Boise State and hosted the conference title game where the Cowboys fell just short against San Diego State.
 
This season the Pokes are playing the role of spoiler.
 
"My first evaluation is it's unacceptable," Sawvel said of his first season as head coach. "We're starting to find more and more of our identity and that's been a search."
 
Sawvel believes the team has found a quarterback to build around in Anderson. He expects a list of talented players – including Waylee, Gyllenborg and wide receivers Jaylen Sargent, Isaiah Stevenson, Tyler King and Chris Durr Jr. – to return.
 
One byproduct of all the injuries on the offensive and defensive lines is that a lot of young players will have accrued meaningful snaps that will bolster the depth and experience of those critical units in 2025.
 
Sawvel's focus during the current recruiting cycle, using traditional high school signees and transfer portal acquisitions, will be to address depth issues at certain positions that proved costly this season.
 
"Sometimes good programs step in holes and you've got to get your way out of it," Sawvel said. "That's where we are. We've stepped in a hole, a big-ass hole, and we've got to get our way out of it. I know a lot of the things we've got to do to get our way out of it. But we've got to fight our way out of it, and we need to play well this week for our seniors that are going out.
 
"We need to play well this week because it's a home game and it's a big-time opponent coming in here that we have a tremendous amount of respect for. We have a big admiration for what they've done this year, and we have a big opportunity to compete against them this week."
 
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