LARAMIE – Jay Sawvel wants to see a more efficient offense and a dominant defense as Wyoming closes out the regular season.
 
The Cowboys (4-5 overall, 2-3 Mountain West) did some self-reflection last week and are now focused on facing Fresno State on Saturday at Bulldog Stadium (8:30 p.m., FS1).
 
Jovon Bouknight, who took over as offensive coordinator before the 28-0 win over Colorado State, is looking to shore up the red zone and short yardage issues.
 
UW has scored touchdowns on only 12 of 22 (57.14%) drives inside the opponents' 20-yard line, which ranks 93^rd in the FBS. The Pokes are 91^st in third-down conversions and 76^th in fourth-down conversions.
 
"I think the open date helped us in a lot of ways offensively," Sawvel said at his Monday press conference. "(Bouknight) has been very good. I've been pleased with where we are offensively with him right now. I've spent a lot of time with them, especially the last couple days in terms of their game planning. I think that whole staff is working well together, which is always a big key to it."
 
The other area the offense needs to improve dramatically is turnover margin. Kaden Anderson threw three interceptions, and Michael Fitzgerald II lost a fumble during the 24-7 loss at San Diego State.
 
The Bulldogs (6-3, 3-2) are +9 in turnover margin in their three conference wins and -4 in their two losses. During Fresno State's eye-opening 30-7 victory at Boise State the defense came up with two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
 
"We have 12 (turnovers) in Mountain West games," Sawvel said. "If you single out one thing right away to start this game, it's the fact that we've got to win turnover margin. We've got to take care of the ball; we've got to make great decisions with the ball."
 
Anderson remains UW's starting quarterback. Landon Sims threw a touchdown pass to Sam Scott against the Aztecs but suffered a season-ending knee injury that will require surgery on Tuesday.
 
True freshman Mason Drube and redshirt sophomore Gage Brook are competing to be Anderson's backup.
 
"This will be a week that determines a lot of things in terms of where (Drube) is at," Sawvel said of the touted recruit from Gillette. "We all in the program have a lot of confidence in Mason. There's no question about it. He's very talented and he's a very good player. I thought he had a good week last week and I think this is a good week to show you can execute the offense."
 
Fresno State is allowing 21.8 points (43rd in the FBS) and only 300.9 yards (15^th) per game.
 
Tight end John Michael Gyllenborg is as healthy as he has been since fall camp started, which will help Bouknight's game plan. More importantly, the 2024 UW Athletics Hall of Fame inductee is looking for better effort from his offense.
 
"We've got to get better. What San Diego State did is they played with a different intensity than we did," Bouknight said. "Schematically there were some things open, and we had opportunities and didn't execute. Again, I think our intensity was not matched and they outplayed us."
 
UW ranks 30^th in the FBS in points allowed (20.2 ppg) and 50^th in yards allowed (348.0). Defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl said he wants his unit to take the step from being a good defense to becoming a dominant defense.
 
Defensive tackle Jayden Williams and cornerback Dainsus Miller return to the lineup after missing the SDSU trip. Middle linebacker Evan Eller is ready to play after getting hurt against the Aztecs.
 
Rayshon Luke rushed for 88 yards and Bryson Donelson, Brandon Ramirez and Elijah Gilliam each ran for a touchdown as the Bulldogs piled up 189 yards on the ground at Boise State.
 
Quarterback Carson Conklin was 10-for-21 passing for 35 yards but did not turn the ball over. Fresno State's starter, E.J. Warner, was benched after seven games after passing for 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
 
"We've got to dominate the run game," Sawvel said of his defense. "I think that's one of the things that when you look at it we've played some pretty good teams running the ball with Utah and Air Force, but we can be more dominant in the run game. That's some things up front we can continue to improve at. That's first and foremost.
 
"That will be a big challenge for us this week because when you look at Fresno offensively their running backs are the key to their offense. Being able to play well in that space will be critical."
 
Fresno State leads the series 9-6, but the Cowboys won the previous meeting 24-19 in 2023 at War Memorial Stadium. UW's last road win was a 44-17 victory in 2014 at Bulldog Stadium.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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