SAN DIEGO – Tegen Seeds was thrust into the spotlight on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
 
The redshirt freshman from Douglas was an integral part of a thin defensive tackle rotation along with Ben Florentine and Lucas Samsula.
 
Seeds blew up a gadget play out of a double swinging gate formation from San Diego State with an interception for Wyoming to keep hope alive for the visitors in what turned out to be a frustrating 24-7 loss.
 
"It was pretty cool to get my opportunity this week," Seeds said outside a somber visiting locker room after the Cowboys fell to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Mountain West. "It was a blessing to be able to go out there. They were like, 'Go do you' – and I did that. …
 
"It means a lot. I'm a very proud Wyoming kid that was able to make that play. I'm blessed. I have a great opportunity every week to go out and make the best of it."
 
UW's defense did its best to keep the team in the bruising game against the first-place Aztecs (7-1, 4-0), who will likely appear in the initial College Football Playoff rankings when they are revealed on Tuesday.
 
Linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz racked up 10 tackles, safety Jones Thomas added seven tackles and safety Justin Taylor came up with an interception in the end zone to lead the Cowboys.
 
However, SDSU turned two interceptions into 10 points and finally put the game away on Lucky Sutton's 50-yard touchdown run with 2:55 remaining.
 
"Football is a team sport," defensive end Brayden Wilson said. "The defense has to do their best, and the offense has to do their best. It all works into one. They scored 24 points. That's on the defense. That's not on the offense. So, the defense, we need to stop them more."
 
A week after the high of a 28-0 Border War win over Colorado State, quarterback Kaden Anderson and the Cowboy offense struggled for every yard against SDSU's suffocating defense.
 
Jovon Bouknight, in his second game as offensive coordinator, had an impressive script written for the opening drive.
 
Anderson threw a 23-yard dime to Michael Fitzgerald II and Landon Sims broke loose for a 37-yard run to move the Pokes down the field.
 
On third-and-goal, Sims completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Sam Scott, who broke a tackle to get into the end zone.
 
The rest of the night turned into a nightmare as Anderson threw three interceptions, Sims suffered a season-ending injury, Fitzgerald lost a fumble to end a promising drive, Erik Sandvik missed two long field goals and the Pokes' self-inflcted wounds squandered a red-zone opportunity in the fourth quarter with a chance to make it a one-score game.
 
"The defense played their butts off," tight end John Michael Gyllenborg said. "This was a big, big game. We all knew the repercussions surrounding it on this team. It's tough. It's tough, for sure. That's really all there is to say."
 
Sims led UW with 52 yards rushing and finishes his sophomore season 6-for-8 passing for 38 yards and a touchdown. Head coach Jay Sawvel was asked if true freshman Mason Drube would get an opportunity to see time at quarterback over the final three games of the regular season.
 
"We're going to look at a lot of things," Sawvel said. "We're not done looking at all the layers and levels of this program. Look, we've got three games to go, but the expectation is that we've got four games. We've got to be able to put ourselves in that spot (to go to a bowl), right? But in order to do it, still, you're going to have to play in a space where you make less mistakes than your opponent."
 
The Pokes have an open date to regroup before playing Fresno State on Nov. 15 at Bulldog Stadium.
 
"It's frustrating but our offense will get it down during the bye week and we'll keep rolling," Seeds said.
 
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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