Evan Svoboda has been on the wrong end of a lot of football games this fall for the Wyoming Cowboys. He’s been booed off his home field, slandered on social media and was benched midway through the season for his rather lackluster performance as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback at the beginning of the season. The junior signal caller has also been practicing at tight end over the final few weeks of the season, which looks to be a permanent move for Svoboda next season if he is to return to the Cowboys.
However, in the Cowboys’ final regular season game of the year, Svoboda found himself starting in the backfield after Kaden Anderson, the Cowboys’ starting quarterback down the stretch, was out in concussion protocol. From the seems of it, this would be the last time Svoboda would be starting, or even playing under center for the Cowboys.
And he was keen on making the most of it.
On 4th down in the red zone with 24 seconds left in the contest, Svoboda would step up in the pocket and sling a pass to tight end John Michael-Gyllenborg, who would hang on for a touchdown that would give the Cowboys a one point lead.
TOUCHDOWN WYOMING!!!
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) December 1, 2024
EVAN SVOBODA WITH A DIME ON 4TH DOWN TO GIVE THE COWBOYS THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/gGSr7nz3l6
Just a few short plays later, Tyrecus Davis would pick off a desperate hail mary attempt by the Washington State Cougars’ John Mateer in the dying seconds of the contest to propel the Cowboys to a 15-14 win in Pullman, Washington over the Cougars.
Despite all the adversity, injuries and losses this season, the Cowboys banded together to win a game that absolutely nobody gave them any shot in to end the season. By all means, this team could have just rolled over and gave the Cougars their ninth win of the season. With the Cowboys sitting at a 2-9 record heading into this one with absolutely nothing to play for and nothing to spoil for the Cougars competing in a dismantled Pac-12 conference, nobody would have batted an eye if this game was yet another ugly loss for the Cowboys.
However the Cowboys, particularly the seniors on this squad, made sure this wasn’t going to happen.
Tyrecus Davis, playing in his final career game in the brown and gold, made huge plays for the Cowboys all night, including his game sealing pick. Davis also came up with a massive open field tackle on Mateer to stop the dual-threat quarterback from converting a 4th down in the fourth quarter that likely would have led to at least a field goal by the Cougars. Connor Shay, another senior, also came up with a huge sack on 3rd and short on the Cougars’ second to last drive that helped set up the game winning 90-yard scoring drive by Svoboda and the offense.
Davis and Shay were crucial pieces of this senior-ridden defensive group that held the Cougars to just 56 total yards of offense in the second half. Those two, along with senior linebacker Shae Suiaunoa all lead this Cowboy defense with seven tackles. The senior safety duo of Isaac White and Wyett Ekeler all followed behind those three to lead this defense in the box score.
The defensive prowess of the Cowboys in the second half is easily something to point to as a game-winning factor. However, nothing kept the Cowboys in the game more than the boot of senior kicker John Hoyland. The all-time leading scorer in Wyoming football history was 3/3 on field goals on the day, which was crucial down the stretch for the Cowboys to take their game-winning one point lead.
DOINK! IT'S GOOD!@wyo_football isn't going away 👀 pic.twitter.com/GHcv1GI1iD
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) December 1, 2024
Despite just how ugly things have gotten at times this year, the Cowboys have battled through what could have been a season devoid of any wins and have never stopped playing for each other and their coach. By all means, they were “Cowboy tough” tonight.
And absolutely nobody embodies the term “Cowboy tough” more than Evan Svoboda, who will hopefully be involved in many more game winning drives a year from now at the tight end position for the Cowboys.
