BREAKING: Jay Johnson Out as Offensive Coordinator at Wyoming

LARAMIE -- Jay Johnson is no longer the offensive coordinator at Wyoming.

Less than 24 hours after dropping a 24-21 contest at Air Force, a game in which the offense committed two turnovers, including an interception near the goal line with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, head coach Jay Sawvel made the decision to strip play-calling duties and demote his second-year assistant.

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Wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight will now take the reins of this much-maligned Cowboys' offense, which currently ranks 92nd in the country, averaging just 357.7 yards per game. He will continue to coach from the sideline, Sawvel added.

Johnson will remain on the staff, serving as an offensive analyst. His contract is set to expire on Feb. 28, per Alex Taylor of WyoSports.

"I felt like, at this time, we needed to do something to give ourselves a jolt, offensively, to put a new air or energy to certain things on offense," Sawvel said Monday during his weekly press conference. "Coach Bouknight is really well respected by our players ... He's going to work to provide that type of jolt.

"You know, a change of voice can help, and we were in a spot right now where that was needed."

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Bouknight, 42, a Hall of Fame receiver at the school, was hired as an offensive analyst and assistant wide receivers coach in 2024. He replaced Mike Grant last offseason.

During his time as the co-offensive coordinator at Utah State back in 2016, Bouknight was in charge of third downs and all red-zone opportunities. He had the same task at Kentucky from 2020-21.

The Denver native has also made stops at Oregon, Texas Tech and, most recently, Marshall.

Entering last Saturday's contest in Colorado Springs, Air Force featured statistically the worst defense in the FBS, allowing 40 points and 500 yards per game. Wyoming, on nine offensive possessions, found the end zone just three times, including a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kaden Anderson to Michael Fitzgerald with just 1:02 remaining in regulation.

In other words, it was too little, too late.

Three other opponents on the schedule -- UNLV, San Jose State and Akron -- also rank in the 100's in scoring defense out of 134 eligible programs. Wyoming's offense managed just six touchdowns in those meetings.

Anderson has struggled to find his footing during his first year as the Cowboys' full-time starter under center, averaging only 216 yards through the air an outing. He also has six interceptions, including a costly one late in the fourth quarter of that loss to the Falcons. The sophomore signal caller has also lost three fumbles.

"We haven't scored enough points," Sawvel said bluntly. "That was something that I had to take a hard look at. I look at these scenarios, you know, as a head coach, there's been five games that we've lost here the last two years by four points or less -- and these aren't 38-35 games. So that was where, I felt like to some degree, our talent this year offensively was out-matching our production.

"This year, I could look at it and say that our production hasn't matched what the expectation and the talent level is. So, we made that adjustment and we'll go forward from there."

Bouknight's debut will come this Saturday against Border War rival Colorado State. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

-PRESS PASS: Roaming The War