From being one of the leaders at Red Mountain High School to helping Wyoming win the 2023 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl and now earning the starting quarterback job for the Cowboys, Mesa native Evan Svoboda returns home in Arizona as he will look to guide his team to victory over ASU on Saturday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!At Red Mountain, Svoboda impressed during his senior year in 2020, completing 87-of-156 passes for 1,286 yards and connected on three touchdown passes in the condensed seven-game campaign which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he was looking forward to playing football at the next level amidst the challenging times that 2020 brought, Wyoming kept their eye on him from high school and were patient enough before the opportunity to recruit him opened itself up. Svoboda opted to go through the junior college route with Utah-based school Snow College after there were not enough scholarships available from the Cowboys at the time when he was a freshman.
After just one season in Ephraim, Utah, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound quarterback then transferred to Wyoming in 2022 but did not play a game.
Ready to make the jump to NCAA Division I football, Svoboda played 10 games last season, including one start in a 16-15 win over Toledo in the Arizona Bowl down in Tucson. He ended up completing 23-of-38 (60.5%) passes for 200 yards and rushing 25 times for an additional 80 yards and two touchdowns a year ago.
Oct 28, 2023; Boise, Idaho, USA; Wyoming Cowboys quarterback Evan Svoboda (17) during the second half against the Boise State Broncos at Albertsons Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports
Leading a new era of Cowboys football with first-year head coach Jaw Sawvel and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, Svoboda was named the starting quarterback and will make his 2024 debut in the role back where he grew up. Living not too far from Mountain America Stadium, there were surely be some Wyoming fans in attendance cheering on the hometown guy.
When speaking about the threat that Svoboda presents against the Sun Devils, ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham identified that he can not only throw the ball effectively, but he is also a dangerous runner as well.
“He has a really strong arm, and then he is big,” Dillingham said at ASU practice on Wednesday. “You got to be alert on quarterback runs. You saw him hop into the bowl game vs. Toledo and their running quarterback duo follow, with the running back leaning on the corner because he is a big, physical back on third and short. You got to anticipate that they are going to run him directly. Anytime you have a quarterback that is going to run direct runs – not zone reads – direct runs that he is just a running back, you got to account for that. Then his ability to through the ball when he is clean in the pocket, he throws the ball really, really well. ”
Wyoming are coming into Tempe after finishing 9-4 last season while Arizona State were 3-9, but both teams will want to win and start this year off with early momentum.
The Cowboys take on the Sun Devils tonight at 7:30 p.m. PT.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
