LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowboys continue to be "All About the Ball."

Now they just need to be all about recovering it.

The UW football team continues to rank amongst the nation's best in turnover margin, but the Pokes have failed to force a turnover in either of their last two games.

"We're stopping people, but the last two weeks, we haven't created a takeaway," UW coach Dave Christensen said during the team's weekly Monday session with the media. "We've talked about this as a program from the onset, that turnover margin is the most important thing that we can win at this point in time."

They've lost the turnover battle in each of their last two games -- both of them losses.

But because UW's offense has only turned the ball over once each game, its overall margin remains solid.

"We're protecting the football, still, offensively … but we've caused [five] fumbles and haven't got any in the last two games," Christensen said. "We've had some interceptions we've dropped. The thing they've got to do is create some takeaways and, hopefully within those takeaways, score or set up a score."

The Cowboys will likely get a few more opportunities when they host No. 25 BYU on Saturday.

BYU has coughed up the ball 11 times -- though the Cougars got six of them back -- and senior quarterback Max Hall has been very efficient, but has been turnover-prone at times, tossing 11 picks in eight games.

"We know Max Hall is going to take shots downfield to try and exploit weaknesses in our defensive secondary," UW cornerback Tashaun Gipson said. "I feel like we're going to be up for the challenge and hopefully we get some more of those takeaways."

The Cowboys forced 11 turnovers in their first four games, but have just three in their last four.

And while they've now forced 16 fumbles, they've only recovered four of them.

"The thing is, we've had [a bunch] out the last two games, we just haven't covered any," UW defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said. "It works, but the luck right now is not on our side."

O-LINE SEES ANOTHER CHANGE: After giving up six sacks at Air Force, UW changed up its offensive front, effectively benching left guard Sam Sterner, who had started 31 straight games.

After allowing five more sacks at Utah, Sterner is back in the lineup, but he'll have a new position.

Sterner will start at right guard, John Hutchins -- formerly a right tackle -- will get another start at left guard and freshman Nick Carlson is this week's odd man out, though he could see action.

"We're trying to get the most physical guys that we can get up front to play for us," Christensen said. "Nick struggled a little bit last week. It's a competition. They have a chance to compete in practice, but when it comes down to it, we've just got to be more physical up front."

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS: The Cowboys reported no injuries after their 22-10 loss to the Utes on Saturday and Christensen confirmed on Monday that his team remains healthy heading into the ninth game of the season.

The lack of injuries also isn't expected to result in any other depth-chart changes other than the shift on the offensive line.

Contact sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at eric.schmoldt@trib.com. Check out his blog at tribtown.trib.com/EScmoldt/blog

COWBOYS TRACKER

MONDAY: Wyoming football coach Dave Christensen and players met with members of the media during their weekly Monday session.

TAKEAWAY TROUBLE: The Cowboys remain a top-20 program in the nation in terms of turnover margin, but haven't forced a turnover in their last two games and have recovered just four of their 16 forced fumbles.

HE SAID IT: "I feel like we're going to be up for the challenge and hopefully we get some more of those takeaways." -- UW cornerback Tashaun Gipson.

SATURDAY: No. 25 BYU at Wyoming, noon, War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, on the mtn.