Quarterback rushes for four touchdowns

Wyoming started the second half of the regular season with a dominant 41-23 victory over Northern Illinois in front of a crowd of 20,065 Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

The Cowboys (4-3, 3-1 Mountain West) were led by a spectacular performance from quarterback Tyler Hughes, who finished 16 of 19 passing for 196 yards and rushed for 183 yards and four touchdowns.

Hughes’ four touchdown runs were the most for a UW player since quarterback Levi Williams rushed for 200 yards with five total touchdowns (four rushing) during the Pokes’ 52-38 win over Kent State in the 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

“I thought offensively today we were extremely good. Tyler Hughes set the tone for that, not only in designed (run) game but also making plays out of nothing,” UW head coach Jay Sawvel said. “He’s just playin loose and free. He threw the ball very well today.”

UW finished with a 510-392 edge in total yards, including 314 rushing yards, while finishing 5-for-5 in the red zone and no turnovers.

Markell Holman, who started at running back with Samuel “Tote” Harris out, had 14 carries for 80 yards rushing. Wide receiver Eric Richardson enjoyed his most productive Cowboy with five receptions for 77 yards.

On the Cowboys’ first drive of the second half, Hughes had a 40-yard completion to Richardson and a 27-yard completion to tight end Kyle Frendt, who finished with three catches for 61 yards.

Hughes then ran for a 6-yard touchdown, his third of the day, to extend the lead to 27-9. The last UW player to rush for three touchdowns in a game was running back Titus Swen on Oct. 22, 2022, vs. Utah State.

The Huskies (0-5, 0-2 MW) responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive finished off with a 13-yard touchdown run by Telly Johnson Jr.

NIU added a 2-point conversion to cut its deficit to 27-17 with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter.

The visitors’ momentum did not last long as the Pokes marched down the field and Hughes ran for an 11-yard touchdown to make the score 34-17 early in the fourth quarter.

“It felt great. We’ve had a very tough past six weeks, and I feel like the guys did a great job of coming in and preparing and not letting the outside noise affect what we have inside these buildings,” Hughes said. “We put together a great week of practice and came out and executed the best we have all year.”

Hughes was shaken up after an awkward hit. Backup Landon Sims came in and ran for an 11-yard touchdown to give UW a 41-17 cushion with 6:48 left. Redshirt freshman Mason Drube also took some snaps late in the contest.

UW led 20-6 at the intermission after a dominant performance by Hughes. The dual-threat signal caller was 10 of 12 passing for 82 yards and rushed for 157 yards on eight attempts (19.6 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns in the first half.

The Cowboys opened the game with a 10-play drive capped with a 37-yard field goal by Erik Sandvik. Hughes connected with Frendt for a 13-yard pass to move the sticks on third-and-7 and UW moved into scoring position after a roughing the passer call against NIU.

After a three-and-out by the Huskies, Holman eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark and Hughes went over 1,200 yards rushing for his career with a 53-yard touchdown scamper to extend the lead to 10-0 with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter.

NIU got on the scoreboard with a 44-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Hughes answered with a 27-yard run and a 24-yard touchdown run to make the score 17-3. With 9:35 remaining in the second quarter he had 120 yards, which was the most by a UW quarterback since Sean Chambers rushed for 120 yards in a win over Missouri to open the 2019 season.

Ja’Quan Redfern registered his second sack in as many games to spoil an NIU drive in the final minute of the half. Charlie Coenen returned a punt 24 yards and Hughes broke loose to set up a 24-yard field goal by Sandvik as time expired.

UW leads the all-time series with the Huskies 3-0. Josh Allen scored in triple-overtime in the memorable 40-34 victory in 2016 and Chambers led a game-winning drive in a 50-43 road win in 2021.