Rants and Raves: North Dakota State Bison Edition

FARGO, N.D., -- The unofficial game plan Saturday was to "bore the locals."

For Wyoming's offense: Mission accomplished.

Tyler Hughes threw an interception, his sixth of the young season, on the very first snap of the game. He was aiming for tight end Kyle Frendt. He instead put the ball right into the hands of middle linebacker Donovan Woolen.

Five plays later, North Dakota State was in the end zone, kicking off a 28-0 blanking inside a sold-out Fargodome.

Hughes completed just 5-of-14 throws for 52 yards. He was sacked three times. On his one significant run of the afternoon, wideout Charlie Coenen was flagged for a blindside block.

In last Saturday's impressive 27-10 victory over visiting Hawaii, Samuel Harris and Markell Holman combined for 181 rushing yards and all three touchdowns. In Fargo, that duo totaled only 60 yards on 18 attempts.

No outside weapon finished with more than a single catch. Coenen led the way with a 16-yard grab in garbage time.

The final stat line reads like this: 162 total yards, eight first downs, 2-of-11 on third down, turnover.

"Look, when you don't get anything done offensively, you just torpedo the whole boat," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said postgame. "Eventually, at some point, defensively, you lose belief and you don't play with the energy level that you need to play with."

Wyoming hasn't been shutout since the regular-season finale in 2022. That happened at Fresno State. It was a 30-0 laugher. It also came a week after falling to Boise State at home in heartbreaking fashion, all but eliminating the Cowboys in the Mountain West Conference race.

The "locals" back home were less than thrilled with this performance in the first-ever Battle of the Basins. It was more like a bloodbath in the basin.

Here's this week's rants and raves:

FIRST HALF:

SECOND HALF: