Wyoming in Search of 3-1 Start to Mountain West Play

LARAMIE -- It's been 20 days since the Cowboys played on their home field.

That changes Saturday when winless Northern Illinois pays a visit to War Memorial Stadium for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

Wyoming, which moved to 2-1 in Mountain West play after last week's 16-13 overtime win at San Jose State, now have back-to-back games at Jonah Field with a real chance at being in the conference race when the calendar flips to November.

Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:

• Go to GoWyo.com/tickets
• Email tickets@uwyo.edu
• Call (307) 766-7220
• Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.

Contest on The CW
Saturday’s contest will be televised on The CW with Jack McMullen on the call with Cody Kessler analyzing the action along with Marshall Newhouse on the sidelines. Fans can also stream the contest on the WatchESPN App.

Listen Live
The game will also be available on the 26 stations of The Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call, Kevin McKinney on color and David Settle on the sidelines.

Sawvel Faces Former School: Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel will face one of his former schools in Northern Illinois on Saturday. He was the secondary coach and special teams coordinator for the Huskies from 2008-10. In 2010, Northern Illinois finished the season with an 11-3 record. NIU went to three bowl games during his time in DeKalb under NIU head coach Jerry Kill. "I loved my time there," Sawvel said last Monday. "We built a monster."

Against NIU in the War: The 2016 season opener for the Wyoming Cowboys resulted in one of the most memorable victories in the history of Cowboy Football. In triple overtime, the Pokes captured a 40-34 triple overtime home win over Northern Illinois. In the third overtime the Cowboy defense held the Huskies on their final series of the contest. During the Cowboys’ final possession on a third and four from the seven-yard line, UW sophomore quarterback Josh Allen scrambled out of the pocket and after avoiding several defenders dived into the end zone for the winning touchdown giving the Pokes’ a 40-34 victory. "This big dude was just throwing it differently," said current Wyoming offensive line coach Joe Tripodi, who was serving in the same role that night on the NIU sideline. "Then, obviously, he made a heck of a lot of plays that night." Allen ended the night with 315 yards of total offense, with two touchdown passes and his game-winning rushing TD. The game was the longest in school history at 4 hours and 14 minutes. It eclipsed a 53-45 triple overtime Wyoming victory over UNLV on Nov. 6, 2004 in Las Vegas. That 2004 win lasted 4 hours and three minutes. Thunderstorms forced a one-hour-and-43-minute delay prior to the opening kickoff against Northern Illinois. The game was originally scheduled to kick off at 8:37 p.m., but was delayed until 10:20 p.m., which made it the latest kickoff in Wyoming Football history. The game ended at 2:34 a.m., making it the latest finish to a game in Cowboy history.

Sandvik Earns MW Weekly Honor: Wyoming kicker Erik Sandvik was named the Old Trapper Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday morning. The junior helped lead the Pokes to a comeback win in overtime at San Jose State last Friday. "It's a great feeling," Sandvik said with a smile. "The team made my job easy. They basically made it like an extra point, so that's routine. So, yeah, all credit goes to them." A native of Steamboat, Colo., Sandvik was a perfect 3-of-3 in field goals in the win over San Jose State. He also hit a game winner from 21-yards for the first walk-off win for the Pokes since the 2023 Arizona Bowl, as former kicker and teammate of Sandvik, John Hoyland won the game for the Pokes. He is a perfect 8-of-8 in field goals this season, as is tied for the lead nationally with 15 other kickers in field goal kicking percentage.

Hughes on the Ground: Wyoming quarterback Tyler Hughes had an active game running the football for the Pokes against San Jose State. He finished the game with 27 carries for a game-high 92 yards. It was a career-high in both the quarterback. He had a long rush of 22 yards in the contest and helped set up the game winning field goal, as he rushed for 16 yards in the overtime period. "He fought and played," Sawvel said postgame, speaking to his signal caller's resilience. "Really, all I told him to do during the week is just to go play. Go play football. Go, just go. If something breaks down, go play. Go be yourself, and go lead. And he did. So, look, we all have a lot of faith in Tyler."

Bogar in the Backfield: Wyoming defensive end Esaia Bogar was all over the field for the Brown and Gold at SJSU. He recorded five tackles in the contest and added a career-high 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. He ranks first in the MW this season with 1.08 tackles for loss per game this season. He has 6.5 tackles for loss this season and leads the team with 3.5 sacks. "It's crazy because he'll go make a play like that and then just walk away like nothing happened because he's just such a quiet guy," safety Brooklyn Cheek said postgame, referring to Bogar. "He's a great player."

Drake Gets Sack: Wyoming defensive tackle Dante Drake recorded his first career sack at San Jose State on the opening drive of the game for the Spartans. It forced a three and out and a punt. He is tied for third on the team this season with 3.5 tackles for loss and he has added 20 tackles on the season. He is now tied for his career best in tackles for loss in a season.

The Defensive Line: Wyoming’s defensive line brought pressure all day against San Jose State. The unit finished the game with four sacks in the contest and the group combined for five tackles for loss in the contest. Defensive tackles Dante Drake, Ja’Quan Redfern and Jayden Williams were all credited with a sack along with defensive ends Cade Brook and Esaia Bogar. "It was definitely a little overwhelming," said Brook, a 6-foot-3, 256-pound edge rusher. "I was telling my coach and my teammates, I kind of blacked out in the moment. I was proud of myself. I've been working hard and it felt good to get something done. That meant a lot."

Cheek Has Big Day: Wyoming safety Brooklyn Cheek was flying around the ball at San Jose State. The Bay Area native recorded a career-high eight tackles in the contest with six of those stops being solo tackles. Him and fellow safety Jones Thomas combined for 16 total tackles in the game.

Wilson Hauls in Catches: Wyoming Tight end Jake Wilson had a solid day against San Jose State. He finished the game with a career-high seven catches for 39 yards. He also recorded his first career touchdown reception in the contest, as it marked the tying score, as the Pokes would win the contest in overtime for the first OT win since the 2023 season opener against Texas Tech. "It was really important," Wilson said. "I mean, we had a lot of opportunities. I feel like, fortunately, tonight we were able to capitalize on those."

Fourth-Down Fortunes: The Cowboys attempted six fourth-down conversions last Friday night inside a sparse CEFCU Stadium. The story could've been the one failure. Wyoming was stuffed at the Spartans' goal line on three straight tries from the 2-yard line. Instead, after the 16-13 overtime victory, that 5-for-6 stat was a standout. "I went into the game and was like, look, if we're anything from the 45-yard line in and it's fourth and two, four or three, we're going," Sawvel said. "It should've led us to about 10 more points, but we'll take what we got."

Sacks for the Pokes: Wyoming recorded four sacks in the contest at San Jose State. It was a season-high for the Cowboys, as UW has recorded 12 sacks on the season and have recorded nine in the last three games. Wyoming ranks fifth in the MW this season in sacks per game at 2.0.

Injuries: Wyoming running back Samuel "Tote" Harris will miss this Saturday's game. The sophomore is in concussion protocol, according to multiple sources. Defensive end Dante Drake is also listed as "questionable" against the Huskies. Wideout Deion DeBlanc (toe) and cornerbacks Ian Bell (foot) and Kendall Griffin (hand) are still sidelined. Receiver Jackson Holman is also on the questionable list.

The Story on TFL’s: Wyoming recorded seven tackles for loss at San Jose State tying a career-high that the Pokes have done three times this season. The Pokes have 33 tackles for loss on the season and have recorded 19 over the last three games. Wyoming is second in the MW this season in tackles for loss per game at 5.5.

Pokes Return Home: Wyoming returns home for the first time since Sept. 26, as Wyoming has opened the season with four road games in the first six outings of the season for the most since the 2003 season. The Cowboys are 2-0 inside War Memorial Stadium with wins over Northern Colorado and Hawaii.

Back in Overtime: Wyoming played their first overtime contest under head coach Jay Sawvel against San Jose State. It marked the first overtime game since the season opener against Texas Tech. Wyoming is now 11-10 all-time in overtime games. Wyoming won its first overtime game on the road since defeating Idaho by a score of 40-37 in 2012. "I just said a little prayer," Sawvel admitted as his team headed into OT. "I said, 'Look, these guys have worked so hard. Let them be rewarded for it.'"

About Northern Illinois
The Huskies are still seeking their first victory of the season after losing 28-7 to Air Force in the program’s first Mountain West game last Saturday in Dekalb, Ill.

NIU’s offense is led by running back Telly Johnson Jr., who has 319 rushing yards, 958 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Quarterback Taron Dickens is completing 69.3% of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Wide receiver DeAree Rogers has two touchdowns.

"He's got really good hands," Sawvel said during his Monday press conference. "He's just a good player, right? So, look, (Northern Illinois) has skill. They've got skill in the perimeter that we have to deal with."

Defensively, cornerback Yassine Falke has three interceptions. Freshman linebacker Jack Murray and junior safety Kyon Conyers lead the team with 36 tackles each. The Huskies struggled against the Falcons’ triple-option, allowing 439 yards rushing.

NIU is last (138th) in the FBS in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game and 130th in total yards (290.8 ypg). The Huskies are giving up 34.6 points per game (129th) and 396.6 yards per game (112th).

Leading into the MW opener, NIU played a difficult nonconference schedule that included three road games and two games against Power 4 teams. The Huskies lost at Iowa (40-0) and at Arizona (42-17).

"We'll be excited to go play," Sawvel said. "Look, we need to get better. It's a great opportunity to get better. We know Northern Illinois is going to come here and play well and play hard."

* A UW press release contributed to this article

MORE UW FOOTBALL NEWS VIA 7220SPORTS:

* Gear Up For Game Day: NIU Huskies

* Wyoming Cowboys in the NFL: Week 5

* Wyoming Puts Emphasis on Defending Quick Out-Routes

* Tripodi Witnessed 'Josh Allen Experience' from NIU Sideline

* PODCAST: Pokes Need to Start Different Kind of Streak

* Sandvik Earns Mountain West Weekly Honors After Perfect Outing

* Sawvel on Cade Brook: 'He's Just a Tough Dude'

* NIU Notebook: Sawve's Six-Point Success Plan

* Making the Grade: Bogar Becoming QB's Worst Nightmare