LARAMIE – The Cowboys already had a little extra time to celebrate.
 
Jay Sawvel's 24-hour rule for turning the page to the next opponent was extended after Wyoming defeated San Jose State 16-13 on Friday night, giving the assistant coaches and players a rare fall Saturday off.
 
Wyoming's third-year head coach was pleased with Sunday's practice and prepared to answer questions about the upcoming game against Northern Illinois on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium (1:30 p.m., The CW).
 
How will the Cowboys (3-3, 1-1 Mountain West) avoid a letdown against the winless Huskies (0-5, 0-1)?
 
"We've done nothing around here," Sawvel said during his Monday press conference. "We haven't won a championship in 30 years. We haven't had a 10-win season in 30 years. We won a game on Friday night that we should have won by 14 points, and we had to go to overtime to win it. We have to get better."
 
Sawvel noted that NIU's schedule has been challenging, with three road games and two matchups against Power 4 opponents. The Huskies lost at Iowa 40-0 and at Arizona 42-17.
 
At the midpoint of the regular season, Wyoming is mostly focused on Wyoming.
 
Over the final six games, Sawvel wants the Cowboys to finish on the plus side of the turnover margin, limit opponents' explosive plays, improve third-down execution on both sides of the ball, commit fewer penalties and drastically improve their red-zone touchdown percentage.
 
"They are all completely tied together," Sawvel said. "In order to be where we want to be at the end of the year, these five things will determine that."
 
NIU is coming off a disappointing Mountain West debut, losing 28-7 at home to Air Force. The Falcons rushed for 439 yards and attempted only one pass, which was thrown by a fullback, while holding the Huskies to 253 yards of total offense.
 
The Pokes rushed for 231 yards while limiting the Spartans to 75 yards on the ground in Friday's victory.
 
Quarterback Tyler Hughes completed 16 of 24 passes for 114 yards, throwing an interception and a game-tying touchdown. He also ran 27 times for 92 yards.
 
"I'm so glad for this coaching staff, for this fan base, for Tyler," tight end Jake Wilson, who caught the game-tying touchdown, said after Wyoming picked up its first win in San Jose since 1996. "To win for them, for my teammates, for Tyler, for the offense, for the offensive line, for the defense, like, they played great. It was awesome."
 
NIU's offense is led by running back Telly Johnson Jr., who has 319 rushing yards 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.
 
Defensively, cornerback Yassine Falke has three interceptions. Freshman linebacker Jack Murray and junior safety Kyon Conyers lead the team with 36 tackles apiece. The Huskies struggled against the Falcons' triple-option, allowing 439 rushing yards.
 
NIU ranks last among FBS teams in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game, and 130th in total offense at 290.8 yards per game. The Huskies are allowing 34.6 points per game (129th) and 396.6 yards per game (112th).
 
"One of the things we talked about was that maybe we made too much of the opponent when we played North Dakota State," Sawvel said. "We really just talk about us. That's what we really want to talk about. We just need to get better. We have so many things that we've got to get better at."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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