While Wyoming and Northern Illinois haven't met on the gridiron often, the times that they have were extremely memorable.
Only twice have these two schools faced off against one another, and both times it has featured potent displays of offensive firepower. Not only have 167 points been scored between both schools in the two meetings, but both contests came down to the wire, being decided by a single possession.
If the first two meetings between the Cowboys and the Huskies are any indication of how this weekend's tilt will shake out, fans could be in for another instant classic.
Sept. 3, 2016
UW football broke a lot of unconventional records in its 2016 season and home opener against NIU.
Originally slated for an 8:27 p.m. start, kickoff didn't happen until later that evening at 10:20 p.m. because of a lightning delay, marking the contest as the latest start in program history. After battling through three overtimes, the game didn't conclude until 2:34 a.m. Unsurprisingly, that made it the latest-ending game in program history.
The contest also ended up being the longest-lasting game in UW's history, as the game was a prolonged 4 hours and 14 minutes due to three overtimes being needed to decide the winner of this one.
Despite all that, the Cowboys were still able to come away with a 40-34 win over the Huskies.
"It was a phenomenal win. Northern Illinois is a good football team and a good program," then-head coach Craig Bohl said. "We saw a lot of positives coming and certainly felt like we were going to be more competitive, but that next step to winning is something you can't x and o, it comes down to character. I believe we have some good character and I'm happy for our kids."
UW starting quarterback Josh Allen finished his day 19-of-29 through the air, including two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. Allen's biggest play of the game was with his legs, though, as the wiry sophomore quarterback avoided multiple tackles on his way to the game-winning rushing touchdown in the third overtime.
"It was one of our run action plays. Coach told me to be smart about it, and I probably should have thrown it away. I looked back and our guys were there. I trusted them, cut it back, made a guy miss, found a hole and dived in — felt great," Allen said of the play.
Allen finished with 73 total rushing yards, and junior running back Brian Hill gashed the NIU defense for 132 yards and two touchdowns as UW ran for a total of 266 yards. Allen threw for 245 yards, as senior wide receiver Tanner Gentry hauled in eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown and fellow senior wideout Jake Maulhardt grabbed five passes for 106 yards for a bulk of UW's production through the air.
Defensively, the Cowboys were led by sophomore free safety Andrew Wingard with 12 total tackles, including one tackle for loss. Despite the sheer amount of possessions in the game, neither team was able to come away with a takeaway. In total, both teams combined for 950 yards of offense on 161 snaps.
Sept. 11, 2021
Much unlike the majority of the first meeting between UW and NIU, the second looked like it was going to be much more lopsided.
After one half of play, the Cowboys led the Huskies 28-10 with an offense that was scoring at will. Senior linebacker Chad Muma got in on the scoring action in the third quarter with a 23-yard pick-six that gave the Cowboys a commanding 42-16 lead. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, UW was still holding onto a 20-point advantage that appeared would easily convert into a road win.
The Huskies made it anything but easy in the fourth quarter, though.
NIU would find the end zone twice within the span of 13 seconds of game time, as freshman running back Harrison Waylee — who would eventually transfer to UW in 2023 — broke loose a 75-yard touchdown run. UW's starting quarterback, sophomore Sean Chambers, would fumble on the first play of the ensuing possession, which would immediately set up a one-play scoring drive by the Huskies. They would again find the end zone with a little less than five minutes left in the contest, rattling off a total of four unanswered touchdowns to find themselves with a 43-42 lead.
A seemingly insurmountable lead had quickly diminished for the Cowboys, who needed an answer in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Chambers would provide that answer with a nine-yard touchdown run, leaving just 1:27 on the clock for the Huskies to respond.
Waylee, who rushed for 121 yards in the fourth quarter alone and 195 yards for the game, never saw the ball on NIU's final drive of the game. The Huskies elected to pass the ball seven times, completing only one pass for a first down before turning the ball over on downs as UW's defense stood strong and the Cowboys would escape with a 50-43 win.
"I want to give credit to our offense again for putting together another outstanding two-minute drive at the end of the game," Bohl said after the game. "On defense, we accomplished what we wanted to today in terms of forcing turnovers, but we know we have some work to do on limiting big plays. Northern Illinois was able to break some big plays in the second half and we have to clean that up.
"With that said, it's not easy to win games in college football, and I'm proud of the resilience our players showed to come away with this win."
