Running back Chavon Wright lines up at quarterback out of the shotgun. He takes the snap. Looks for an opening.

It’s a play NIU has run a lot on third and fourth downs in short yardage situations. But when the Huskies needed it the most on Tuesday in a 35-19 loss to Western Michigan, it wasn’t there.

The Huskies (3-8 overall, 2-5 Mid-American Conference) scored the first 13 points, but the Broncos (7-4, 6-1) scored to get back into the game midway through the second quarter.

NIU faced a fourth-and-1 on its own 39. Earlier in the series, it was a second-and-4 when Wright ran for two yards. On third-and-2, Telly Johnson Jr., who had a long touchdown run on the first drive of the game, picked up one yard.

That set up Wright in the Wildcat with 2:26 left in the half. He was stood up by J

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