Rex Burkhead rushed for two touchdowns, and Taylor Martinez ran for one and threw for another to help No. 9 Nebraska overcome another sluggish first half to defeat host Wyoming 38-14 on Saturday.

The Huskers (4-0), who have struggled to take control early in each of their last two games, did so again in their first road meeting with the Cowboys (3-1).

Burkhead provided an early spark for Nebraska on the first play of its second drive when he took a pitch from Martinez and went down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown run. However, the Huskers’ high-scoring offense was forced to punt on their other three possessions until Martinez ran up the middle for 8 yards to give Nebraska a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Wyoming freshman quarterback Brett Smith answered with a scoring drive of his own on the next possession when he hit Mazi Ogbonna in stride down the middle with a 48-yard touchdown pass.

Nebraska attempted to push the lead back to double digits at the end of the half, but Brett Maher’s field-goal attempt sailed just wide right.

The Huskers, who have scored 83 of their 131 points over the last three games in the second half, finally got it going with 17 unanswered points in the third quarter, keyed by Burkhead’s 16-yard score on the first drive of the second half.

Martinez stretched the lead to 31-7 with an 8-yard pass to Kenny Bell early in the fourth quarter.