YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University Huskies got the four-quarter performance on offense, defense and special teams that NIU head coach Thomas Hammock has been looking for and the result was a 39-10 win over Eastern Michigan Saturday at Rynearson Stadium.
With the win, NIU improved to 2-5 on the season, 1-2 in the MAC while Eastern Michigan fell to 4-3, 1-2. The victory snapped the Huskies' five-game losing streak.
"They never lost the faith, they kept believing in one another and we're fighting to be a team," Hammock said. "I thought they did a great job today in all three phases. These guys do nothing but work hard every single week and it was great to see that show up today."
Defensive tackle James Ester gave the Huskies an early lead by tipping a pass at the goal line and catching it for NIU's first defensive touchdown of the year and the defense continued to harass EMU quarterback Taylor Powell and bottle up the Eagles' offensive weapons throughout the game. The Huskies totaled five sacks by four different players, limiting the Eagles to just 29 rushing yards on 27 carries; they were effective on third down as Eastern Michigan converted just twice in 13 chances.
Most importantly, they kept the Eagles out of the end zone. After EMU tight end Andreas Paaske got behind the Huskie defenders to score on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Powell at 10:34 of the first quarter, the Eagles did not even make it inside the NIU 20-yard line the remainder of the game. EMU's lone second-half score came on a 46-yard field goal by Jesus Gomez in the third quarter that cut the Huskies' lead to 20-10.
"The defense played together," Hammock said. "Guys were communicating, guys were executing, they were able to finish plays today and part of that was due to the coverage down the field. Our defensive line really played well today. We played team defense."
Offensively, NIU ran for 287 yards on 49 carries to average 5.9 yards per rush, thanks in large part to a pair of long touchdown runs. Antario Brown scored on a 47-yard run with 4:03 to play in the first quarter, giving NIU a lead it would never relinquish, 14-7. Brown finished with 86 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. His partner at running back, Harrison Waylee, totaled 158 yards on 16 carries with his 76-yard run around the right end closing out the scoring for NIU. The third member of NIU's rushing attack was quarterback Justin Lynch, who started the game in place of an injured Ethan Hampton. Lynch tallied 38 yards on eight carries.
"Our offensive line played well up front," Hammock said. "[Justin Lynch] executed at a high level and gave us a chance. For us, our offensive line was moving [the defensive line] and we felt confident, we think we have some good backs and Rocky [Lombardi] came in and gave us a change up."
In all, four different players took snaps from center Saturday, including Rocky Lombardi, who saw his first action since week three versus Vanderbilt. Lombardi completed 11-of-15 passes for 115 yards with Cole Tucker on the receiving end of five passes for 58 yards.
The Huskie special teams played their part in the victory as well. John Richardson was four-of-four on field goals with makes of 41, 39, 28 and 33 yards, while his variety of kickoffs kept the Eagles' dangerous kick return game at bay. His squib kickoff late in the third quarter was fumbled by Eastern Michigan and recovered by the Huskies' Joey Rattin, setting up Richardson's fourth field goal and giving NIU a 32-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. In addition to Richardson, Tom Foley's first punt pinned EMU on its five-yard line and helped lead to Ester's scoring play.
NIU led 14-7 after one quarter behind Ester's defensive score and Brown's long run for touchdown. They got a pair of Richardson field goals to bookend the second quarter – the first with 14:03 on the clock from 41 yards and the second from 39 yards out with six seconds to play in the half. NIU led 20-7 at half.
After Gomez made a 47-yard field goal for EMU's lone second half score to close the gap to 20-10, Richardson and NIU responded with a 28-yard field goal for a 23-10 lead which Brown extended to 29-10 at the end of the third on a six-yard rush. The Huskies tacked on 10 points in the fourth quarter on Richardson's last field goal and Waylee's long run.
The NIU defense made one last stop as Izayah Green-May sacked Powell on fourth-and-12 from the NIU 35 with 6:07 to play and the Huskies ran – literally ran -- out the clock for their first win since September 1.
NIU concludes its stretch of four road games in five weeks next Saturday, Oct. 22, at Ohio.
-- NIU --
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NIU Plays "Complete" Game in 39-10 Win Over Eastern Michigan - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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