ATHENS, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University Huskies went toe-to-toe with the Ohio Bobcats for 60 minutes, holding one of the Mid-American Conference's most potent offenses below its season averages for points and passing yards before falling to the Bobcats, 24-17, Saturday at Peden Stadium.
With the loss, NIU fell to 2-6 on the season, 1-3 in the Mid-American Conference, while the Bobcats improved to 5-3 overall, 3-1 in the MAC.
"I'm proud of the effort of the young men in our program," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "They played as hard as they can play. They made a couple more plays than we did, but we played a team game. I thought Justin Lynch did a great job managing the game early and we had a chance to win the game but we came up a couple of plays short."
Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke connected with Sam Wiglusz for a 22-yard touchdown pass with seven minutes to play, capping an 11-play, 90-yard drive that put the Bobcats ahead 24-17. Wiglusz caught six passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns on the day to lead the Bobcats.
On its ensuing possession, the Huskies drove to the Ohio 36, but turned the ball over on downs when quarterback Justin Lynch's fourth down pass was batted down. NIU got the ball back with 1:04 on the clock after the defense forced an OU punt, but four straight passes fell incomplete.
Running backs Antario Brown and Harrison Waylee once again provided a potent one-two punch for the Huskie offense, rushing for 160 and 97 yards, respectively. Brown recorded his first 100-yard game of the season, with many of his yards gained on the direct snap, including runs of 45 and 49 yards. In his second consecutive start, Lynch completed 9-of-18 passes for 110 yards.
"We have to be able to run the ball and stay in normal down and distance situations to give ourselves a chance," Hammock said. "I thought the backs broke some tackles, we had some second and long situations that they were able to get the first down. But we have to finish drives in the red zone with touchdowns and that's really what was our Achilles heel today."
Trailing 10-6 at halftime, the Huskies made it a one-point game on the opening drive of the second half with a nine-play, 48-yard drive. Waylee accounted for 38 yards with runs of 21 and 17 yards before the drive stalled at the Ohio 22 and, after a false start penalty pushed NIU back five yards, John Richardson made the third of his three field goals on the day, a 45-yarder.
Ohio came right back with a 13-play, 81-yard drive, with Rourke scrambling to find tight end Will Kacmarek for 20 yards to the NIU four-yard line, before scoring himself from one-yard out to give the Bobcats a 17-10 lead.
NIU tied the game at 17 with 1:25 to play in the third quarter with a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with its lone touchdown of the game. One play after Brown's 45-yard run to the Ohio 11, receiver Kacper Rutkiewicz got the handoff on the end around and scored from 11 yards out. Trailing 17-15, wide receiver Shemar Thornton caught a lateral from Lynch and his pass to Cole Tucker was good for two points and the tie.
Ohio scored on the opening possession of the game, driving 84 yards on nine plays and 3:49 to take a 7-0 lead on an eight-yard pass from Rourke to Sam Wiglusz at the 11:05 mark of the first quarter. Rourke opened the drive with a 38-yard completion to the NIU 46 and hit Wiglusz for 20 yards to convert a third and seven from the NIU 30-yard line to set up the scoring play.
NIU played the field position game in the first quarter as two Tom Foley punts forced the Bobcats to start from inside their 20-yard line, with the Huskie defense stepping up to force OU punts on both occasions. After the second Bobcat punt, NIU began a drive on its 46 and quickly advanced to the Bobcat 37 on three Brown runs. Lynch hit Tucker for seven yards to convert a fourth-and-three and four more running plays put the Huskies at the OU 10. Brown then fell on a bobbled snap for a 10-yard loss and the Huskies settled for a 38-yard Richardson field goal.
Richardson made a 27-yard field goal with 4:07 to play in the first half to complete a 10-play, 67-yard drive. Rutkiewicz had the big play on the drive, as he took a pass from Lynch and turned it into a 41-yard pass play to the OU 15-yard line.
Ohio came into the game averaging more than 33 points, 324 passing yards and 436 total yards per game but finished with just 24 points, 200 passing yards and 354 total yards. NIU had a pair of sacks on the day, while Daveren Rayner led the way for the defense with seven tackles and half a sack.
"I think the defense is gaining more and more confidence," Hammock said. "I think they are playing together; I think that they are communicating better. They believe in one another and that goes a long way to being able to play team defense. To hold that offense to that amount of yardage, they gave us a great chance to win the football game."
NIU plays at home for the first time in nearly a month when they play host to Central Michigan on Wednesday, November 2nd. Kickoff for the first of two weeknight MACtion contests in November is at 6 pm and the game will air on ESPNU. Tickets for all three remaining home games are on sale anytime at NIUHuskies.com. Get a half-price ticket for any remaining game with the donation of a canned good on game day or in advance at the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the NIU Convocation Center.
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Ohio Defeats NIU, 24-17, with Late Score - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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