Dec. 19, 2006
Recap |
Final Stats
Northern Illinois Post Game Notes
-NIU suffered its first bowl loss as a Division I-A team. The Huskies were 2-0 in a pair of California bowl appearances (1983 and 2004) prior to today.
-Northern Illinois set a new school record for blocked kicks in a game with two blocked punts and a blocked PAT versus TCU. NIU had blocked two kicks in a game five times, most recently last year versus Michigan.
-Adam Schroeder recorded the Huskies' fourth blocked kick of the season, as well as NIU's second PAT block of 2006 with a block on TCU's first touchdown.
-Dustin Utschig's punt block was his second of the season (previous versus Temple), and also his second in as many bowl games. The senior blocked a Troy punt in the 2004 Silicon Valley Bowl. The block was NIU's third blocked punt, and fifth blocked kick, of the year.
-Senior Jarret Carter's fourth-quarter block led to NIU's first touchdown of the game as freshman John Tranchitella picked up the ball and returned it 32 yards for the score. Tranchitella's score was the first of his career and the Huskies' second score on a blocked punt this season. Versus Western Michigan, Carter scored off a blocked punt by Greg Turner.
-With a fourth-quarter PAT, Chris Nendick extended his consecutive games scoring streak to 37 games, every game of his NIU career.
-Larry English's first-quarter sack was his 12th of the season, equaling the school season record set by Scott Kellar in 1984. The sophomore has at least one sack in eight of 13 games this season.
-Sophomore Andy Dittbenner's 59-yard punt in the second quarter was the longest of his career. He had a career-high nine punts in the game, the most punts in a game by NIU this season.
-Northern Illinois was not penalized in the game, a season low which also tied the school record for fewest penalties in a game.
-The 62-yard completion from Dan Nicholson to Matt Simon was the longest reception of Simon's career, the longest completion for Nicholson this season and the second-longest pass play of the year for NIU.
-NIU's Matt Simon set the school record for receiving yards in a Division I bowl game with two catches for 62 yards. The previous record was 47 yards by Shatone Powers in the 2004 Silicon Valley Football Classic.
-Back-up quarterback Ryan Morris attempted his first collegiate pass in the second quarter when Dan Nicholson was shaken up on a sack. Morris had previously seen action in the Indiana State and Eastern Michigan games but had not attempted a pass.
-Craig Rusch sacked TCU QB Jeff Ballard in the third quarter. A sophomore, Rusch has a tackle for loss or a sack in 11 straight games he has played dating back to last season.
-Garrett Wolfe completes the 2006 season with 1,928 yards on 309 carries (6.24 yards per carry, 148.3 yards per game). He finishes his career with 5,164 yards on 807 carries to average 6.4 yards per carry and 156.5 yards per game).
