Sept. 17, 2011

Recap |  Box Score

NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOTBALL 2011
Wisconsin vs. Northern Illinois - September 17, 2011
Soldier Field - Chicago, Illinois

Northern Illinois Notes

***DT Zach Anderson saw his first action of the year for the Huskies.

***Kicker Mathew Sims missed his first field goal attempt of the season, a 42-yard effort at the close of the first half.

***Chandler Harnish moved past Josh Haldi on NIU's career list for pass attempts and now ranks third in that category.  Haldi had 776 pass attempts from 2001-04 and Harnish finished the game with 783 to rank behind only Chris Finlen (910) and George Bork (902).

*** Huskies are now 1-12 all-time versus Wisconsin.

***The Huskies are 0-2 all-time in games played at Soldier Field.  NIU returns to Soldier Field next year to take on Iowa in the 2012 season opener.

***NIU defensive lineman Zach Anderson made his first career interception in his first game of 2011.  Anderson missed all of spring football with an Achilles injury that required surgery.  

***NIU wide receiver Perez Ashford tied a career-high with six catches and set a new career-best with 77 receiving yards. Ashford's previous six-catch game came against North Dakota on Sept. 11, 2010, his previous career-high for yards was 67, set last week at Kansas (Sept. 10). Ashford also returned three kickoffs for 69 yards and ran twice for seven yards, giving him 153 all-purpose yards on the day.  His 39-yard reception was the longest of his career.

***Freshman WR Da'Ron Brown also had a career day as he grabbed three passes for 46 yards.  He came into the day with two career catches for 28 yards.

***Huskie punter Ryan Neir punted a career high nine times with three inside the 20. 

***Northern Illinois is 1-2 on the season, the identical record to through three games a year ago.  NIU started the 2009 season 2-1` and went 1-2 to open the 2008 campaign.

***NIU sophomore defensive back Jimmie Ward made a career-best 11 tackles.  Ward's previous high was 10, last week at Kansas (Sept. 10).

***NIU cornerback Rashaan Melvin had a career-high 10 tackles.  Melvin's previous best was seven, recorded on Sept. 18, 2010 at Illinois.

***NIU linebacker Jordan Delegal made a career-high nine tackles.  Delegal bettered his previous high of eight, set last week at Kansas (Sept. 10).

***The Huskies gave up 49 points Saturday.  It was the most points allowed by NIU since Oct. 27, 2007 when Toledo scored 70 points in a 70-21 win.