DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football team's last second drive came up short as the Huskies suffered a 23-20 setback to Boston College in the season opener at Huskie Stadium Friday night.
The Huskies (0-1) drove 53 yards in nine plays and 1:52 to set up a 39-yard field goal attempt by
Christian Hagan (Omaha, Neb./Westside), who had connected on threes from 32 and 21 yards out earlier in the game. The senior kicker's attempt bounced off the front of the crossbar and fell short.
"Obviously we're very disappointed with the outcome," said NIU head coach
Rod Carey. "That goes without saying. We had multiple chances to win that game, but give BC credit. They made one more play than us."
NIU began its final drive on its own 20-yard line after Boston College took the lead on a 37-yard field by Colton Lichtenburg. Lichtenburg's field goal capped a 13-play, 46-yard drive on which the Eagles converted on a pair of fourth down plays. It was the only real blemish on a solid effort by the NIU defense.
"They [Boston College] ran 92 plays, about 50 in the first half, so when we weren't moving the ball offensively, our defense was kind of getting diced up," Carey said. "Overall, I thought our defense played great. When we moved the ball on offense and gave our defense some time on the sideline, they were as good as can be."
The Huskie defense forced four three and outs, held Boston College to 367 yards, 164 on the ground, and forced one turnover. That turnover, an interception by linebacker
Kyle Pugh (Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom Township) in the first quarter, resulted in the first points of the game. Pugh also finished the game with a career- and game-high 17 tackles.
Hagan hit a 32-yard field with seven minutes left in the first quarter to end a seven-play, 45-yard scoring drive led by
Ryan Graham (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South), who started the game for the Huskies at quarterback, to give NIU a 3-0 lead.
Graham finished the day with 190 yards on 15-of-38 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. He added a game-high 99 yards on the ground on 12 carries, including a 60-yard scamper that set up his first touchdown pass of the game, a 15-yard strike to
D.J. Brown (North Little Rock, Ark./North Little Rock). Senior
Chad Beebe (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Christian) led the Huskies in receiving with six catches for 93 yards.
Trailing 10-3 to NIU, Boston College came back to take a 13-10 halftime lead with a 10-point outburst in the final 2:05 of the first half. First, Lichtenberg hit a 35-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 63-yard drive. After the Huskies went three-and-out on offense, the Eagles got the ball back at the 50-yard line and scored in six plays on a five-yard Brown pass to Michael Walker.
The Eagles took a 10-point lead, 20-10, midway through the third quarter as Brown hit fullback Ray Marten from four yards out before the NIU offense came alive.
On the ensuing drive, Graham caught a 13-yard pass from
Christian Blake (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) to help set up his second touchdown pass of the game. He hit tight end
Shane Wimann (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) with a seven-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 left in the third quarter. That score pulled NIU to within three, 20-17.
NIU tied the game, 20-20, with 14:18 left to play in the game when Hagan hit a 21-yard field goal attempt.
The Huskies had three players finish in double digits in tackles. In addition to Pugh's 17 stops,
Bobby Jones IV (Miami Gardens, Fla./Monsignor Pace) and
Jawuan Johnson (East St. Louis, Ill./New Boston) finished with 16 and 10 tackles, respectively.
Sutton Smith (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) tallied six tackles, including five for loss.
NIU returns to action Saturday Sept. 9 when the Huskies play host to Eastern Illinois at Huskie Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN3.
Single game tickets for all six home games this fall are now on sale online at NIUHuskies.com or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225). Season tickets offer the best value with options like the new $199 Family Pack featuring four tickets in sections A or G and a new, lowered $60 price for season tickets on the East Side with general admission seating. Reserved seats in sections A, B, F and G are just $115 for the season, a cost of less than $20 per game.
Three-game mini-plans, priced at just $40 and featuring two different options, are also available. Mini-plan purchasers receive all the benefits of season ticket members, including exclusive invitations to special events throughout the year. Check NIUHuskies.com for all the details.
-NIU-
