DEKALB, Ill. – Upton Bellenfant made a 37-yard field goal in overtime to lift Buffalo to a 23-20 victory over the 23rd-ranked Northern Illinois University Huskies on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 21) at Huskie Stadium. The Bulls erased a 14-3 halftime deficit to claim the come-from-behind road win.
 
"We didn't play well enough to win this game," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "That falls squarely on me. We were prepared to play, but we didn't make the plays necessary to put ourselves in position to win."
 
Tied at 17 just past the midway point of the fourth quarter, Shaun Dolac intercepted a pass for Buffalo and returned it to the NIU 20 to setup a 42-yard Bellenfant field goal, giving Buffalo its first lead of the game, 20-17, with 3:28 to play.
 
Dolac finished the game with 19 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, and the interception.
 
NIU (2-1, 0-1 MAC) answered with a 13-play, 66-yard drive to the Bulls' 10-yard line that culminated in a 27-yard field goal by Kanon Woodill (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) with 24 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
 
Buffalo (3-1, 1-0 MAC) won the toss in overtime and chose to play defense. The Bulls blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt by Woodill on the first possession of overtime, taking over with a chance to win the game. The visitors gained six yards on their possession in overtime, setting up Bellenfant's field goal from 37 yards out to win the game.
 
"All credit to Buffalo, they were the better team today," said Hammock. "They outplayed us, we didn't make enough plays to win it. I talked to our guys, the only way we can not win the game is if we turn the ball over, and that's what we did."
 
This was the second-straight overtime game between NIU and Buffalo. The Huskies won 33-27 in Buffalo on Nov. 17, 2021.
 
NIU opened the scoring on its second possession of the game as Antario Brown (Savannah, Ga./Beach) scored from five yards out. The Huskies converted on a pair of third downs and a fourth down on the drive to take the lead with 5:14 to play in the first quarter.
 
On the first drive of the second quarter for Buffalo, Bellenfant made a 42-yard field goal to trim the Huskie lead to 7-3.
 
Late in the second quarter, NIU pinned Buffalo down on its two-yard line and the Bulls drive went three-and-out, forcing a punt that gave the Huskies good field position at the Buffalo 36. Two plays later, Brown scored for the second time on the day, this time from 14 yards, to give NIU a 14-3 lead heading into halftime.
 
Brown finished with 73 yards on 24 carries.
 
The NIU defense forced Buffalo into seven three-and-outs in the first half as the Bulls went 0-of-8 on third down in the opening 30 minutes. The Huskie defense held UB to just 184 yards of total offense in the contest, the lowest total by a NIU opponent since October 26, 2019 (Akron).
 
"Our defense gave up 184 yards," Hammock said. "They played great defense both halves. I'm proud of our defense. We didn't play well enough on offense or on special teams to win the game."
 
On its first drive of the second half, Buffalo trimmed the NIU advantage to 14-10 as CJ Ogbonna connected with Victor Snow for a 46-yard touchdown pass with Snow wrestling the ball away from a pair of Huskie defenders in the end zone.
 
Woodill made a 30-yard field goal for NIU nine seconds into the fourth quarter to increase the Huskie lead to 17-10.
 
The Bulls answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 36-yard touchdown run up the middle from Al-Jay Henderson, to tie the game at 17 with 12 minutes remaining.
 
Ethan Hampton (Elburn, Ill./Aurora Christian) finished 23-of-43 passing for 194 yards, completing passes to nine different receivers, including Grayson Barnes (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin/American River CC) who had a team-high four catches. The interception was the first he has thrown this year.
 
NIU will step back out of conference next week as the Huskies travel to Raleigh, N.C. to face N.C. State, which is led by former Huskie head coach Dave Doeren. Kickoff against the Wolfpack is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT and will be available on the CW Network.
 
NIU Postgame Notes
 
 
***NIU is now 10-6 all-time in overtime games after Saturday's 23-20 loss to Buffalo.  The Huskies have now played at least one overtime game in each of the last four seasons.
 
***NIU and Buffalo played an overtime game for the second consecutive game.  The Huskies defeated Buffalo, 33-26, on November 17, 2021 in Buffalo in the previous OT game before UB's win on Saturday.
 
***NIU held Buffalo to 184 yards of total offense on the day. The last opponent to gain less than 200 yards of total offense was 52 games ago when Akron totaled 145 yards on October 26, 2019,
 
***Antario Brown scored his first two rushing touchdowns of the season on runs of 5 and 14 yards in the first half to account for both of the Huskies' touchdowns in the game.  Brown now has 24 career rushing TDs and needs one to tie Thomas Hammock to move into 10th place on the Huskies' all-time list.
 
***Brown finished the game with 73 yards on 24 carries. He moved past Stacey Robinson into 12^th place on the all-time NIU rushing chart with 2,764 yards on 455 carries.
 
***Neveah Sanders' became the first Huskie since All-American Sutton Smith to have three sacks in a game. Smith recorded four sacks versus Western Michigan on November 20, 2018. Sanders, a third down pass rush specialist, had a pair of sacks in his first season at NIU in 2023.

***NIU quarterback Ethan Hampton was not sacked in the game, the seventh straight game the Huskies have not given up a sack. 
 
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