Huskies open it up, but W. Michigan shuts them down
DEKALB -- Northern Illinois pulled out all the stops trying to break out of a 1-5 funk on its 101st homecoming Saturday.
But the Huskies still couldn't pull out a win.
The Huskies dug deep in their playbook trying to find a way to overcome a slew of injuries. It paid off early, but Western Michigan took the lead in the third quarter and then played a field-position game to win 17-13 in front of 23,057.
Some of the trickery worked, such as wide receiver Marcus Perez's 59-yard touchdown pass and a statue of liberty run. Some didn't, such as a fake punt.
In the end, NIU (1-6, 0-4 Mid-American Conference) fought gamely with nothing to show for it, just like earlier agonizing, last-minute losses to Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Temple.
"Pretty redundant," NIU coach Joe Novak said. "We didn't make a couple plays when we needed to. Story of our season: not making enough plays."
Western Michigan (3-4, 2-1) snapped Northern Illinois' nine-game homecoming winning streak. West Chicago product Ryan Morris, making his first start at quarterback, drove the Huskies to the Broncos' 37-yard line with two minutes remaining before the drive stalled on downs.
The defense kept NIU close. Zach Larsen (13 tackles) and true freshman nose guard D.J. Pirkle (fumble recovery) contributed in their first starts while Marmion grad Larry English added 7 tackles and 1½ sacks.
But NIU's offense converted 1 of 13 third downs and was 0-for-2 on fourth downs.
"There was some first-game jitters, but then I got in the rhythm of the game," said Morris, who finished 13 of 25 passing for 144 yards.
Morris replaced Dan Nicholson, the latest walking wounded out with an ankle injury. Nicholson, who might be able to return next week at Wisconsin, became NIU's 11th projected preseason starter sidelined.
The bad luck continued when sophomore center Eddie Adamski (Carmel) left. Adamski, a 2006 freshman All-American, had been one of two linemen to play every snap.
Playing shorthanded, NIU opened up its bag of tricks. The Huskies took a 7-0 lead when Perez floated a pass that finally got to a wide-open Matt Simon, who was at least 20 yards clear of the nearest Bronco.
"We always have some (trick plays)," Novak said. "We felt this week we'd have to generate a little more without Danny and (wide receiver) Britt (Davis)."
Morris was shaky early. He completed 2 of his first 7 passes before finding Simon on 25- and 23-yard gains to set up Chris Nednick's 28-yard field goal for a 13-10 lead.
NIU could have extended that lead just before halftime. Sophomore Justin Anderson broke free for a 52-yard run to the Western 10-yard line. Anderson finished with 132 rushing yards, his fifth straight 100-yard game.
The Huskies kept the ball in Anderson's hands three more times, running him on third-and-goal from the 10, then ended up with no points when Nednick missed right on a 25-yard attempt.
The Broncos carried that momentum into the third quarter. They stripped Anderson on NIU's first possession -- the Huskies' only turnover until the game's final play -- and drove 40 yards for the go-ahead TD, a 7-yard catch by Brandon Ledbetter on a pass Mark Reiter nearly made his second interception.
Nobody scored again, leaving the Huskies with their first homecoming loss since Vanderbilt beat them in 1997. The loss also ended NIU's MAC-best streak of seven straight winning seasons.
"I'm just trying to win one game," Novak said. "We're certainly proud of that streak we had."