Huskies fall short in opener in 27-10 loss to Iowa

AMES, Iowa - As Iowa State jogged off the turf Thursday night, satisfied with its 17-point halftime lead, Northern Illinois stayed behind for a lecture.

Huskies coach Jerry Kill appeared content to yell at his players on the sideline for the entire break, but an official came over and asked them to leave to allow Iowa State's marching band to take the field.

"It was pretty loud on the field and pretty loud in the locker room," Kill said. "They understood we needed to play with a sense of urgency."

Kill's words and the NIU staff's adjustments inspired a second-half comeback, but the Huskies fell short 27-10 in a nonconference opener before 43,116 at Jack Trice Stadium.

Redshirt junior quarterback DeMarcus Grady's 1-yard touchdown plunge cut Iowa State's lead to 17-10 with 8:51 to go, but the Cyclones answered with their first score in more than two full quarters.

The Huskies dropped to 4-10 against current Big 12 teams as they missed 2 field-goal attempts, committed 3 turnovers and found themselves outgained 403-249.

Grady, who won the job in fall camp from incumbent Chandler Harnish, short-circuited two drives into Iowa State territory with interceptions.

Grady, who won all four of his starts last year, finished 14 of 29 for 93 yards and 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 54 yards and the Huskies' lone score.

NIU's ballyhooed defense, which featured seven regulars from last year, struggled to get off the field on third-and-long.

Iowa State succeeded on 6 of 13 third-down conversions as well as both of its fourth-down tries.

Senior kicker Michael Cklamovski, Illinois' former kickoff man who transferred to NIU's law school and joined the team in the off-season, missed a pair of first-half field goals.

Unofficially, he missed 4 field goals. Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads froze him twice with timeouts on a 33-yarder with 0:05 left in the first half, but Cklamovski went through with both kicks and missed them.

Kill turned to Sims in the second half, and he delivered NIU's first points with a 19-yard boot to cap the second half's opening possession.

When Grady's touchdown cut Iowa State's lead to 17-10 with 8:51 left, the Huskies felt pretty good about their chances.

"We were wearing them down," Grady said.

Not only that, the defense had forced turnovers on three of Iowa State's last four possessions. Instead of continuing that trend, the hosts drove 73 yards for the clinching score.

The Huskies had a chance to get off the field without allowing a touchdown, NIU true freshman defensive end Joe Windsor was flagged for roughing the passer on a third-down incompletion.

On the next play, senior tailback Alexander Robinson (19 carries, 97 yards, 2 TDs) bolted 5 yards for a touchdown.

In the first half, Robinson sprinted 63 yards for a touchdown one play after Grady made a bad decision and threw his first interception.

"Those were two critical things," Kill said. "And both sides of the ball are accountable for that. Somebody's got to bow up and not let that happen.

"You really can look back at this game and there were probably 10 or 12 plays that were the difference. And those were two huge ones."