Huskies FINALLY win at home 27-20

The win on Saturday felt soooo good. I can only imagine what it meant to the players. After so many close losses, this victory is exactly what the doctor ordered for the ailing Huskies.

The weather on Saturday wasn't too bad, and it was a pretty good crowd for tailgating. I can only assume that a lot of the people out there either went to the bars or just went home to watch the game. I went to tailgating really late, because I had stayed up so late the night before. I don't really know why I did this, because I really love tailgating but then again I was pretty sick all weekend. I couldn't even find my student ticket, so I went to the side box office and I got my ticket there. Of course none of my friends really wanted to go to the game, so I decided to go anyways. The crowd of people I was sitting by was mostly parents and their little kids, so I had to watch what I was saying about the refs and such.

The 1st quarter was such a microcosm of the season. We go the ball to start the game, Danny Nicholson throws a couple really huge passes to Britt Davis. We're already on Kent State's 31 yd line and then on 1st down...

ANDERSON, J. rush to the KENT34, fumble forced by MAXWELL, C., fumble by
ANDERSON, J. recovered by KENT WILLIAMS, Jack at KENT34.

I just about crapped my pants. Such a great start to the game, looking like the bye really helped and then a fumble. Just great, I thought to myself. Just another one of "those" games. Let's just drive our turnover margin down as much as possible so we look good for Phil Steele's predictions for next year.

So then Kent State begins their drive and they go for a while until we stop their little Garrett Wolfe-wannabe running back Eugene Jarvis from getting the 1st down. They go for it on 4th down on our 35 yd line and Brandon Bice and Alex Krutsch bring him down. More on Bice later. Of course the crowd was pathetic (Just under 14,000) and barely any noise was generated for our defense on these plays. Man our defense was looking good this game.

We get the ball back without them scoring and then we open up with a huge pass play to the other Davis, Brandon for 31 yds and we get to the Kent State 36 yd line. We hand it to Justin Anderson and he gets a few yards. And on the next play...

Nicholson, Dan pass intercepted by WILLIAMS, Jack at the KENT25,
WILLIAMS, Jack return 47 yards to the NIU28 (ANDERSON, J.;ONYEBUAGU, J.).

I already wasn't feeling good at the time and this just made me downright sick in my stomach. Dan Nicholson throwing a pick that wasn't even close to the WR. Now I know it could have been the WR's fault here, but it was thrown right in to the defenders hands. COME ON DAN!!! I just about had it. I had hope for this team, this time right after the bye week. I had faith in Joe Novak and my favorite team in all of college football. I also was an idiot all I was wearing was a sweatshirt and SANDALS. Why would anybody be wearing sandals in that sort of weather??? So I got up and left. "Are you coming back in?", said the ticket guy. "Nope", I replied.

Then I ran to my car because I am an idiot. Why would I be leaving an NIU Football game in the 1st quarter? I just couldn't take the punishment anymore. It was sort of like I gave up on the Cubs once I figured out that Dusty Baker wasn't giving them enough chance to win any more games that season. I really should have brought out the inner-cub in me going to every game no matter what, but that just wasn't the case. The weather and my own health was a major factor in my decision. I just wanted to lay down in my bed and watch the game from the comfort of my own room.

Kent State of course drove and scored as I thought it was going to happen. Then our offense came alive. A big 50 yd pass to Matt Simon helped set up the run and the Kent defenders lost Justin Anderson in the mix, as Nicholson threw him a 16 yds pass for a TD!

7-7

Then our offense just goes off. Both RBs Justin Anderson & David Bryant break off huge runs. Matt Simon again with a clutch catch. JA puts the ball in the endzone.

14-7 Huskies. And we never gave up the lead. This fun again.

THE RUNNING GAME

RB Justin Anderson got a little banged up, but David Bryant came in and definitely picked up the slack. That guy has some speed. Both RBs combined for 208 yds and were key in this victory. On that one TD reception, JA actually lined up on the wrong side!

“I actually lined up on the wrong side,” said Justin Anderson, the recipient of the touchdown throw. “I forgot the play and asked Dan if I was on the right spot. He said, ‘Yes.’ I ran the route and he threw a perfect pass.”

The offensive line was TREMENDOUS. Never had I seen so many holes for the running backs to run through. It has taken all season for them to gel, but wow have they are just mowing people over now. Their technique is out of this world awesome and were the main cogs in the victory Saturday. Not to mention Kent State's run D was tops in the MAC.

THE PASSING GAME

QB Danny Nicholson was...Danny Nicholson. A high completion % (20-28), but 2 interceptions. Even though at least 1 or 2 of those was the WR's fault. 275 yds and 2 TDs. Impressive.

WR Matt Simon was...Matt Simon. 4 catches for 96 yds. Standard studly Simon game.

TE Reed Cunningham was the unlikely hero catching 7 balls for 65 yds and a TD. Our OC Roy Wittke must think we have another Zach Miller on our hands. (Former ASU TE)

TE Brandon Davis...what did Britt Davis your brother teach you about catching the ball? Obviously the wrong things. The Davis Bros need to start using some stick-um on their gloves or something.

THE DEFENSE

Not too much to say here. The defense was very solid overall and put a lot of pressure on the QB forcing 4 sacks. Standard "NIU prevent D" let Kent State try and come back more than they should have late in this game. LB Josh Allen had the hit of the year later in the game (MadDawgz, put up the vid on youtube already!!!). And LB John Tranchitella had the game-sealing INT there at the end. DE Brandon Bice finally got his spotlight to shine winning MAC West Player of the week for garnering 8 tackles, 2 TFL and 1.5 sacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS

There were some miscues, including a botched snap & a missed FG. These are strange to see happen. Nendick also made 2 FGs.

INJURIES

Another one of our backup RBs Chad Spann hurt his knee on special teams and is out for the season. That leaves us with only 2 RBs left healthy on the roster in Justin Anderson & David Bryant. Montell Clanton (ACL), Ricky Crider (Broken Leg) & Cas Prime have all gone down with season-ending injuries as well.

QB Danny Nicholson got his bell rung (again) and left the game with a concussion. Ryan Morris came in and all he did was hand the ball off most of the 2nd half.


Overall it should be VERY interesting how this weekend's trip to Annapolis, MD will turn out...