HUSKIES GET A KICKSTART
Turner’s return sets the tone for NIU laugher; Maddie has huge game
DeKALB — Northern Illinois finally won a game at home.
Aregeros Turner returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the NIU defense had four interceptions and the Huskies got a muchneeded 44- 7 homecoming victory over Buffalo on Saturday.
It snapped a four- game losing streak at Huskie Stadium. NIU ( 2- 6, 2- 2 Mid- American West) had a 28- game home winning streak from 2009 to ’ 14.
The win also kept alive the Huskies’ hopes for a bowl game. The Bulls ( 1- 6, 0- 3) are 0- 9 against NIU since joining the MAC in 1999.
“I believe in these guys, and I believe we are a better team right now than we were three, four weeks ago or the start of the year,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “It’s a credit to our coaching staff and our kids, in terms of keep working and keep believing.”
Turner, the reigning MAC special- teams player of the year, provided the early fireworks with his 97- yard return, his third career return for a touchdown.
“I saw the hole open and I knew it was a touchdown right from the beginning,” Turner said. “It felt good to run one back.”
NIU dual- threat quarterback Anthony Maddie bounced back with a big day on the ground, rushing 15 times for 125 yards and four touchdowns. He also was 16- for- 29 with 199 passing yards and a touchdown against a Bulls defense that was No. 1 in the MAC and fourth in the nation in pass defense ( 148.2 yards a game) entering the game.
Senior Kenny Golladay ( seven catches, 96 yards) extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 22. He added a highlightreel, one- handed touchdown catch.
“That touchdown there, I can’t repeat what I said,” Carey joked. “Wow.”
After struggling with turnover margin so far this season, the Huskies got four interceptions — junior cornerback Mayomi Olootu had two and senior linebacker Jamaal Payton and freshman safety Trequan Smith each added one.
The Huskies had four intercep- tions total entering the game.
With the Bulls threatening to score late in the first half, Olootu came up with his second interception in the end zone with 1: 04 left. The Huskies’ offense then went 80 yards in five plays, including an 18yard run by Maddie, an unsportsmanlike- conduct penalty on Buffalo, a 39- yard reception by Golladay and a three- yard touchdown run by Maddie, to head into halftime with a 30- 7 advantage.
“Right before the half there, I thought that was big, because the series before we had gone threeand- out and given it to them with three minutes to go and they drove all the way down,” Carey said. “To get that pick and go and turn it into seven, I think was really good from all aspects — playing, coaching, clock management. It was a good turning point of the game.”
It was Maddie’s third rushing touchdown of the second quarter.
The senior quarterback added his fourth of the game in the fourth quarter on a 23- yard run that capped a 10- play, 95- yard drive to put the Huskies ahead 44- 7.
The Huskies finished with 511 total yards of offense ( 312 rushing, 199 passing) and held the Bulls to 338 ( 135 rushing, 203 passing).