HUSKIES AIR THINGS OUT
Hare has record-setting day as NIU claims Stalk, ends three-game slide
DeKALB — The Northern Illinois offense finally woke up.
After struggling the previous three weeks, the Huskies exploded, thanks to a record-setting performance by quarterback Drew Hare in a 59-41 blowout of Ball State on Saturday at Huskie Stadium.
The Huskies won the Bronze Stalk — the trophy that’s awarded to the NIU-Ball State winner— for the seventh consecutive season.
“The Stalk has a nice place. We’re glad that it’s here,” Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said with a smile.
The Huskies, who had 636 yards of total offense and snapped a three-game losing streak, scored more points Saturday than they had in the last three weeks combined (46).
Hare bounced back with a big performance, going 29-for-32 for 363 yards and two touchdowns— a 34-yarder to wide receiver Kenny Golladay and a 13-yarder to tight end Desroy Maxwell. Hare’s completion percentage of 90.6 broke the NIU record for a game with at least 20 completions. The old record was 81.8 percent.
“We have a ton of confidence in Drew. He’s our guy,” Carey said. “He showed it again today.”
Golladay finished with six catches for 92 yards, and receiver Aregeros Turner had eight receptions for 70 yards.
Joel Bouagnon led the Huskies on the ground with 149 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 31 carries. Jordan Huff also scored twice and had 87 yards rushing while averaging 8.7 yards per carry.
The Huskies (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference West) got off to a slow start and trailed 3-0 in the first quarter.
They picked up the pace, however, and scored a touchdown on every possession in the second quarter — except when they took a knee with nine seconds left in the half. Northern Illinois punter Jake Ambrose had only two punts the entire game, both coming in the first quarter, and the Huskies went 11-for-14 on third down.
NIU cornerback Shawun Lurry had his sixth interception of the season in the second quarter, returning it to the Ball State 9-yard line. Bouagnon scored on a 1-yard run three plays later.
“It was the right read, I just made a bad throw and a good cornerback took advantage of it,” said Ball State quarterback Riley Neal, who went 31-for-53 for 393 yards and four touchdowns.
Jordan Williams led the Cardinals in receiving with nine catches for 108 yards. The Cardinals (2-4, 0-2 MAC West) had 503 yards of total offense against a Huskies defense that had been stellar the last three games.
“I really thought going in, from what we’ve seen from Northern so far, that scoring 41 points would have been a dream,” Ball State coach Pete Lembo said.