The Falcons football team fell to the Northern Illinois Huskies 48-17 on Saturday afternoon, the team’s largest margin of loss against a Mid-American Conference opponent this season.
“For the first time all year, I really thought that they got after us,” Falcons head coach Mike Jinks said. “They got after us from a physical standpoint, we had a tough time holding the point both offensively and defensively.”
The began with Northern Illinois jumping out to an early lead as they scored on a long rushing touchdown, also getting the extra point to make it 7-0. Later on in the first quarter, Northern Illinois scored another touchdown, this time coming on a pass, however the Falcons were able to cut the lead in half just before the end of the first as sophomore quarterback James Morgan hit freshman wide receiver Quintin Morris for Morris’ first collegiate touchdown, making it a 14-7 game heading into the second quarter. Midway through the second, Northern Illinois regained their momentum with another touchdown pass, followed by a 73 yard touchdown pass on their next drive. They were also able to convert a field goal just before the half expired to give themselves a 31-7 advantage at halftime.
“It looked like we busted a few coverages early on that they really didn’t capitalize on and it kind of kept us in the ball game early,” Jinks said. “In the second half I thought we didn’t tackle very well which was something that to this point we’ve done a pretty good job of, so I’m not too pleased with the overall effort of our football team.”
In the third, Northern Illinois continued to add to their lead with a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown as well as another field goal, however the Falcons were able to put some more points on the board on senior kicker Jake Suder’s field goal. In the fourth quarter, the team also got another touchdown late with freshman quarterback Grant Loy running for a short touchdown, however Northern Illinois scored on a rushing touchdown with less than a minute to go to seal the 48-17 win.
“As the game went on, there were a lot of mental errors,” Sophomore defensive lineman Kyle Junior said. “We were looking for too much and the window dressing they showed us, we just overthought it.”
Despite the loss, the team continued to run the ball well, getting 192 yards and a touchdown on the ground, along with freshman running back Andrew Clair having his third straight game with 100 yards or more.
“We did a decent job up front,” Jinks said. “I think we had a good plan of neutralizing their pass rush and running it right at the smaller defensive ends, I think they had trouble with that early in the game.”
The team will have a week and a half break before facing the Kent State Golden Flashes on the road on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
