October 05, 2024
Sports - DeKalb County
Sports - DeKalb County

Offense stalls for NIU again, Huskies fall to Boston College

By JESSE SEVERSON
Boston College linebacker Matt Milano, right, chases down Northern Illinois wide receiver Aregeros Turner in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game at Alumni Stadium. Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (John Wilcox/The Boston Herald via AP) BOSTON GLOBE OUT; METRO BOSTON OUT; MAGS OUT; ONLINE OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Boston College linebacker Matt Milano, right, chases down Northern Illinois wide receiver Aregeros Turner in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game at Alumni Stadium. Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (John Wilcox/The Boston Herald via AP) BOSTON GLOBE OUT; METRO BOSTON OUT; MAGS OUT; ONLINE OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT (John Wilcox)

CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS – For the second consecutive game, the Northern Illinois offense struggled to move the ball as the Huskies lost 17-14 at Boston College on Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies finished with 153 yards of total offense on the game. The Huskies (2-2) managed 198 yards last week in a 20-13 loss to top-ranked Ohio State. It's the first time the Huskies have lost consecutive regular season games since 2011.

"We fell short," Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said. "We had our opportunities and it's disappointing coming off a second week in a row not making those plays during the course of the game."

With the Eagles leading 17-7 late in the fourth, Aregeros Turner returned a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. The Huskies defense forced the Eagles into a three-and-out on the following drive. After Northern Illinois got as far as the BC 35-yard line, the Huskies final drive stalled on an incompletion on fourth-and-10.

"The kickoff return gave us a real shot at the end of the game," Carey said.

Junior running back Joel Bouagnon finished with 56 rushing yards on 16 carries with a touchdown and junior quarterback Drew Hare went 11 for 25 with 81 yards and an interception. The Huskies' main deep threat, junior Kenny Golladay, had two catches for seven yards. The leading receiver was Tommylee Lewis, who had six catches for 42 yards but had several drops.

"You give them credit," Carey said of the Boston College defense. "They probably caused a lot of disruption. There's still places for plays to be made and we haven't made them."

Northern Illinois sophomore cornerback Shawun Lurry returned an interception late in the second quarter 79 yards to set up the Huskies' first touchdown of the game.

The Huskies struggled mightily in the first half on offense. Hare was 3 for 9 with 13 yards – with Huskie receivers dropping several passes – and the offense finished with 40 total yards in the first two quarters.

After Lurry's interception, his fourth of the season, put the Huskies on the Boston College 4-yard line, they scored three plays later on a 2-yard run by Bouagnon to tie it.

The Eagles entered the game with the top defense in the nation in yards allowed per game – surrendering just 106.3 yards a contest heading into Saturday. Offensively, the Eagles had 326 yards of total offense – including 234 yards of rushing.

The Huskies had the chance to take the lead midway through the third quarter, driving down the field and faced a fourth-and-1 on the BC 12-yard line. However, Christian Hagan's 29-yard field goal was wide right.

Hilliman scored his touchdown on the Eagles' ensuing drive to go ahead 14-7 and a 25-yard field goal by Colton Lichtenberg gave them a two-possession cushion before Turner followed with his touchdown on the ensuing kick off.

The Huskies open up Mid-American Conference play next week at Central Michigan.

NIU FootballNIU Huskies