NIU football: Huskies going with Santacaterina at quarterback in finale at Kent State

DeKALB – For at least one week, it’s the Daniel Santacaterina Era.

With third-string quarterback Ryan Graham out with a concussion, the Northern Illinois football team heads into the final game of the regular season with a fourth-string redshirt freshman at the helm when the Huskies play at Kent State at 11 a.m. today in Ohio.

The Huskies (4-7 overall, 4-3 Mid-American Conference West) kept their slim bowl hopes alive with a 31-24 win at Eastern Michigan in overtime last week – with Santacaterina taking over in the second quarter as NIU erased a 21-0 halftime deficit.

“I know the stats weren’t good, but he ran the ball hard,” Huskies coach Rod Carey said of Santacaterina, who went 5 for 15 with 103 yards and rushed for 91 yards. “He operated the offense. I was super happy with his performance given all his circumstances and situations.”

A major reason behind the big comeback was the play of junior running back Jordan Huff, who rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns – including a 60-yard score on the first touch of the second half.

Carey said that he would not play freshman quarterbacks Marcus Childers or Anthony Thompson, both of whom are redshirting, if something were to happen to Santacaterina.

While Kent State (3-8 overall, 3-4 in MAC East) has struggled this season, the Golden Flashes have been better at home than they’ve been on the road. They are 1-4 at home, but three of the losses have come by four points or fewer. The most lopsided loss at home has come in a 36-21 defeat against unbeaten Western Michigan – a game that the Golden Flashes led 21-20 at halftime.

“It’s going to be one of those typical November MAC games that’s tough and hard-nosed,” Kent State coach Kent Haynes said of the matchup against the Huskies.

The Huskies have made eight bowl games in a row and while six wins gets a team eligible, there is a situation that gets them in with only five wins. However, Carey said, while he doesn’t look into the situations that would get the Huskies to a bowl, they won’t have a chance without a win at Kent State.

“I’ve just been more in the mindset of let’s get in that conversation first,” Carey said. “We’re not in that conversation yet. We need to get there. That’s been the attitude.”

NIU senior receiver Kenny Golladay, who has caught passes from five different quarterbacks in two seasons because of injuries at the position, is within striking distance of the most catches in a season by a Huskies receiver. On the season, he has 83 catches for 1,065 yards.

The most receptions in a season for a Huskie is 91 by Dave Petzke (1978). However, if he gets the record, it will come with a quarterback he’s had little experience with in practice before this week.

“Taking reps from like the twos and threes and then coming up and taking reps with the ones in practice, it’s a little bit different,” Golladay said. “Just think about when it’s game time, it’s moving a whole lot faster, so it was understanding. It wasn’t a big deal. There’s just some things we have to work on.”

A closer look at today’s game:

KENT STATE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nick Holley, jr., QB: The converted wide receiver has made the most of a bad situation. He averages 83.6 rushing yards per game, but is only passing for 78.9 yards per game.

Najee Murray, sr., DB: The Golden Flashes' defense has been solid and Murray is a major reason why. He's got two interceptions and has broken up 14 passes on the year.

Terence Waugh, sr., DE: Waugh has been a beast on the edge, racking up eight sacks on the season. He also has 13 tackles for a loss and is second on the team in eligible players with 57 tackles.

BY THE NUMBERS

7: The Northern Illinois offensive line has allowed seven sacks on the season, which is the second fewest in the country.

8: The Golden Flashes rank 8th in the nation in turnover margin (plus-10).

76.6: Northern Illinois is first in the conference in red zone defense. Opposing offenses are scoring on 76.6 percent of appearances.

111: Kent State safety Nate Holley led the MAC in tackles with 111, but he was arrested on felony kidnapping charges last month.

191.2: Santacaterina will go against a good pass defense, which is only allowing 191.2 yards per game – second-best in the the MAC.

QUOTABLE

“These seniors and what they’ve accomplished for this university and this community, you don’t take an opportunity away from them at all. You owe that to them. We are playing a lot of young guys, but that’s not necessarily out of choice. It’s more out of necessity. The young guys are going to play a lot in this game, but that’s not at the sacrifice of any senior. Any senior that’s been playing for us, they’re going to keep playing,” – Carey.

PREDICTION

NIU 24, Kent State 17