NIU outplayed across the board in loss at Nebraska

LINCOLN, Nebraska — Northern Illinois was outmatched from start to finish in a 44-8 defeat Saturday in Nebraska's Memorial Stadium.

Adrian Martinez picked apart the depleted Huskies (1-2) secondary late in the first half, leading touchdown drives of 83, 50 and 87 in the second quarter on his way to 257 yards and two touchdowns. None of those three drives lasted longer than 1:11 as the Huskers (2-1) held a 30-5 halftime lead.

“Like I told my team, I take full responsibility. We wanted to give ourselves a chance, and we didn’t do that," NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. "Credit to Nebraska, they made some big, explosive plays and we knew that was a possibility given their speed and we can do some things to minimize those plays.”

The Huskies were hindered by the loss of starting safety Trayshon Foster in the first quarter because of a targeting call. NIU was already playing without starting safety Myketli Williams, who was out in first half because of targeting call in Utah game and linebacker Kyle Pugh.

"The receiver was in the air coming down, and he got hit," Hammock said. "[Foster] didn't do anything dirty or cheap, he was going in to hit the guy and hit him up high. It was a bang-bang play."

Huskies quarterback Ross Bowers started 5 of 16 through the air and slowly found more success, but still struggled, finishing 25 of 44 for 248 yards, one interception and no touchdowns.

"We're going to go into this bye week [angry]," Bowers said. "Tired of being below average, and tired of losing. It's good to have that chip on our shoulder."

NIU suffered a debilitating string of special teams issues as well that made the bid at a road upset fizzle early.

After a Matt Ference fumble on what was first called a blocked punt in the first quarter, Maurice Washington made a beeline for the end zone on the first play of the ensuing drive, going 21 yards for the score after the catch. That gave Nebraska a 10-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first quarter.

Washington added a 60-yard rushing touchdown past a gassed-looking Huskies defense with 12:20 left in the second quarter as the Huskers stood on top 16-0.

After picking up 46 yards on its first five drives, Bowers completed passes to Spencer Tears and Daniel Crawford as NIU came through with its first points of the game after John Richardson's 45-yard field goal sailed through the uprights with 7:58 left in the first half. The Huskies trailed, 16-3.

"We just have to commit to making a better effort, to learning the game plan better and do what coach says," Bowers said. "Right now, I'm out of alignment with what [offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness] wants. I want to get to the point where I'm playing exactly how he's thinking."

The Huskies forced Nebraska into third-and-long on its first drive, only to have Martinez complete a 46-yard pass to JD Spielman that set up a 36-yard Isaac Armstrong field goal at the 12:31 mark of the first quarter for a 3-0 Huskers lead.

Despite the early-game special teams trouble, the Huskies came up with a critical play when Antonio Jones-Davis blocked a field goal late in the first quarter, but the Huskies also had the Ference fumble and a failed punt fake run from Ference that ended up short of a first down.

Jalen McKie also blocked a Nebraska extra point early in the second quarter, when Nebraska had grabbed the 16-point lead.

The Huskies had one chance to score from inside the 2-yard line at the end of the third quarter, but Harbison was stonewalled on consecutive runs and Bowers' pass to Crawford was broken up by Huskers safety Eli Sullivan.

The Huskies also missed on deep balls in the first half.

“We had three or four shot plays where our wide receiver was beyond the defense, and we don’t convert," Hammock said. "We’ve just got to make sure we get our chemistry and rhythm on the deep balls – that changes the game. Two to Dennis [Robinson] when he’s completely behind the DB, we’ve got to continue to run to the ball.”

Hammock noted that in press conference the Huskies had players banged up. Kyle Pugh missed the game and was replaced at middle linebacker by Vinny Labus. Marshé Terry also was on crutches and in walking boot after the game. Terry recovered a fumble and made five tackles.

Nebraska's Dedrick Mills ran for 116 yards on 11 caries. Nebraska ran for 238 yards on 33 carries.

Nebraska coach Scott Frost said, "I kind of feel like we've rounded a corner."

Jordan Cole had 2.5 tackles for loss, a safety, and nine tackles overall. John Richardson kicked field goals from 45 and 27 yards.

The Huskies were 5 of 20 on third-down conversions in a negative trend that has persisted through three weeks.

“We’ve got to continue to be more efficient on first and second down," Hammock said. "If you’re on third-and-7-plus a lot of the time, the percentages go way down in your favor. So we’ve got to be more efficient on first down, and that all starts with running the football.”