Late drive by NIU staves off Kent State upset bid, secures bowl berth

KENT – Finding themselves down by three points with 10 minutes remaining against Kent State Saturday afternoon, Rocky Lombardi and the NIU offense walked onto Dix Stadium for possibly the final time in a bid to become bowl eligible.

And the Huskies approached that final, crucial drive with the same methodical, calm, panic-free mindset that had allowed the program to rebound from a 1-4 start to what would become a 5-2 finish and a bowl berth following the team’s topsy-turvy 37-27 win over the Golden Flashes.

“We knew it was their last game, Senior day; they were going to pull out all the stops. But we didn’t flinch and we haven’t flinched all year,” Huskies coach Thomas Hammock said. “We haven’t flinched all year and I am proud of our players.”

After KSU had scored on a 50-yard pass play to regain the lead at 27-24 with 10:23 left in the game, NIU started the ensuing possession at its own 25-yard line. There was still plenty of time on the clock, but given that the Golden Flashes had hit the Huskies’ defense with a number of chunk plays throughout the afternoon, a long, time-consuming drive that ended with a touchdown was just what NIU needed.

It’s what they got.

Lombardi, finishing his third season as a Huskie and seventh overall at the collegiate level, used his experience and maturity to navigate a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ate up almost six minutes of the clock.

Gavin Williams, who took over the primary ball-carrying duties at the outset of the second half for an ailing Antario Brown and rushed for 103 yards for the game – 94 in the second half – started things with a short run on first down and a five-yard effort on second down, setting up a short third-down situation.

Brown was banged up in the Western Michigan game almost two weeks ago, but he did start and run for 89 yards and a score on 11 carries.

“Starting the second half, coach Ham said, ‘We are going to rock with you, just play smart football, do what you know how to do and have fun,” said Williams. “Don’t make it something it is not. ... My goal was to make sure the chains kept moving forward, keep going down the field. With that mentality, it is less, ‘Oh, we need to be perfect,’ and more, ‘OK, we only need to get 3 yards on this play, or 4 yards on this play. Just keep moving forward and building on ourselves.

“I had no doubts, going into that last drive. It was about not trying to get too overworked or overwhelmed with the situation at hand. The boys I am out there with, they fully believe and trust the coaching staff and what they scheme up in that situation. I feel like we did a good job executing what we were supposed to in those situations.”

Lombardi connected with Williams on a 12-yard completion to keep the chains moving. Brown, who finished with 89 yards in 11 attempts, powered his way for a five-yard run that pushed the ball near midfield.

On second-and-5, Trayvon Rudolph took an end-around for a big 34-yard gain that moved the ball to the 17. One play later out of the wildcat formation, it was Williams exploding up the middle for 15 yards down to the 2.

“I thought Gavin came in and did a great job,” said Hammock. “AB wasn’t 100 percent, he got hurt the last game. Gavin came in and really gave us a spark offensively. Trayvon Rudolph with a nice spark in the running game (as well).”

On first down from the 2, the KSU defense stopped Williams. Lombardi carried the next snap for no gain and it was now a third-and-goal situation. The third time turned out to be the charm as the veteran signal-caller got enough push to find the end zone and finally put the Huskies in front for good at 27-24.

“It feels great,” said Lombardi, who scored a pair of 1-yard TDs, on the fact that he will play one more game to close out his career. “This was one of our goals at the beginning of the year. To have that goal realized is pretty special for our team, and an opportunity to win a bowl game, which this program hasn’t done in 12 years, I believe.”

NIU beat Arkansas State in the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl. They’ve played in seven bowl games since then, losing them all.

For a while, it seemed the Golden Flashes (1-11) would pick up their first win against an FBS team and deny the Huskies that chance at a bowl game. After NIU scored the first 10 points, Kent State took a 17-10 lead into halftime and had the lead in the fourth before the deciding drive.

“Guys made plays to win this game and that is the biggest thing I will take away from this game,” said Hammock. “(Lombardi) gave us the best chance possible to win the game. He stayed in the moment, one snap at a time. Guys didn’t let the score or anything that happened dictate how we were going to play the next snap. I am proud of the effort.”

The NIU defense then responded with a strong stand on the ensuing Golden Flashes possession, forcing a  turnover on downs. Then with KSU with its back to its own end zone and under one minute showing, James Ester recorded a key sack on second down and finally on the last play of the contest, NIU recovered the last of about six laterals in the end zone as time expired for a touchdown credited to Jacob Finley.

It certainly wasn’t easy, but in the end NIU left Kent with what it came for – a sixth victory and a bowl berth.

“We found a way to win and that is the only thing that matters,” said Hammock. “When you people look back, nobody cares how you did it, as long as you did it. “We did some uncharacteristic things on defense, but I liked how our offense responded.

“No game is easy. It is college football, I don’t care what their record is, it is college football. Every game is a challenge and we withstood the challenge today.”

Lombardi never lost faith in himself or the team, as momentum swung back-and-forth throughout the afternoon.

“We had confidence, I had confidence, just stick the course,” he said. “We are a good team and I knew we would come out on top in the end as long as we didn’t beat ourselves.”