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KENT, Ohio – After trailing by 18, the NIU football team lost to Kent State on Wednesday, 52-47.
The Huskies dropped to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference, ending a 10-game winning streak against Kent State that dated to 2001. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes improved to 5-4 and 4-1.
Here are the main takeaways from the game.
Spinning Their Wheels
Kent State came into this game ranked 10th in the MAC in run defense, but you’d never know it by the way the Golden Flashes kept NIU from controlling the clock for the first three quarters. NIU managed only 80 yards on the ground on 32 carries in the first 45 minutes, less than 3 yards a carry against a defense that had been giving up more than 200 yards a game on the ground.
Jay Ducker was able to post a decent day running the ball with 101 yards on 19 carries and two scores, but 45 of those yards came on just two plays, with one being a 30-yard touchdown score after the Huskies already trailed by 18 points. Nobody else found any success against the Flashes’ front seven, resulting in NIU’s lowest rushing total of the season.
Into the Books
Trayvon Rudolph couldn’t have done much more to try to lift NIU to victory, as he followed up his breakout game against Central Michigan with a performance unmatched by anyone else in the country in 2021.
Rudolph not only shattered Sam Hurd’s single-game NIU record for receiving yards of 266, he became the first player in the Football Bowl Subdivision to reach 300 receiving yards in a game this year, finishing with 309 yards on 14 catches. In addition, he hauled in three touchdown passes, becoming the first NIU receiver to do that in a game since Nathan Palmer did so against Toledo in 2011. Over his past two games, Rudolph has 469 receiving yards, more than double his total in 2020.
Costly Play
The night looked like it was going to be a big one for both of NIU’s top receiving threats, but that was before a first-quarter play that cost the Huskies possession of the football and the services of wide receiver Tyrice Richie.
With 1:17 to go in the first quarter, Richie hauled in a pass and turned upfield, intending to get back all of the yards the Huskies had lost to a penalty and a loss of yardage on the previous two plays. However, Nico Bolden caught up to Richie and knocked the ball free, giving the Flashes possession on their own 15. But the fumble was the least of NIU’s worries, as the play was Richie’s final one of the night.
Richie later returned to the sidelines, but on crutches and wearing a walking boot. Before the injury, he had hauled in four passes for 60 yards.
Triumph and Tragedy
Rocky Lombardi’s big day throwing the ball came to an ugly end when he tried to make a play with his legs and became the victim of a targeting hit from Khalib Johns, which left Lombardi face down on the turf and unable to return to action.
Before that play, Lombardi became the first Huskie to throw for 500 yards, beating Phil Horvath’s mark of 498 yards in 2005. He finished with 532 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Analytical Problems
Analytics often have been a friend to the Huskies this season, but they hurt NIU in this game, thanks to a failure of execution. The Huskies left points on the field after touchdowns when they twice failed to convert on the 2-point conversion with the same play, as Rudolph threw an incomplete pass on a trick play and an interception on the second attempt.
NIU’s onside kick attempts went no better, as the Huskies gave Kent State a short field twice by failing to recover onside kicks in the first and third quarters. Those plays didn’t end up hurting the Huskies on the scoreboard, as NIU’s defense forced a punt each time, but the resulting punts left the Huskies pinned in their own end of the field.