San Diego | It wasn’t the way NIU running back Garrett Wolfe wanted to say goodbye to a school that meant so much to him.

The Huskies lost to Texas Christian University 37-7 Tuesday at the Poinsettia Bowl.

In his final game as a Huskie, the senior rushed for a disappointing 28 yards on 20 carries.

NIU (7-6) found it difficult to get its offense started from the beginning. The Huskies’ first six offensive drives resulted in three-and-outs.

The wasn’t until the seventh drive that NIU quarterback Dan Nicholson connected with receiver Matt Simon for a 62-yard completion.

That reception would be the bulk of Nicholson’s night as the sophomore completed 6 of 18 passes for 80 yards and one interception.

He also was sacked five times. One of the sacks in the second quarter knocked Nicholson to the ground and forced him out for a play.

With the air attack being kept under control, NIU relied on its ground efforts. But despite being the nation’s leading rusher, Wolfe was silenced by the nation’s No. 4 rushing defense. He did finish the season with 1,928 rushing yards – beating former Huskie Michael Turner’s 2002 Mid American Conference record of 1,915 for rushing yards in a season. LeShon Johnson still holds the NIU single-season rushing mark with 1,976 yards in 1993, before the Huskies returned to the MAC.

“It’s great to beat Michael’s record,” Wolfe said. “I think what I’ve done for this school is to set the bar very high.”

Although Wolfe set the standard for future elite NIU running backs, the Huskies couldn’t muster enough offense to produce a victory in his final game.

The first quarter saw NIU’s special teams unit create opportunities for the offense. A blocked PAT, blocked punt and pinning TCU (11-2) at its own 1-yard line gave the Huskies a chance. But the offense couldn’t convert on its positive field position.

NIU blocked three kicks on a difficult night for all phases of the Huskie attack.

“We couldn’t do much offensively,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “I thought our defense hung in there for a while.”

Novak made the emphasis of his halftime speech simple: Get first downs. The Huskies managed a grand total of one in the first half.

The Huskies would put together a drive in the third quarter with three consecutive first downs, but all the fresh sets came because of TCU penalties.

Things only became more grim for NIU as its sack leader, defensive end Larry English, sat out for the entire second half with a knee injury.

NIU’s only score came with 14:14 left in the fourth quarter when receiver Jarret Carter blocked a punt that was returned by linebacker John Tranchitella for a touchdown.

Ben Gross is a Football Beat Reporter for the Northern Star.