DeKALB | Five of NIU’s first seven possessions resulted in field goal attempts when quarterback Phil Horvath was in the game Saturday.

Four of those five attempts came when Horvath and the Huskies could not get into the end zone after driving inside Temple’s 20-yard line.

All this came against Temple’s No. 117 defense of 119 college teams.

With Temple stacking the box to stop NIU running back Garrett Wolfe, the Huskies passed on seven of their first eight plays.

The drive ended on Temple’s 19-yard line after Horvath missed wide receiver Marcus Perez.

“We’ve got to show people we can throw it,” said NIU coach Joe Novak. “It’s hard not to give it to No. 1, but we can’t run it otherwise.”

The Huskies’ second drive finished on a touchdown toss from Horvath to receiver Matt Simon. Although, Simon was waving his arms for nearly three seconds before Horvath found him in the back of the end zone.

Their next drive stalled on Temple’s seven-yard line after Horvath misfired to receiver Marcus Lewis.

NIU’s fifth drive stalled on Temple’s five yard line after Horvath missed tight end Brandon Davis. And on their next drive the Huskies were stopped on Temple’s 19 after three consecutive incomplete passes by Horvath.

“We came out with a check system because they were stacking the box,” Horvath said. “Temple was doing stuff on defense [offensive coordinator John] Bond hasn’t seen in 21 years.”

To start the second half, Horvath passed to wide receiver Greg Turner, who ran it in for a 23-yard score.

Horvath completed 18 of 28 passes for 253 yards and had two scores.

On back-up quarterback Dan Nicholson’s first drive, he hit senior receiver Jarret Carter for a 24-yard score.

After a five-yard punt by Temple, Nicholson found receiver Britt Davis for a 21-yard touchdown.

Nicholson completed nine passes on 14 attempts for 124 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.