KALAMAZOO, Mich. | Zero, natta, nothing, zilch — that’s how many rushing yards the NIU offense produced against Western Michigan.

NIU running back Garrett Wolfe, the nation’s leading rusher, only had 18 chances to break through the No. 12 rushing defense in the country.

Wolfe had 25 yards and averaged 1.4 yards per carry. The senior’s longest run of the day, 8 yards, was well shy of the 40-plus yard touchdown runs the Huskies have become accustom to in past weeks.

But the Huskies (4-3 Overall, 2-3 MAC) couldn’t worry about the lack of long runs as Wolfe struggled to exit the backfield.

The Chicago native averaged negative one yard per carry after the first quarter — Not the normal situation for a running back which came into the game averaging over 200 yards per game.

WMU (4-2, 2-1) did something Ohio State couldn’t — shut down NIU’s running game.

“I don’t think it was anything in particular we saw on defense,” Wolfe said. “We’ve seen it all. They just executed better.”

Although, it appeared as if Wolfe and the NIU offense couldn’t be held down forever.

It was early in the fourth quarter when Wolfe unleashed a classic “Wolfe rush”. The 5-foot-7 back dodged rushers and defenders left and right, braking through gaps opened for split seconds. Racing towards the sideline, the senior hustled with a new sense of urgency to reach the endzone.

Wolfe didn’t reach his goal and was shoved out at the WMU five-yard line. His body slid on the rubber turf as he extended himself in hopes of adding six points to the Huskies score.

But there was a problem, a big problem. The play never happened according to the game recap. It was negated because of a Britt Davis holding penalty with WMU up 13-7.

Instead of first and goal at the WMU five-yard line, it was second and 12 on the WMU 31-yard line.

NIU’s No. 7 rushing offense was forced to abandon the run and rely on its No.74 passing offense.

“There’s nothing to tell you,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “It wasn’t a fancy scheme. They just executed well.”

Ben Gross is an NIU football beat reporter for the Northern Star.