KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Josh Haldi had a career day under center for the NIU football team Saturday in a win at Western Michigan.

However, Broncos coach Gary Darnell wasn’t impressed by the 6-foot-2, 216-pound quarterback.

“He made about one rifle throw, all the rest of those are jump balls,” Darnell said. “And it really doesn’t take a whole lot to get that done.”

Despite that, no quarterback in 41 years at NIU had accomplished what Haldi did.

The senior quad-captain threw six touchdowns, one off the all-time school mark of George Bork in 1963. Haldi tied Bob Heimerdinger’s mark set in 1951.

Huskies running back Garrett Wolfe’s 78-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage helped open up Haldi’s passing lanes.

“They made a decision to stop Garrett, so we just had to do our part,” said Haldi, who was rested in the fourth quarter. “They just kept giving us the pass and brought the safety down, and we were playing man-up.”

Haldi passed for 333 yards on 15-of-22 completions with no interceptions.

As a unit, the Huskies accounted for 652 total yards, which was an opponents’ record for the Broncos and third-highest in NIU history.

At the half, Haldi had 258 yards passing and four touchdowns to give NIU a 42-17 lead; apparently enough to make Darnell change his game plan slightly.

“We weren’t going to play any zone going into this thing,” said Darnell, who pointed the finger at his defense up front for not being able to pressure Haldi enough. “Then, finally we had to tell ourself we’d have to play it sometime.”

Haldi now has 51 career touchdowns and stands nine behind Bork for the NIU career record with three regular-season games remaining.

Saturday marked Haldi’s fourth full game this season after aggravating a stress fracture in his right foot in NIU’s season opener.

The Huskies offense, which features the MAC’s top rushing offense, is beginning to click with NIU’s passing game coming around, Haldi said.

“We can do both right now,” said Haldi, about passing and running effectively. “I guarantee there are things we missed and you are always striving to play perfect. We’re getting there.”