NIU coach Joe Novak said he was nervous about how his team would respond after a loss. But the Huskies showed they were ready by beating Ball State 48-23 Saturday at Huskie Stadium in front of a crowd of 24,121.

“We had a lot of air let out of our balloon last week,” said Novak, about the team’s first loss of the season to Bowling Green.

The Huskies (8-1, 4-1 MAC) were able to use their running attack from the first drive of the game. Running back Michael Turner carried the ball seven times on the first possession and the Huskies as a team ran nine times in the 11-play scoring drive.

NIU quarterback Josh Haldi capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to the right. Haldi finished 13-of-18 for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

“We would’ve played last Sunday if we could’ve,” Haldi said. “We just wanted to get back on the field.”

After both teams went three-and-out on their next drives, Ball State (4-5, 3-2 MAC) was able to tie the game on running back Brad Seiss’ first career touchdown from two yards out.

NIU’s defense, without safety Akil Grant, who missed the game with an injured leg, responded after last week’s performance.

Linebacker Brian Atkinson and safety Lionel Hickenbottom each intercepted a Talmadge Hill pass in the second quarter, while Grant’s replacement Ray Smith recovered a fumble. Each of the three first-half turnovers led to an NIU touchdown.

“We’d get some momentum and then we’d throw an interception or have a dumb penalty,” Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. “This is a game of peaks and valleys, and you need to take care of the ball.”

Four plays into the second quarter, Turner scampered into the end zone from 18 yards out, putting the Huskies up 14-7. With the score, the 6-foot running back broke Stacey Robinson’s (1988-90) record for touchdowns in an NIU career with 39.

He added two more touchdowns in the game and finished with 178 total yards and three touchdowns.

Turner’s backup A.J. Harris also collected 106 yards and touchdown.

Five of NIU’s seven touchdowns were rushing.

In the second quarter, NIU scored 27 points. Turner and Haldi had touchdown runs of 18 and 10 yards, respectively. Also, Haldi threw touchdown passes to tight end Pat Raleigh and Turner to go up 34-7 at halftime.

Raleigh’s touchdown was the first of his career. After the score, kicker Steve Azar had his extra-point attempt blocked. The senior kicker had made a school-record 52 straight PAT attempts before the block.

“We had a good week of practice, but I was still concerned after last week,” Novak said. “It was certainly a nice win.”