It didn’t take long for the NIU football team to score Saturday against Western Michigan at Huskie Stadium. And that’s the way the Huskies planned it.

For the first time all season, No. 12 NIU (7-0) scored first against its opponent. Western Michigan fell 37-10 at NIU’s 97th Homecoming.

NIU coach Joe Novak said that to offset the slow starts the Huskies have suffered from in the past, the offensive coaches started the game with a two-minute offense.

“I think our offensive coaches had a great idea,” Novak said. “Because we’ve been starting slowly, they had the idea to go into two-minute, trying to get a jumpstart, and I thought it worked great. I thought it caught them a little bit off-guard.”

The first of the three touchdown passes by NIU quarterback Josh Haldi came 2:29 into the game as Haldi connected with running back Michael Turner on a 38-yard screen pass to the right sideline. Turner finished with 173 yards on 35 carries.

Haldi finished 19-of-27 for 276 yards. WMU quarterback Chad Munson was 16-of-31 for 216 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

The Broncos racked up 229 yards passing, 116.7 yards under its season average of 344.7, which was third in the nation.

NIU’s defense took the field first and took control of the game from the opening kickoff with a three-and-out. NIU allowed the Broncos only five yards on a third and 19, forcing a punt setting up the Huskies offense at the 47-yard line.

“It was different today for our defense to go out there and get a three and out right away,” NIU defensive end Vinson Reynolds said. “We gave our offense great field position and the offense set the tone early with that touchdown. That just gave us that great feeling that we have to keep it going.”

After a Robert Menchinger 29-yard field goal put WMU on the board, the NIU offense was back on the attack.

A Turner five-yard run around the right side started the drive, and was followed by a 56-yard completion from Haldi to receiver Sam Hurd. Three Turner runs and a WMU personal foul penalty put NIU inside the five-yard line, but the Huskies couldn’t get in the end zone.

NIU kicker Steve Azar kicked a 21-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 10-3 lead. With the field goal, Azar passed Toledo’s Todd France and became the MAC’s all-time leading kick scorer with 323 points. The sellout crowd of 28,221 gave Azar a standing ovation after hearing the record over the loudspeaker.

“It’s kind of unbelievable to think that we’re only halfway through the season and I’ve achieved those marks,” Azar said. “It’s just an honor to be up there with Todd France and all those other people that have broken 300 and set the way.”

NIU also got first-half touchdowns from tight end Brad Cieslak from three-yards out and another from Turner on a nine-yard run. Azar also connected on a 22-yard field goal as NIU took a 27-3 lead into halftime.

Any thoughts of a WMU comeback seemed to be halted after the Huskies’ opening drive of the second half went 80 yards on 17 plays to the end zone. P.J. Fleck caught a slant from Haldi from 10 yards out for the score. Fleck finished with 10 catches for 103 yards.

“It was probably, in my opinion, our best football game of the year,” Novak said. “Our best 60 minutes of the year. The highlight for us was that long drive to open the third quarter. That was a great job by our offensive team.”