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Northern Star

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Football downs Buffalo after late scare

By Christopher Loggins | November 11, 2015

Football (7-3, 5-1 MAC) defeated Buffalo (5-5, 3-3 MAC) for its fifth straight win and tied UB for the second most wins in the MAC.The Huskies hopped to an early first quarter lead after Buffalo scored an early touchdown, scoring 14 first-quarter points...

Huskies down undefeated Toledo

By Thomas Hiley | November 5, 2015

Football (6-3, 4-1 MAC) prevailed in the Glass Bowl on Tuesday, increasing its current win streak against Toledo (7-1, 4-1 MAC) to six games.NIU suffered injuries to two of its top offensive players in the win. Senior wide receiver Tommylee Lewis and...

Football knocks off undefeated Toledo for 6th straight time

By Christopher Loggins | November 4, 2015

Football (6-3, 4-1 MAC) fought back from an early deficit to defeat Toledo (7-1) and gained bowl eligibility in the process.The Huskies surrendered 17 early points to the Rockets, but closed the gap as the first quarter ended with a score of 17-10. Sophomore...

Junior wide receiver Kenny Golladay runs in an Oct. 10 game against Ball State. The Huskies went on to win the game 59-41, breaking its three-game losing streak.

Football leaps to .500 after after blowout win over Miami

By Christopher Loggins | October 19, 2015

Football (4-3, 2-1 MAC) bumped its win streak to two on Saturday, downing Miami (Ohio) (1-6) in a 33-point blowout.It was the second consecutive game in which NIU scored at least 45 points. The Huskies have accomplished this feat three times this season.First...

Football takes loss to CMU in tough bout

By Christopher Loggins | October 5, 2015

Turnovers and low scoring gave football (2-3, 0-1 MAC) its third straight loss as it fell 29-19 to Central Michigan (2-3, 1-0 MAC) to end its three-game road trip.First halfNIU got off to a quick start in the first quarter as sophomore cornerback Shawun...

Huskies take down UNLV 38-30

By Patrick Smith | September 8, 2015

Football (1-0, 0-0 MAC) opened the season Saturday with a win over UNLV (0-1, 0-0 MWC), rallying in the second half of the game to defeat the Rebels 38-30.UNLV opened the game with an immediate strike, scoring on a 64-yard pass from senior quarterback...

NIU football plays the Marshall Thundering Herd in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Boca Raton Bowl Rapid Reaction: Marshall 52, NIU football 23

By Frank Gogola | December 23, 2014

What happened: The Huskies (11-3) lost to the Conference USA-champion Marshall Thundering Herd (13-1), 52-23, in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl Tuesday at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.How it happened: The Thundering Herd jumpstarted their scoring with...

NIU Huskies conquer Bowling Green Falcons in MAC Championship, 51-17

By Frank Gogola | December 8, 2014

Football put its best foot forward on the big stage Friday in the MAC Championship game after months of close victories.The Huskies (11-2) blew out the Bowling Green Falcons (7-6), 51-17, in the MAC title contest at Ford Field in Detroit. This is the...

DaRon Brown (4), redshirt senior wide receiver, jumps to catch a pass during the Dec. 5 MAC Championship game against Bowling Green at Ford Field in Detroit. NIU won, 51-17.

MAC Championship Rapid Reaction: NIU football 51, Bowling Green Falcons 17

By Frank Gogola | December 5, 2014

What happened: In a role reversal of the 2013 MAC Championship game, the Huskies (11-2) blew out the Bowling Green Falcons (7-6), 51-17, to capture the 2014 MAC title Friday at Ford Field in Detroit.How it happened: Redshirt senior safety Dechane Durante...

Ford Field in Detroit before the start of the NIU-Bowling Green MAC Championship 2014 game.

MAC Championship at the half: NIU up 20-10 over Bowling Green

By Frank Gogola | December 5, 2014

The Huskies turned a pair of first-quarter interceptions into 10 points.They converted redshirt senior safety Dechane Durante’s interception on the game’s opening drive into a 5-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Hare. An interception...

Breaking Down the Broncos

By Frank Gogola | November 25, 2014

The No. 14 football team will close out its regular season with a matchup against Western Michigan at 6 p.m. today at Huskie Stadium. The Huskies (11-0, 7-0 MAC) will look to win their 12th straight game, increase their nation-leading home winning streak to 26 games and extend their nation-leading conference winning streak to 25. The Huskies also look to claim the school’s first undefeated record as an FBS program in school history. Sports writer Brian Earle (@NSSBrianE22) will break down the Broncos.

Quarterback: The Broncos’ starting quarterback job has been back and forth all season between senior Tyler Van Tubbergen and redshirt freshman Zach Terrell. Van Tubbergen has made six starts compared to Terrell’s five, but he is out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Terrell started in the Broncos’ most recent game against Central Michigan. He has been up and down in his first season, throwing eight touchdowns as well as eight interceptions. He completes 53.3 percent of his passes and has thrown for 1,463 yards this season. He is not a mobile quarterback as on the season he has totaled -15 rushing yards.

Running back: The Broncos feature two running backs in their backfield with a similar number of carries. Senior Dareyon Chance has carried the ball 138 times for 658 yards while senior Brian Fields has 143 carries for 552 yards. Fields has done a better job of finding the end zone this season as he has six rushing touchdowns compared to Chance’s two touchdowns. In the red zone, Fields will see the bulk of the carries. Fields is used sparingly in the passing game as he has caught 13 passes for 122 yards.

Wide Receiver: The playmaker in the Broncos’ offense is freshman Corey Davis. Davis leads the Broncos and the nation’s freshman wide receivers in receiving yards, receptions, receiving yards per game, yards per catch and receiving touchdowns. He has recorded 64 receptions for 913 yards and six touchdowns. He averages 14.3 yards per catch and 91.3 yards per game. On the season he has recorded two 100-yard receiving games. With 87 more yards he will become the fourth wide receiver in MAC history to reach 1,000 yards in his freshman season.

Offensive line: The most experienced member of the Broncos’ offensive line is senior Terry Davisson. He is the anchor of a line that has surrendered 20 total sacks for a loss of 142 yards this season. They will be challenged by the Huskies’ defensive unit, which is fourth in the MAC with 28 sacks this season. Since Terrell is not a very mobile quarterback, the offensive line will have to buy as much time as it can for Terrell to find an open receiver. If Terrell doesn’t have any time to throw, it could be a long day for Western Michigan.

Defensive line: Senior Travonte Boles has done a little bit of everything for the Broncos at defensive tackle this season. He has recorded 51 total tackles on the season and been a force at stopping the run, with five tackles for a loss of 12 yards. Boles can also get after the quarterback as he has 1.5 sacks as well as a quarterback hurry on the season. Boles has also been solid in pass coverage this season as he grabbed an interception and broken up three passes. He is also coming off a game in which he blocked a PAT attempt against Central Michigan.

Linebacker: Senior Kyle Lark has been a tackling machine for the Broncos this season. He is the second-leading tackler on the team with 88 total tackles. He has been strong against the run, making five tackles for a loss of 11 yards. He has not recorded a sack on the season, but in pass coverage he has recorded two pass deflections and two pass breakups. He has not picked off a pass, but he has one fumble recovery on the season.

Secondary: The leader of the defense is junior strong safety Justin Currie. The strong safety leads the Broncos with 103 total tackles, 54 of them solo. He is a hard-hitting defensive back, recording two fumbles on the season. He has made seven tackles for a loss of 20 yards and gotten to the quarterback once this season. He is strong in pass coverage as he has picked off three passes while breaking up nine passes. The Huskies will want to be aware of where Currie is on the field at all times.

Special teams: Sophomore kicker Andrew Haldeman has been the Broncos’ leading scorer this season. He has been responsible for 66 points this season, which is 30 more than the next-highest scorer. He has been an accurate kicker this season, hitting 16-18 field goals. He has been busy kicking field goals of late as nine of his 16 field goals have come in the last two games. Haldeman hit six field goals against Eastern Michigan and three against Central Michigan. He also has not missed an extra point, hitting 18-18 PATs.

5 minutes with… Christian Hagan

By Frank Gogola | November 17, 2014

Freshman place kicker Christian Hagan has provided stability in the kicking game during football’s past two wins.Hagan took over place kicking duties from senior Tyler Wedel against the Ball State Cardinals Nov. 5 in Muncie, Ind. Through two games Hagan...