Nov. 24, 2007

Final Stats

Complete Final Stats in PDF Format

DeKalb, Ill. - For Northern Illinois, Saturday's Senior Day script was all too familiar. A young Huskie team playing short-handed battled a tough opponent to the very last play, only to fall at the end, unable to make the one or two critical plays to turn the score around.

Northern Illinois dropped a 27-21 decision to MAC West opponent Ball State Saturday in DeKalb to finish the season 3-9, 1-6 in the Mid-American Conference. With the victory, the Cardinals earned a share of the MAC West Division title as they posted a regular-season record of 7-5, 5-2 in the league.

NIU, which lost five games by a touchdown or less in 2007, scored on a 23-yard pass from back-up quarterback Ryan Morris to Evans Adonis with 1:32 left on the clock to pull within a touchdown of the Cardinals at 27-21. But Chris Nendick's onside kick was covered by Daniel Ifft to end the Huskies' upset hopes.

Morris once again performed well in making his third start of the season in relief of Dasn Nicholson, completing 24-of-44 passes for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Nine different NIU receivers caught passes with Matt Simon leading the way with seven grabs for 86 yards.

"I'm proud of these kids," said NIU Head Coach Joe Novak. "After [the losses to] Wisconsin and Toledo, we were reeling - the coaches, the players, everyone. To come back and beat Kent State at home and play really tough against Navy at Annapolis and then again today, I'm just proud. It shows the character of this team. As coaches, there is only so much we can do, only so far we can take it, and the players have to do the rest.

"I told these guys in the locker room, next season starts on Monday. I challenged them. There's potential in that locker room to be a championship football team."

Northern Illinois fell behind 3-0 after an early Ball State field goal, but put together a 15-play, 70-yard drive at the end of the first quarter to take a 7-3 lead. Morris hit Greg Turner from five yards out for the score, which came only after punter Andy Dittbenner extended the drive by completing a 10-yard pass to Anthony Mason on a fake punt attempt. Morris' touchdown pass also came two plays after NIU lost leading rusher Justin Anderson to a knee injury, leaving David Bryant as Northern's only healthy tailback. Anderson's injury made him the 32nd NIU player to go down this season.

Ball State took the lead for good on its next possession as BSU quarterback Nate Davis led the Cardinals on an 80-yard drive in just four plays, aided by a 53-yard completion to Louis Johnson. Davis completed 23-of-35 passes for 326 yards and no interceptions on the day as a pair of Cardinals went over the 100-yard mark in receiving. In addition to Johnson's five catches for 116 yards, Dante Love grabbed nine passes for 135 yards to pace BSU's passing attack.

Ball State took advantage of a Morris interception that bounced off the hands of Bryant at the NIU 20 to take a 17-7 lead as Davis scored on a one-yard sneak.

The Huskies responded two possessions later, closing the gap to 17-14 at halftime when Bryant scored from two yards out to close out an eight-play, 80-yard drive, highlighted by a 45-yard completion from Morris to Britt Davis.

Neither team got on the board in the third quarter. Ball State reached the NIU 14, but fumbled on fourth and goal from the 14.

The Cardinals did convert on its next drive as Davis hit Ray Winkler from six yards out to complete a 10-play, 74-yard drive and extend BSU's lead to 10 points at 24-14. Ball State added a field goal, this time after a Morris fumble gave the Cardinals the ball on the NIU 15.

The Huskie defense twice stopped the Cardinals inside the red zone and also held them to a field goal on another try as BSU scored 10 points off NIU turnovers. Zach Larsen led the Northern Illinois defense, which collected four sacks on the day, with two sacks and 10 tackles.

-- NIU --