Northern Illinois did earn some points for creativity. Unfortunately, none of those transfer to the scoreboard, where the Huskies fell 17-13 Saturday to Western Michigan.
The Huskies used a direct snap to tailback Justin Anderson to start an end-around. Wide receiver Marcus Perez threw an option pass to fellow wideout Matt Simon. They snapped to a blocker on a fake punt. And that was just in the first quarter.
The Huskies even ended the game with a planned lateral off a completed pass.
But while all of the chicanery unquestionably held the attention of the crowd of 23,057, it was not enough to avoid a third straight Mid-American Conference defeat and first homecoming loss in 10 years for NIU (1-6, 0-4).
The fourth conference loss is the most in nine years for Northern under Joe Novak.
Northern Illinois was without starting quarterback Dan Nicholson and wide receivers Britt Davis and Greg Turner because of injuries.
“We felt not having Dan and two receivers, we’d have to generate a little more,” Novak said.
But the only one of the gimmick plays that worked was the Perez-to-Simon creation for a 59-yard TD catch in the first quarter. Little else worked with any consistency.
The Huskies built a 13-10 halftime lead, but kicker Chris Nendick, who missed two point-after attempts in last weekend’s loss to Temple, missed a 25-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the half.
“That’s one we should have had,” Novak said. “If we get that, we are fighting for a field goal instead of a touchdown at the end. He’s a heck of a kicker, but he should have had that.”
Anderson, who posted his fifth straight 100-yard game with 132 yards on 29 carries, fumbled on the third play of the second half. Three plays later from the Northern Illinois 7, Tim Hiller threw to tight end Brandon Ledbetter, who outgrappled safety Mark Reiter for the ball and the go-ahead points less than two minutes into the half.
In the second half, NIU did not run a play on the Western Michigan side of the 50 until there were just less than four minutes to play, and even then it got no closer than the Broncos’ 38. Western Michigan (3-4, 2-1) buried the Huskies with three punts inside the NIU 10, and a sputtering offense that converted only 1 of 13 third downs managed only once in seven second-half possessions to run more than three plays.
“We had some chances, and a lot falls on my shoulders,” said quarterback Ryan Morris, who completed 13 of 25 passes for 144 yards in his first start.
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The injury-riddled Huskies have led at halftime in all three home games this season. They have lost all three.
“I didn’t miss the opportunity to give our kids an English lesson on the word ‘redundant,'” Novak said. “We just didn’t make a couple of plays when we needed to. That’s the story of the season.”
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