The Huskies asserted their talent dominance late to seal a home win over UMass.
After early struggles with UMass, Northern Illinois used a steady ground attack to pull away from the Minutemen late for a 34-20 win. The Huskies dominated in the trenches on both sides, rushing for 367 yards and sacking Taisun Phommanchanh four times.
Once again, the Minutemen proved they could play the best of their future conference. However, poorly timed miscues made the game seem less competitive than it was.
After a Taisun Phommachanh fumble gave Northern Illinois a 15-yard path to the end zone, which they took advantage of to take an early 7-0 lead, UMass took control of the first half. The Minutemen scored 13 unanswered points on two Jacob Lurie field goals and a 58-yard touchdown pass from Taisun Phommachanh to T.Y. Harding to take a 13-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, limiting NIU’s offense thanks in part to several forced turnovers on Ethan Hampton.
In the second half, Northern Illinois made their adjustment, showing no reservations about its intention to run the ball. The Huskies’ run game ran the ball for 249 yards in the second half. with Hampton only tossing the ball twice in the final 30 minutes. Three rushing touchdowns, two of which came from Jaylen Poe, gave the Huskies 20 unanswered points and a 14-point lead over the Minutemen late in the fourth quarter.
The Minutemen came within one score of the Huskies with another touchdown pass from Phommachanh to Harding with 3:16 left in the game making it a 27-20 score, but the ensuing kick return placed the ball at the UMass four-yard line, and the Huskies shut the door on the potential comeback on a Ethan Hampton one-yard run for the game’s final score of 34-20.
NIU showed they are a team the MAC continues to dread playing with their physical and consistent run game. The Huskies are still a frontrunner in the MAC and arguably played better than Toledo against the Minutemen. The Huskies’ tremendous backfield depth shined Saturday. Antarrio Brown left the second quarter with an injury, but Gavin Williams and Jaylen Poe combined for 223 yards in his absence. The Huskies will wear down defenses with this trio of backs later in the year.
UMass once again showed hope for next year when they re-enter the MAC. Nonetheless, special teams negatively impacted the Minutemen’s efforts, and there are still questions surrounding the offensive line and offensive playcalling. The 367 rushing yards allowed against the Huskies give the defense a bleak outlook against an SEC offensive front next week against Missouri. On the bright side, T.Y. Harding and Sterling Galban proved they could complement new star Jakobie Keeney-James in the receiving corps.
NIU travels a Bowling Green squad that nearly beat #7 Penn State next week in one of the most meaningful MAC games of the year. The Huskies could be out of the Playoff race, but with a win against the Falcons, they can position themselves well for a coveted top-two spot in the conference. UMass hosts Missouri in one of the most anticipated games in McGuirk Alumni Stadium’s history.