The Huskies erased a ten-point halftime deficit to win back-to-back bowl games for just the second time in school history.
The Northern Illinois Huskies erased a ten-point second half deficit, and kept pace long enough in extra time to beat the Fresno State Bulldogs in double overtime by a final score of 28-20 and claim the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl trophy on Monday afternoon.
Fresno State (6-7, 4-3 Mountain West) had a chance to win the game in the final moments. With the score tied at 13, and with four seconds left in regulation, they lined up for a 35-yard field goal. But the kick was pushed left and the game went into overtime. It was kicker Dylan Lynch’s third miss of the game.
The Bulldogs and Huskies traded touchdowns in the first overtime but, on the very first play of the second overtime, NIU wide receiver George Dimopoulos got the ball on a jet sweep, rolled out and threw an endzone strike to fellow wideout Dane Pardridge to the Huskies their first lead of the contest. On the ensuing two-point attempt, NIU ran another Dimopoulos pass— this time targeting quarterback Josh Holst— for the two-point strike to push the leadup to eight.
Fresno State needed a touchdown to keep the game going, but after a pair of incomplete passes and a one-yard run, the Bulldogs found themselves with a fourth-and-9. On the play, quarterback Joshua Wood dropped back and the Huskies sent the house, with defensive back Jordan Hansen coming off the edge untouched, sacking the quarterback and sealing the win for NIU.
The ending of the game proved to be a shock for anyone who saw how the first half of action unfolded.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead after Holst threw an interception on the first play of the day for NIU. Fresno turned the great field position in to six points when Bryson Donelson powered his way into the endzone from a yard out. The Bulldogs would go for two but miss it, keeping it a 6-0 game.
Northern cut the lead in half on their next possession with a 16-play, 63-yard drive that ended in Kanon Woodill hitting a 29-yard field goal. But trhe Bulldogs weren’t content to let the Huskies hang around, wasting no time extending the lead to 13-3, countering with a four-play, 90-yard drive that included a 54-yard pass to Mac Dalena and a 13-yard quarterback keeper from Wood for a touchdown.
Northern once again went the way of ball control, embarking on an Odyssean drive which rambled on for 20 plays covering that covered 85- ards and included three fourth-down conversions to take 11 minutes and 53 seconds off the clock. However, it was all for nothing, as NIU was stopped at the goalline on a fourth-and-1 run up the middle, allowing the Bulldogs to take over without surrendering a point.
Special teams hi-jinks took the stage over the final moments of the first half, as Fresno State would miss a 49-yard field goal on the ensuing drive. Four plays later, the Bulldogs special teams unit redeemed itself, blocking an NIU punt to place the ball at the opposing 25-yard line with less than a minute to go. Fresno State would get one final chance at points before the half, with Lynch lining up from 42 yards out. But the ball was pushed wide right, crucially keeping the score at just a 13-3 Bulldog lead at the break.
Coming out of the half, NIU was a different team. They drove 76 yards in just seven plays and scored their first touchdown of the game, a 26-yard pass from Josh Holst to Grayson Barnes, to cut the lead to three.
Safety Nate Valcarcel would get the ball right back for the Huskies, as he picked off his fourth pass of the season and returned it to midfield, a turnover NIU would capitalize upon with a 34-yard field goal to tie the game at 13.
From there, the defenses took over and it was five straight drives of punts or turnovers on downs.
With just over three minutes remaining, the Huskies had a chance to take the lead on a 35-yard field goal, but controversially, the kick was declared no good despite seemingly trailing over the goal post. That kept the score at 13-13, the margin which would set up Dylan Lynch’s missed game-winning try.
NIU out-gained Fresno State 368-328 and was the only FBS team to hold every opponent to under 400 yards. They also didn’t allow a single 100-yard rusher all season long and only two players rushed for more than 90 all season long.
The Huskies had 207 yards passing and 161 yards rushing and finished 4-of-16 on third downs— but an impressive 4-of-6 on fourth downs. They also had the ball for nearly twice as long, with a 39:14 time of possession.
The Bulldogs had 211 yards passing and 117 yards rushing, were held to 3-of-10 on third down, and 0-of-2 on fourth. They also had eight penalties for 58 yards, to NIU’s one foul for 15 yards.
Holst finished 18-of-30 with 182 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in what could be an audition for the starting role next season. He also led the team in rushing, with 65 yards on 16 carries. Telly Johnson had 18 rushes for 56 yards and Jaylen Poe had eight carries for 34 yards. Barnes had six receptions for 57 yards and two touchdowns, while Pardridge had three catches for 59 yards and the game-winning score.
For Fresno, Wood finished the game 16-of-23 with 180 yards and a score while backup Jayden Mandal was 3-of-6 with 31 yards and an interception. Donelson was held to 82 yards on his 15 carries and Wood had 32 yards on his 11 rushes. Dalena lead all receivers with 118 yards on his six catches.
The Huskies (8-5, 4-4 MAC) have won back-to-back bowl games for just the second time in school history. In 2010, they beat Fresno State and in 2011 they beat Arkansas State. Last season, they beat Arkansas State and today they beat Fresno State. With the win, Thomas Hammock becomes the first NIU coach to win multiple bowl games, let alone back-to-back bowl games. NIU is now 6-10 in bowl games.
The Huskies are off until August 30th next year, when they open the 2025 season against the Holy Cross Crusaders at home in DeKalb.