ISU Sycamores drop road contest at Northern Illinois

DeKalb, IL (9-23-2006) – The Indiana State offense came into its non-conference battle against Northern Illinois ranked fourth in the nation in total offense. The Husky defense was able to dominate, coupled with the play of NIU’s Garrett Wolfe, proved to be to much as the Sycamores left Brigham Field with a 48-14 defeat on Saturday afternoon in front of 19,720 rain-soaked fans. Indiana State drops to 0-4 on the season, while the Huskies improved to 2-2.

ISU was handcuffed for most of the evening offensively as the nationally-ranked Sycamore attack netted 264 yards of total offense, including 160 through the air. ISU showed marked improvement in the defensive passing game as the Sycamores allowed just 106 yards of passing to Huskies in defeat.

With 10:12 left in the fourth quarter, the Sycamores got on the board when Reilly Murphy plunged over the goal line to make the score 48-7. The TD rush was set up by Murphy’s 34-yard pass completion to Brian Jackson two plays earlier. The Sycamores added another score with 2:44 left in the game when backup Ben Schmidt found Carl Berman on a 20-yard scoring strike.

Things started poorly for Indiana State when Tony West fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, netted a touchdown for NIU’s Ken West as a backwards pass attempt fell to the ground and the Husky scooped the ball up and raced 11 yards for the 7-0 lead just 34 seconds into the contest. There was a careful review of the play by the Mid-American Conference, but the TD stood after a lengthy delay. It was the first play for the Sycamores to be reviewed under the revamped college football instant replay system.

NIU standout Garrett Wolfe reached the end zone four times in the first half on runs of 12, 17, 1 and 6. By the time the dust settled underneath Wolfe’s feet, NIU was staked to a 35-0 lead with 13:47 left in the second quarter.

The Sycamores showed signs of life late in the half, as the defense allowed just a 32-yard field goal off the leg of Chris Nendick as both teams raced to the locker room with NIU up 38-0.

Kyle Hooper missed a 43-yard attempt as time expired on the second quarter after the Sycamores were able to drive inside the NIU 30-yard line.

NIU marched its opening drive of the second half down inside the Indiana State 20, but the Sycamore defense benefited from a sack from Cory Blunk as well as a Husky personal foul penalty to hold them to a 38-yard field goal from Nendick for the 41-0 lead. Later in the third quarter, he would miss a 34-yard attempt.

With 1:27 left in the third quarter, NIU’s Justin Anderson raced xx yards for his first career touchdown to give the Huskies a 48-0 lead. His scamper capped a four play, 47-yard drive that consumed 1:37 of the clock.

Indiana State struggled throughout the contest to contain Wolfe, who motored through the defense for 198 yards on 18 carries and four touchdowns. He posted 130 yards in the first half.

Sycamore signal caller Reilly Murphy finished the day 12-of-23 passing for 125 yards, while Tony West led the rushing attack with 62 yards on 15 attempts. On ISU’s final drive, Schmidt was 2-of-3 passing for 35 yards and a score.

Berman led the way for ISU by catching four passes for 44 yards and a TD. Junior Alex Thomas burst onto the scene this week by pacing Indiana State with three catches for 15 yards, while career receptions leader Sam Logan caught a pair of passes for 13 yards.

Defensively, the Sycamores entered the contest with just one sack on the season, but received sacks against NIU from seniors Shonda Faulkner and Cory Blunk as well as freshman Donye McCleskey.

Indiana State returns to the gridiron next Saturday, September 30 when they travel to Southern Illinois for a 6:00 p.m. (CDT) / 7:00 p.m. (EDT) battle in Carbondale, Ill. The contest is the Gateway Football Conference opener for both schools. Live Internet Radio coverage on www.USA-365.com begins at 5:40 p.m., CDT / 6:40 p.m., EDT.