N. Illinois routs Indiana St. 48-3
DEKALB, Ill. (AP)—Freshman quarterback DeMarcus Grady threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another on Saturday as Northern Illinois defeated Indiana State 48-3.
The victory was the first for new Huskies’ coach Jerry Kill and it snaps a four-game Northern Illinois losing streak dating to November 2007.
Grady, a redshirt freshman from Grand Rapids, Mich., connected with senior wide receiver Matt Simon with 6:49 left in the opening half. Four minutes later, Grady scored on a 6-yard run as Northern Illinois (1-2) scored 31 unanswered points in the first two quarters.
Sycamores’ kicker Braulio Martinez broke the shutout with a 42-yard field goal just before halftime.
Indiana State (0-3) has lost 17 straight since 2006 and 41 of its last 42 games since 2004.
Grady was 2-of-2 for 24 yards and also rushed for 53 yards on 8 carries. He shared quarterback duties with senior Dan Nicholson, who was 5-of-10 for 37 yards and a touchdown. Simon led Huskies receivers with 3 catches for 42 yards.
The Huskies extended the lead to 41-3 in the third quarter on senior tailback Montell Clanton’s 1-yard run. Scoring closed with 12:12 left on a 55-yard run from sophomore running back Chad Spann, who led Northern Illinois with 71 yards on 3 carries.
Indiana State starting quarterback Chuck Dowdell was 10-of-17 for 77 yards. Freshman Calvin Schmidtke was 9-of-18 for 46 yards and one interception.
Head to Head - Week 4
| Team | Total Yds | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | First Downs | 3rdD% | Pen./Yds | Turnovers | Time of Poss. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State | 154 | 123 | 31 | 11 | 26.7% | 3/15 | 4 | 32:06 |
| Northern Illinois | 363 | 78 | 285 | 15 | 50.0% | 7/69 | 3 | 27:54 |
