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The No. 18Northern Illinois Huskies piled up over 650 yards on their way to a 59-20 victory over the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Huskies are now 8-0 - the best start to a season since 1965 when they won their first nine - and have won 24 straight home games and 21 straight MAC games. For the Eagles, it is now their seventh consecutive loss and the fourth time they have given up 50+ points in five games.
The Huskies came into this game with the fourth best rushing attack in the FBS, averaging 304 yards/game. They exploited the EMU defense, running the ball 44 times for 327 yards - 7.4 yards/carry. Four NIU players also threw for a touchdown on their way to 331 passing yards and 7 TDs.
NIU scored on its first three possessions, going up 21-0 in the first 11 minutes. By halftime, it was 38-3 and midway through the third, after the Huskies had a commanding 45-6 lead, Lynch and the starters were taken out of the game.
Lynch was unstoppable. He completed 80 percent of his passes, going 16-20 and amassing 223 yards through the air, along with 99 rushing yards, and even caught a 17-yard TD pass from Tommylee Lewis. Overall, Lynch was responsible for 339 yards and six TDs (four passing, one rushing, one receiving). Lynch became the 9th player in FBS history to throw for 5,000 yards and rush for 3,000 with his 28-yard TD pass to Da'Ron Brown midway through the third quarter.
Only 2 players in last 10 seasons w/ 4 Pass TD, Rush TD, Rec TD in a game (Jordan Lynch & Terrelle Pryor) both did it vs Eastern Michigan.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 26, 2013
Jordan Lynch is the only FBS player in last 10 seasons with 3 Pass TD, 1 Rush TD and 1 Rec TD in a half.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 26, 2013
Freshman running back, Joel Bouagnon, started in place for Cameron Stingily - who was being rested for the game. Bouagnon carried the ball 10 times for just 35 yards but had a 10-yard receiving TD in the first quarter. Even the back ups played well for the Huskies. The second-string QB, Matt McIntosh, threw a beautiful 36-yard touchdown on his only pass attempt and he also ran once for 9 yards. Drew Hare, the third-string QB, played most of the fourth quarter - going 3-5 for 55 yards with a score and 3 carries for 16 yards.
For the Eagles, it was a struggle all day. The NIU defense held them to just 173 passing yards and 164 rushing yards. Tyler Benz and Brogan Roback shared time as quarterback, but neither could muster much against the Huskies defense. Benz was just 6-15 with only 64 yards, while Roback went 7-17 for 109 yards. Both had QBRs under 23.5 (out of 100; Lynch's QBR was 91.8, and the other three NIU passers each had a QBR of 97+). Javonti Green and Bronson Hill each added 65 rushing yards.
NIU is still looking to crash the BCS and will need to jump ahead of Fresno State to do so. A few more weeks looking like this and they might be in a good position to do that.