Huskies struggle again, fall to Florida State 37-19

In the rematch of the 2013 Orange Bowl, the Northern Illinois Huskies couldn’t convert the few opportunities they had against a struggling Florida State Seminoles team and fell to 1-3, as FSU hung on to win 37-19.

Even though the Huskies won the turnover battle 4-0 (forcing three fumbles and an interception), the offense failed to do anything once again...and only managed six yards running the ball on 20 attempts....just SIX yards!!!

Florida State looked sharp in the first quarter, scoring on their first two drives, and pulling out to a 14-0 lead. However, the Huskies would begin to claw their way back, scoring on a Marcus Childers’ TD pass - a 20-yard strike to Jauan Wesley - cutting the lead to 14-7.

The Seminoles have had a lot of kicking issues prior to today. Kicker, Ricky Aguayo entered the game going 1-4 but was able to hit on three field goals in a row - a pair of 42-yard kicks, and a 50-yard attempt as the first half came to an end - which pushed FSU’s lead to 23-7.

NIU would try to come back when Childers hit D.J. Brown on a 66-yard TD pass but a missed 2-point conversion would keep it a two score game, 13-23.

Early in the fourth, it looked like the Huskies would pull within three points as Childers hit Wesley again for 16-yard TD but upon further review, Wesley had stepped out of bounds and instead the Huskies tried a field goal...which, of course, kicker Andrew Gantz missed.

Two plays later, FSU would hit paydirt on a 78-yard touchdown pass from Deondre Francois to Tamorrion Terry which gave the Noles a 30-13 lead.

A few possessions later, an interception led to an 11-yard touchdown run by Childers. However, a bad snap on the extra point led to a failed 2-point conversion attempt and the Huskies trailing 19-30. NIU would force a punt but were unable to do anything on offense and turned the ball over on downs, which led to a late touchdown run by Florida State, sealing the victory 37-19.

Stats:

NIU:
Total yards: 221 (215 passing, 6 rushing)
Childers: 20-41, 215 yards, 2 TD; 11 carries, -16 yards, 1 TD
Brown: 7 catches, 117 yards, 1 TD
Wesley: 3 catches, 35 yards, 1 TD
Sutton Smith: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble

FSU:
Total yards: 473 (352 passing, 121 rushing)
Francois: 23-31, 352 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Cam Akers: 22 caries, 64 yards, 1 TD
Terry: 2 catches, 77 yards, 1 TD
Keith Gavin: 6 catches, 93 yards
Turnovers: 4 (1 INT and 3 fumbles)

NIU is back in action next Saturday when they travel up to Ypsilanti, Michigan where they’ll look to rebound against the Eastern Michigan Eagles in their second MAC game of the year.