how has northern illinois football extended the upset streak?
Northern Illinois parlayed a stout defense, enterprising offensive contributions and a gutsy fake punt in the fourth period to upset 13-point favorite Purdue 28-21 Saturday afternoon in front of a stunned crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Huskies (2-1) defeated a Big Ten opponent for the first time since 1988 (19-17 over Wisconsin), and only the second time in school history. NIU tied Northwestern 16-16 in 1987. Purdue (1-2) entered the game ranked first in the Big Ten in scoring and total offense. And running back Ralph Bolden was the leading rusher in the nation. Purdue and Northern Illinois met for the first time in the history of the schools. Purdue is 37-8-1 all-time against Mid-American Conference teams. The Boilermakers, perhaps looking ahead to next weekend’s date with Notre Dame, fell behind 28-7 early in the third period and failed to recover. Me’co Brown had a career-high rushing game and Chad Spann scored two touchdowns for the Huskies. NIU marched into Purdue territory on its
There has been an upset every weekend of this college football season and Northern Illinois ensured the trend would continue through Week 3. The Huskies defeated Purdue 28-21 to notch their first win over a Big Ten opponent in 19 tries. The last time NIU defeated a Big Ten opponent was Sept. 17, 1988 in a 19-17 win over Wisconsin.This is also NIU’s first win over an automatic qualifying opponent since 2003. Running back Chad Spann, who came into the game tied for the most touchdowns in the country with five, added two more on Saturday. Running back Me’Co Brown came into the game with 181 yards through his first two games and nearly matched that total against Purdue with 26 carries for 150 yards. Both of those numbers are career highs. Northern Illinois is 2-1 on the season and was a touchdown and two-point conversion against Wisconsin away from being 3-0. Coach Jerry Kill definitely has the NIU program on a major upswing and the Mid-American Conference West teams should be on alert for
