N. Illinois 27, Akron 10

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• N.Illinois Defeat Akron, 27-10

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	12	18
Total Yards	235	337
Passing	204	62
Rushing	31	275
Penalties	7-45	9-105
3rd Down Conversions	0-10	10-19
4th Down Conversions	0-0	1-1
Turnovers	1	0
Possession	22:56	37:04

Air/Ground Leaders
Akron Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Nicely 11/27 124 0 0 Allen 1/1 80 1 0	Northern Illinois Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Grady 10/18 62 0 0
Akron Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Alexander 19 48 0 11 Martin 1 2 0 2	Northern Illinois Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Spann 21 125 2 28 Grady 20 109 0 31
Akron Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Jones 6 154 1 80 LaFrance 1 18 0 18	Northern Illinois Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Ashford 4 30 0 9 Clark 3 18 0 7

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				AKR	NIU
	FG	02:41	Mike Salerno 22 Yd	0	3
SECOND QUARTER				AKR	NIU
	FG	02:50	Mike Salerno 37 Yd	0	6
THIRD QUARTER				AKR	NIU
	FG	10:42	Branko Rogovic 34 Yd	3	6
	TD	05:25	Andre Jones 80 Yd Pass From Alex Allen (Branko Rogovic Kick)	10	6
FOURTH QUARTER				AKR	NIU
	TD	13:35	Chad Spann 28 Yd Run (Mike Salerno Kick)	10	13
	TD	07:59	Chad Spann 2 Yd Run (Mike Salerno Kick)	10	20
	TD	00:46	Nathan Palmer 7 Yd Run (Mike Salerno Kick)	10	27

DE KALB, Ill. -- Tailback Chad Spann scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and rushed for a game-high 125 yards as Northern Illinois came from behind to beat Akron 27-10 Saturday.

Spanns 28-yard touchdown run with 13:35 to play erased a 10-6 deficit. He added a 2-yard scoring run with 7:59 showing as the Huskies (5-3, 3-1 Mid-American) won their second straight.

Nathan Palmer added a 7-yard touchdown run for Northern Illinois with 46 seconds left.

Freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely went 11 of 27 for 124 yards in his collegiate debut as the Zips (1-7, 0-4) lost their sixth straight.

Mike Salerno hit two first-half field goals as the Huskies built a 6-0 advantage.

Akron claimed its lone lead with 5:25 left in the third quarter when running back Alex Allen took a pitch from Nicely and connected with wide receiver Andre Jones on an 80-yard touchdown play for a 7-6 edge.

Jones had six catches for 154 yards. Northern Illinois quarterback DeMarcus Grady rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries and was 10 of 18 for 62 yards.