DeKALB, Ill. - With the chance to complete a comeback and rattle Northern Illinois' home-opener plans, North Dakota fell a touchdown short, 24-17, to its second FBS opponent in as many games.
After cutting the margin down to six with a field goal and then forcing the Huskies to punt, the Fighting Sioux found themselves in possession with 57 seconds left on the clock. Senior quarterback Jake Landry (Grand Forks, N.D.) helped move the Sioux downfield, but the team was unable to make a connection on a pair of passes as the time ran out.
"What I wanted to see from week one to week two was improvement,"UND head coach Chris Mussman said. "The effort tonight was outstanding. I saw that football team that I thought we had. We are disappointed in the loss, but I'm proud of the effort and the way we performed."
Led by redshirt freshman Greg Hardin (WR, Bellvue, Neb.), UND tallied 267 yards through the air. Hardin captured 171 of those yards himself, including a stunning 85-yard fingertip touchdown reception from Landry in the third quarter.
Landry finished 18-for-31 for 167 yards. His 85-yard TD bomb to Hardin marked the longest pass of his career.
UND also showed marked improvements on defense and special teams.
For the second game in a row, junior Dan Hendrickson (LB, Minot, N.D.) led defensively with a career-high nine tackles (seven unassisted). He was joined at the top of the list by Ross Cochran (Jr., LB, Kenosha, Wis.), Kris Ankenbauer (Sr., DB, Murphy, Texas), and Mitch Goetz (Jr., LB, Rothschild, Wis.), who each had tackles.
Junior cornerback Dominique Hawkins (Plymouth, Minn.) stepped in with an interception just before the half and took it in for UND's first touchdown of the year. He also added four solo tackles.
Also chiming in with big plays, blocks to be exact, were redshirt freshman offensive lineman Darren DeNeui and junior wide receiver Chris Anderson. Stepping in on special teams, DeNeui, a 6-foot-8 Chancellor, S.D., native blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. Anderson's punt block late in the fourth quarter set UND up for a field goal.
"I knew North Dakota was going to be a good football team" head NIU coach Jerry Kill said. "That program has always done a great job. I have a lot of respect for that team."
It was the combination of quarterback Chandler Harnish and running back Chad Spann that ultimately made the difference for Northern Illinois. Harnish finished 14-for-25 for 146 yards and a touchdown pass. He also added 178 yards on the ground, including a 40-yard run. Spann, who ran the opening play in for a 79-yard touchdown, recorded 140 yards on 21 carries and another 20 yards on three receptions.
The Fighting Sioux will open the home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 18 when they host Northeastern State at the Alerus Center in the 45th annual Potato Bowl USA game.
On the first play of the opening drive, Spann took the ball 79 yards downfield and into the end zone to give the Huskies a very early lead. With the PAT and another TD at 5:47, Northern Illinois led the Sioux, 13-0.
North Dakota got its first look at a touchdown late in the first quarter, but after review, Landry's 1-yard quarterback keeper was pulled back and marked inside the NIU 1-yard line. On the ensuing play, an attempted end zone dive by Murray was abruptly stopped by the Huskie's Tommy Davis and Devon Butler.
Just inside the second stanza, junior defensive lineman Broc Bellmore (West Fargo, N.D.) and senior linebacker Curtis Dublanko (Thorsby, Alberta) had a hand in the stopping NIU on a 3rd-and-three situation at the UND 5-yard line. Rather than attempt the 4th-and-three, the Huskies pulled back and punched in a 23-yard field goal to up their lead to 16-0.
Late in the second quarter, redshirt freshman Darren DeNeui cast the first block onto the 2010 UND Golden Brick Pile. At 6:08 in the second quarter, he stuffed a 27-yard kick attempt by Mathew Sims. In an individual player breakdown by the Great West Conference, DeNeui stands a tall 6-foot-8 alongside teammate Caleb Gillson (So., Buyck, Minn.) as the tallest players in the league.
With the clock ticking down toward halftime, Dominique Hawkins put UND on the board for the first time this season with a defensive touchdown. The junior cornerback from Plymouth, Minn., picked off a Chandler Harnish pass at the UND 37 and ran it 63 yards for the score. That play marked the third time in his career that Hawkins has turned an interception into a touchdown.
The intensity remained high for both teams coming out of the break, but neither was able to put up a score until Hardin pulled in his second finger-tip catch of the game.
Facing a second-and-13 from their own 37-yard line, Landry shuffled and then launched the ball towards Hardin as he crossed midfield. Hardin leapt above his defender and after pulling the ball down by his fingertips, scrambled away from three oncoming Huskies for the touchdown. The play marked the first career touchdown for Hardin and the longest career pass overall for Landry.
With the kick by Zeb Miller (RFr., Ankeny, Iowa), UND cut the margin down to two points to make it a 16-14 game with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Harnish ran in for his first touchdown of the game. The 40-yard quarterback keeper and the extra point to follow gave the Huskies the 23-14 lead just seven seconds into the new half.
Deep inside the fourth quarter, Miller knocked in a 40-yard field goal to cut the NIU lead down to 23-17.
After forcing the Huskies to punt out of the ensuing drive, UND found itself with the opportunity to tie and, better yet, take the lead. But after moving the ball 35 yards downfield, both of Landry's attempts to connect with Hardin failed, leaving the Sioux with their second loss of the season.
GAME NOTES: Game captains were Jake Landry, Ryan Kasowski, Ross Cochran and Keith Queoff ... North Dakota is now 1-1-0 against Northern Illinois since 1965 ... When playing on Sept. 11, UND is now 6-2-0 overall, 4-1-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road ... With the loss to Northern Illinois (Sept. 11), head coach Chris Mussman's career record shifted to 12-11, his conference record remained at 3-4 and his record against non-conference moved to 9-7 ... All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 602-360-30 (.607) on the gridiron ... The Nov. 13 game at Montana will mark the 1000th football game in UND history.
- Go Sioux -
