09-25-2004, 08:52 PM
Huskies off and running in MAC
September 25, 2004
BY JOE GODDARD Staff Reporter Advertisement
DEKALB, Ill. -- Northern Illinois surprised Bowling Green with a small package Friday night, unleashing 5-7 sophomore Garrett Wolfe for 202 yards on 31 carries and three touchdowns in a 34-17 victory to open the Mid-American Conference season.
Filling in for A.J. Harris -- who missed the second half with a sprained right ankle after gaining 46 yards on 13 carries in the first half -- Wolfe provided a spark for the Huskies (2-2), who outscored the Falcons 27-10 after halftime before a crowd of 25,819 and a national ESPN2 audience.
"Everybody did a great job to help me do mine,'' said Wolfe, a graduate of now-defunct Holy Cross High School in River Grove who missed last season for academic reasons. "All I had to do was run.''
Wolfe's only carry in the first half was a two-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when coach Joe Novak passed up a field-goal try with the score 7-7.
"A.J. tried to start the second half, but after warming up, he said he couldn't go,'' Novak said. "A.J. will be fine, especially after watching Garrett.''
Dan Sheldon, who had 197 all-purpose yards last week in a 48-41 loss at Iowa State, was kept under wraps in the first half.
"We need to get Danny some more touches,'' Novak said of the senior wide receiver, who missed most of last season with a dislocated left elbow. "He's a weapon back there.''
The real first-half weapon was Sam "Birdman'' Hurd. He caught passes of eight, five and 10 yards on NIU's 76-yard touchdown drive, which Harris capped with a two-yard run up the middle.
Sheldon, though, electrified the crowd on the first play of the second half by flying past a defender for a 42-yard catch from Phil Horvath. That set up a 25-yard field goal by freshman Chris Nendick for a 10-7 lead. It soon expanded to 24-10 when Wolfe sandwiched touchdown runs of 42 and 21 yards around a Bowling Green field goal.
The teams swapped fourth-quarter touchdowns, Wolfe going in from eight yards out and Omar Jacobs scoring his second touchdown for the Falcons (1-2) before Nendick kicked a 29-yard field goal.
"We're a veteran team, and we had some veterans who didn't play well at all,'' Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon said. "It's my job to find out why.''
Novak likes playing the Falcons. "This really has turned into a truly great game,'' he said. "I've been around the MAC for many years. I don't know if this rivals Miami-Marshall or Toledo-Marshall or whatever. For us, though, it's big.
"How big? The bottom line is winning our division. That's our route to a bowl game, and this game is the first step.''
Novak, however, wished the game had been played today.
"As an old high school coach, I'm really not in favor of a Friday night game,'' he said. "At the same time, it's great national exposure for our program, for Bowling Green and for our league.''
September 25, 2004
BY JOE GODDARD Staff Reporter Advertisement
DEKALB, Ill. -- Northern Illinois surprised Bowling Green with a small package Friday night, unleashing 5-7 sophomore Garrett Wolfe for 202 yards on 31 carries and three touchdowns in a 34-17 victory to open the Mid-American Conference season.
Filling in for A.J. Harris -- who missed the second half with a sprained right ankle after gaining 46 yards on 13 carries in the first half -- Wolfe provided a spark for the Huskies (2-2), who outscored the Falcons 27-10 after halftime before a crowd of 25,819 and a national ESPN2 audience.
"Everybody did a great job to help me do mine,'' said Wolfe, a graduate of now-defunct Holy Cross High School in River Grove who missed last season for academic reasons. "All I had to do was run.''
Wolfe's only carry in the first half was a two-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when coach Joe Novak passed up a field-goal try with the score 7-7.
"A.J. tried to start the second half, but after warming up, he said he couldn't go,'' Novak said. "A.J. will be fine, especially after watching Garrett.''
Dan Sheldon, who had 197 all-purpose yards last week in a 48-41 loss at Iowa State, was kept under wraps in the first half.
"We need to get Danny some more touches,'' Novak said of the senior wide receiver, who missed most of last season with a dislocated left elbow. "He's a weapon back there.''
The real first-half weapon was Sam "Birdman'' Hurd. He caught passes of eight, five and 10 yards on NIU's 76-yard touchdown drive, which Harris capped with a two-yard run up the middle.
Sheldon, though, electrified the crowd on the first play of the second half by flying past a defender for a 42-yard catch from Phil Horvath. That set up a 25-yard field goal by freshman Chris Nendick for a 10-7 lead. It soon expanded to 24-10 when Wolfe sandwiched touchdown runs of 42 and 21 yards around a Bowling Green field goal.
The teams swapped fourth-quarter touchdowns, Wolfe going in from eight yards out and Omar Jacobs scoring his second touchdown for the Falcons (1-2) before Nendick kicked a 29-yard field goal.
"We're a veteran team, and we had some veterans who didn't play well at all,'' Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon said. "It's my job to find out why.''
Novak likes playing the Falcons. "This really has turned into a truly great game,'' he said. "I've been around the MAC for many years. I don't know if this rivals Miami-Marshall or Toledo-Marshall or whatever. For us, though, it's big.
"How big? The bottom line is winning our division. That's our route to a bowl game, and this game is the first step.''
Novak, however, wished the game had been played today.
"As an old high school coach, I'm really not in favor of a Friday night game,'' he said. "At the same time, it's great national exposure for our program, for Bowling Green and for our league.''