Sunday, September 21, 2008
Indiana State has lost 41 of its last 42 games. Northern Iowa beat South Dakota St.
Associated Press
DEKALB, Ill. — Freshman quarterback DeMarcus Grady threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another on Saturday as Northern Illinois defeated Indiana State 48-3.
The victory was the first for new Huskies’ coach Jerry Kill and it snaps a four-game Northern Illinois losing streak dating to November 2007.
Grady, a redshirt freshman from Grand Rapids, Mich., connected with senior wide receiver Matt Simon with 6:49 left in the opening half. Four minutes later, Grady scored on a 6-yard run as Northern Illinois (1-2) scored 31 unanswered points in the first two quarters.
Sycamores’ kicker Braulio Martinez broke the shutout with a 42-yard field goal just before halftime.
Indiana State (0-3) has lost 17 straight since 2006 and 41 of its last 42 games since 2004.
Grady was 2-of-2 for 24 yards and also rushed for 53 yards on 8 carries. He shared quarterback duties with senior Dan Nicholson, who was 5-of-10 for 37 yards and a touchdown. Simon led Huskies receivers with 3 catches for 42 yards.
The Huskies extended the lead to 41-3 in the third quarter on senior tailback Montell Clanton’s 1-yard run. Scoring closed with 12:12 left on a 55-yard run from sophomore running back Chad Spann, who led Northern Illinois with 71 yards on 3 carries.
No. Iowa 34, S. Dakota St. 20
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Pat Grace threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores to lead Northern Iowa in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game on Saturday.
Grace was 12 for 20 for 200 yards in the conference opener for the balanced Panthers (2-1, 1-0), who finished with 233 yards rushing. Grace threw for one score and ran for one as UNI took a 14-3 lead into the half.
SDSU (2-2, 2-1) jumped out to an early lead on a 42-yard field goal by Peter Reifenrath with 10:32 left in the first quarter. Reifenrath later kicked a 21-yard field goal.