It is said that records are made to be broken.

That is a statement that may have been in the minds of NIU’s defensive unit Saturday against Miami (Ohio).

Holding the RedHawks to –11 yards on the ground, NIU broke the school record for rushing yardage allowed. The Huskies did so on 27 Miami attempts for a per-carry average of -0.4 yards. This also broke an NIU record, as the previous mark was -0.3 yards per carry against Temple in 2006.

Home un-sweet home

It was a great homecoming weekend in Oxford, Ohio.

Miami wasn’t having the homecoming it was hoping to, however.

NIU true freshman and Ohio native Perez Ashford scored a touchdown on his first return as a Huskie. Ashford took a RedHawk punt back 44 yards for his first career touchdown.

It was NIU’s first punt returned for a touchdown since Dan Sheldon took one back against Akron in 2005.

Sacked

Any coach will say that to have a chance to win, you must make your opponent one-dimensional on offense.

The Huskies effectively stopped the run against Miami and forced RedHawks quarterback Zac Dysert to beat them through the air. Although Dysert was able to amass 348 passing yards, Huskie pass rushers were able to go after him full force, resulting in eight sacks.

This is the most for an NIU team in one game since it totaled 10 against Wisconsin in 2002.
NIU defensive end Jake Coffman also had a career-high 2.5 sacks against the RedHawks.

Bottom feeding

There may be no place like home, but when a football team gets to face subpar opponents on its own turf, the grass turns much greener.

That’s the situation that NIU finds itself in over the next three weeks, as it faces three teams with a combined two wins between them.

This week, the Huskies will face Akron, who are sitting at 1-6 overall, and then they take on winless Eastern Michigan and 1-7 Ball State. This homestand will be pivotal for NIU to gain ground in the conference standings.

NIU finishes out the season with a pair of tough road games against Ohio and MAC West-leading Central Michigan.

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