NIU head coach Jerry Kill has learned a lot from others.

One thing he picked up from former Youngstown state head coach, and current Ohio State head coach, Jim Tressel is to keep the game close into the fourth quarter and don’t turn the ball over.
“That’s a pretty good formula,” Kill said. “You win more than you lose.”

That’s exactly what happened for the Huskies as they beat Akron 27-10 on Halloween.
The Oct. 31 victory marks the first time NIU (5-3 overall, 3-1 MAC) has won on the holiday in the major college era. But things didn’t look so sweet for the Huskies in the middle of the game.

Down 6-3, Akron (1-7, 0-4) used a trick to start the third quarter.

Zips quarterback Patrick Nicely threw a quick pitch to running back Alex Allen. The Zips ran the same play on their final drive of the first half. But instead of running with the ball, Allen planted his feet and heaved the pigskin down field.

“They set it up pretty well,” said NIU defensive end Brandon Bice. “It was a cheap one.”

The trick play resulted in an 80-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Jones and a 10-6 Akron lead. Jones finished the day with 154 receiving yards.

But NIU battled back to take a 13-10 lead on a 28-yard rush by Chad Spann in the fourth quarter. The tailback started the run on the left side of the field, but bounced off a defender and changed direction to the right side of the end zone.

Spann added a second touchdown in the middle of the final quarter, putting the Huskies up 20-10. The running back led NIU with 125 yards on 21 attempts. This is the second straight week that Spann has eclipsed the 100-yard mark.

But the tailback wasn’t the only Huskie to use his legs. NIU quarterback DeMarcus Grady rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries.

“I just play the game,” Grady said. “I take the lanes that they give me.”

The redshirt sophomore also completed 10-of-18 passes for 62 yards. While he did not throw a touchdown, Grady also did not produce any turnovers.

Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart felt that Grady was the key to NIU’s 275 rushing yards, compared to Akron’s 31 yards.

“You’ve got a quarterback that changes things,” Brookhart said. “You have to respect the pass, but you have to commit to the run – the quarterback run.”

Nicely experienced some tricks of his own in the game. For the first time this season, the freshman was sacked, with NIU getting to the quarterback three times. On one of those sacks, Bice caused Nicely to fumble the ball at NIU’s 20-yard line. The fumble was recovered by Huskie safety Tracy Wilson.

Overall, Nicely went 11-of-27 for 124 yards. The freshman, however, never completed a third down pass. NIU’s defense prevented Akron from converting a single third down, as the Zips were 0-for-10 in third down conversions.

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