KENT, Ohio (AP) — Rocky Lombardi scored from a yard out with just under five minutes left in the game and Jacob Finley recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown as time expired to give Northern Illinois a 37-27 win over Kent State in the season finale Saturday afternoon.
Northern Illinois finished its season with back-to-back wins to finish 5-3 and in second place in the Mid-American Conference West Division, three games behind unbeaten 8-0 Toledo.
Kent State put up 17 points in the second quarter and took a 17-10 lead at the half. Lombardi threw 16 yards to Grayson Barnes for a touchdown to start the third quarter, then punched over from the 1 to take a 24-20 lead after three quarters.
Kent State (0-8, 1-11) took the lead on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Devin Kargman to Jameel Gardner Jr. with 10:23 left, but the Huskies answered with a 75-yard, nine-play drive that consumed almost six minutes and was capped by senior quarterback Lombardi.
The Golden Flashes put together a nine-play drive that stalled at the NIU 36-yard line when Kargman threw incomplete on fourth down, but the defense held the Huskies to a three-and-out and Kent State got the ball back at its own 9 with under a minute left. James Ester and Navaeh Sanders sacked Kargman on consecutive plays to put the ball near the goal line and Gardner fumbled on the next play.
Lombardi finished 9 of 18 passing for 183 yards and a touchdown and had two 1-yard runs for touchdowns. Gavin Williams carried 17 times for 103 yards and Antonio Brown added another 89 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
Kargman was 14 of 26 for 237 yards and two touchdowns, with Gardner catching three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Luke Floriea caught nine passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here
Казанский гроссмейстер Владислав Артемьев снова стал чемпионом России, второе место занял ростовчанин Андрей Есипенко, третье – Даниил Дубов из Москвы, а петербуржец Максим Матлаков финишировал десятым
ЦСКА намерен отдать в аренду Виктора Мендеса
Мытищинское предприятие ООО «Водомер» получило Диплом победителя в региональном конкурсе «100 лучших товаров России»
Московский экономический форум на Алтае: Подобные проблемы мы уже видели в Крыму!
Людей чудом не оказалось на остановке, в которую влетела BMW
Книжная выставка
«Без меня народ не полный…»
к 125-летию со дня рождения А.П.Платонова,
русского и советского писателя, поэта и публициста, драматурга.
Художник из Симферополя Виктор Нефедов создаст в Нальчике граффити на площади 260 квадратных метров