4-7 , 2-5
Northern Illinois
8-3 , 6-1
Bulls Drop Heartbreaker in Overtime to Northern Illinois
11/18/2021 12:18:00β―AM | Football
After a 10-10 tie at halftime, Northern Illinois scored 14-straight points in the third quarter to take a 24-10 lead and was looking to pull away. But senior defensive end Eric Black, playing his final game at UB Stadium, turned the game around with a strip sack that he recovered at the NIU 28-yard line late in the in third stanza.
Ron Cook, Jr. scored on a 22-yard run, just two plays later, to cut the Northern Illinois lead to 24-17.
After a strong defensive series by UB, the Bulls got the ball right back and drove down the field looking to tie the game. Matt Myers, making his first start at quarterback since the 2019 campaign, found Cook in the flat for a 13-yard touchdown and all the sudden the game was tied, 24-24, with 12:22 left.
Northern Illinois took the ensuing possession and drove 66 yards down the field, taking 7:24 off the clock. A 27-yard field goal gave the Huskies a 27-24 lead with 4:58 left in regulation.
When the Bulls got the ball back, they drove down the field and got into field goal range. On a 4th and 8 at the UB 33-yard line, Myers hit Dominic Johnson for a 14-yard completion to keep the drive alive.
The drive stalled at the NIU 37-yard line, giving Alex McNulty an opportunity to tie the game with a long field. All the junior kicker did was drill a 55-yard field goal β the longest in program history β to tie the game at 27-27 with just over a minute to play.
Northern Illinois had a chance to win the game in regulation but missed a 37-yard field goal as time expired, sending the game to overtime.
The Bulls got the ball first in overtime and drove all the way down to the 1-yard line. Unfortunately, the Bulls fumbled the ball into the endzone and the Huskies recovered. NIU scored on the first play of its first possession to earn the walk-off win.
After struggling over the last two games, the UB defense stepped up and had a strong showing. Redshirt-freshman Shaun Dolac earned his first career start and responded with 14 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss β both career highs. James Patterson had 11 tackles, including a career-best 3.5 tackles for loss. The senior linebacker eclipsed 100 tackles on the season. As a team, the Bulls had 10 tackles for loss in the game.
Myers finished the game 16-of-23 for 162 yards and a touchdown. Running back Dylan McDuffie had his fourth 100-yard game in the last five games, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown in the game.
The Bulls will close out the season at Ball State on Tuesday night.
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Team Stats
NIU 0, BUF 3
BUF - McNulty,Alex 32 yd field goal 13 plays, 61 yards, TOP 04:48
NIU 3, BUF 3
NIU - Richardson,John 30 yd field goal 17 plays, 64 yards, TOP 07:07
NIU 3, BUF 10
BUF - McDuffie,Dylan 1 yd run (McNulty,Alex kick), 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 02:54
NIU 10, BUF 10
NIU - Rudolph,Trayvon 75 yd run (Richardson,John kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:12
NIU 17, BUF 10
NIU - Brown,Antario 47 yd run (Richardson,John kick), 2 plays, 50 yards, TOP 00:37
NIU 24, BUF 10
NIU - Ratkovich,Clint 7 yd run (Richardson,John kick), 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 02:05
NIU 24, BUF 17
BUF - Cook,Ron 22 yd run (McNulty,Alex kick), 2 plays, 28 yards, TOP 00:31
NIU 24, BUF 24
BUF - Cook,Ron 13 yd pass from Myers,Matt (McNulty,Alex kick) 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:59
NIU 27, BUF 24
NIU - Richardson,John 27 yd field goal 14 plays, 66 yards, TOP 07:24
NIU 27, BUF 27
BUF - McNulty,Alex 55 yd field goal 11 plays, 32 yards, TOP 03:44
NIU 33, BUF 27
NIU - Ratkovich,Clint 25 yd run (), 1 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
