RUN TO WIN.

Maybe the Northern Illinois University athletic department fundraising off that win at Notre Dame by selling "No luck needed" tee shirts and sweatshirts irritated the Gods of Football.  Subsequently, the team led in every statistical category against Buffalo but the final score, and then went to North Carolina State, coached by former Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren, and committed several turnovers.  That game took place before Helene made its way inland.

The weekend's opponent was the Minutemen of the University of Massachusetts, this year playing a number of nonconference games against Mid-American teams prior to re-affiliating with the conference next year.  There was a football-only affiliation with the Mid-American in the early 'teens, which mostly involved lopsided games won by Northern Illinois, even in Foxboro.

Saturday was a windy, warm day, good for pre-gaming in the tailgating areas and on the lawn, and for sun-tanning in the stands.

Last week, Northern Star sports columnist Skyler Kisellus had an instructive conversation with Dean Wendel, head sports editor with Massachusetts's Daily Collegian.  Mr Wendel had a good grasp of what he had seen.

I think UMass has found out a lot about itself over its first four MAC games. Specifically, the team’s learned where it struggles the most, which is in its discipline and its special teams unit. Last week against Miami (Ohio), the Minutemen’s eight penalties for 65 yards actually marked one of the team’s most disciplined performances of the season. Even with last week’s game factored in, UMass is still averaging slightly over 88 penalty yards per game, which is sixth-worst in the FBS. On special teams, the Minutemen have struggled with kicking for years, and 2024 is no different. In his first year at UMass, Vanderbilt transfer Jacob Lurie is 6-of-12 on field goals this year and 2-of-8 from beyond 40 yards. The Minutemen have also struggled with kickoff and punt coverage, allowing multiple big returns to opponents. The trenches have also been an area of concern against MAC teams, although last week’s against the RedHawks saw noticeable improvement from both the offensive and defensive lines.

His understanding of how the game might play out was not far off, either.

I think this game will start off tight. Despite losing three games by double digits, only once in 2024 has UMass gone into halftime down multiple possessions. I think Don Brown’s blitz-heavy schemes will work against Brown and Northern Illinois early, but the UMass offense won’t be able to capitalize off of defensive stops. After carrying a one-possession lead into halftime, Ethan Hampton and Brown will have more success in the second half while the Huskies’ defensive athleticism stifles the Minutemen. Prediction: 24-10 Northern Illinois.

The game, as played, had the potential to start out as a rout.  Massachusetts, however, had those early answers.

The Huskies opened up scoring on the third play of the game when redshirt junior quarterback Ethan Hampton connected with senior fullback Brock Lampe for a 15-yard touchdown.

Redshirt junior defensive end Jalonnie Williams set up the score on the previous play, recovering a Minutemen fumble within UMass’ 20-yard line.

The Minutemen responded promptly, tying the game in four plays. Redshirt senior quarterback Taisun Phommachanh rocketed the 58-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.Y. Harding.

Later in the first quarter, NIU turned the ball over after Minutemen redshirt senior defensive back Isaiah Rutherford intercepted Hampton on a throw into the endzone.

At the half, Massachusetts led, 13-7.

Northern Illinois had deferred their choice to the second half, elected to take the ball, and Massachusetts opted to make Northern play upwind in the third quarter.  That would work, but for the halftime adjustment being "run behind Long and Thurston," er, run to the left.

The Huskies gained 249 of their season-high 367 rushing yards in the second half, with [Gavin] Williams tallying 124 of his 125 yards in the game after halftime and [Jaylen] Poe gaining 91 of his 98. Both running backs, and Hampton, posted career best rushing totals as all four of NIU's second half touchdowns came on the ground.

"Once we started changing the line of scrimmage, it became clear what we needed to do," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock of relying almost exclusively on the run game in the second half. "The run game was there in the first half, but we had the turnovers and stopped ourselves. Our offensive line at halftime said, hey we can take this game over, and we listened. We have great running backs, great depth in the backfield and great competition."

Massachusetts had one possession in the third quarter.  Northern Illinois scored the tying touchdown, with the conversion kick failing.  Then came the fourth quarter, which featured the sort of scoring you usually see in a Mid-American game.

On the next drive, the Huskies pieced together a 13 play, 75-yard drive that chewed off over seven minutes of clock. Poe capped off the drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown, creating a 20-13 NIU lead.

The Huskies extended their lead to 27-13 after a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Williams. The touchdown capped off a 90-yard drive.

UMass cut NIU’s lead to 27-20 on the next drive as [Clemson transfer quarterback Taisun] Phommachanh connected with [T. Y.] Harding for a 16-yard touchdown.

Following an 89-yard kickoff return by Poe, Hampton’s quarterback sneak cemented the Huskies’ 34-20 victory.

The post-scoring celebration drill ran three times in that fourth quarter.

The game was an 11 am start, for television purposes, which left plenty of time afterward to enjoy the high summer weather.