|
Hall Of Fame
OVR: 40
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 30,789
|
Jordan Broadnax's Return Spurs 42-28 UMass Upset Over Undefeated Northern Illinois
FOXBOROUGH, MA - Jordan Broadnax returned from a foot stress fracture that had sidelined him for roughly a month and made his presence known today as the junior had a career day, rushing for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries to spur the UMass Minutemen (3-6, 3-2) to a monumental 42-28 upset of previously undefeated No. 15 Northern Illinois (8-1, 4-1).
As a team. the UMass Minutemen rushed for 344 yards and amassed 495 yards of total offense. Northern Illinois moved the ball well, too, with 400 yards of offense, but the Minutemen pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
The game was tied at 28 apiece going into the fourth quarter, but UMass outscored the Huskies 14-0 in the game's final quarter to win 42-28.
Jordan Broadnax scored a two-yard touchdown run just under two minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Minutemen a 35-28 lead, a lead which they would not relinquish. Stacey Bedell added to it with a seven-yard touchdown reception with 3:11 remaining. The Huskies drove the field on their next drive, but they failed to convert on a goal line situation and turned the football over on downs from the UMass seven-yard line, effectively ending their chances at winning the game.
"What a tremendous game," beamed UMass head coach Lee Williamson. "We played great in pretty much every aspect, our best game of the year. Jordan [Broadnax] was fantastic. I know he's been itching to play and he really showed out today. But he couldn't have done that without a tremendous day by the offensive line. They were generating a huge push for whoever was carrying the football. They were superb."
UMass quarterback Mike Wegzyn passed for 151 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He also rushed for 34 yards and another touchdown, giving him two rushing touchdowns on the year, both of which came in the last two weeks.
Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch, who led a lot of Heisman lists coming into today's game, passed for 221 yards and a touchdown, but UMass held the dual-threat quarterback to -5 yards rushing on 10 carries and sacked him a season-high six times.
"It was a rough one out there for me," said Lynch after the game. "They really got after me and they did a good job at covering our receivers and I couldn't get the ball out fast enough. Those sacks were drive-killers."
The Minutemen are off next week, but will host Akron on Senior Day two Saturdays from now. UMass will likely be favored over the Zips, who have yet to win a conference game thus far this season. The Minutemen still need to win out to reach bowl eligibility, but that's suddenly not looking quite as remote as it once was. Still, the Minutemen have a difficult game remaining at Ohio, who is undefeated in conference play this season. Then again, not many people gave UMass a chance of coming away with the win today, so you never know.
"It's been fun to watch this team improve over the course of the season," said UMass head coach Lee Williamson. "We went from getting run off the field for a half against Maine to knocking off a top 15 team today. We'll see how the rest of the season turns out, but we're definitely a better team than we were on week one, and that's a sign of a successful season in my view."
Massachusetts 42, #15 Northern Illinois 28
NIU - 07 / 07 / 14 / 00
UMass - 07 / 14 / 07 / 14
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter:
(5:12) TD NIU: L. Settle, 2 Yd run (7-0 NIU)
(2:08) TD UMass: M. Wegzyn, 12 Yd run (7-7)
2nd Quarter:
(6:48) TD UMass: J. Broadnax, 3 Yd run (14-7 UMass)
(1:16) TD NIU: T. Lewis, 17 Yd pass from J. Lynch (14-14)
(0:03) TD UMass: D. Woods, 0 Yd pass from M. Wegzyn (21-14 UMass)
3rd Quarter:
(7:29) TD NIU: A. Daniels, 7 Yd run (21-21)
(4:45) TD UMass: M. Carini, 3 Yd run (28-21 Umass)
(2:10) TD NIU: A. Daniels, 8 Yd run (28-28)
4th Quarter:
(7:22) TD UMass: J. Broadnax, 2 Yd run (35-28 UMass)
(3:11) TD UMass: S. Bedell, 7 Yd pass from M. Wegzyn (42-28 UMass)
(All Stats NIU / UMass)
First Downs: 122 / 32
Total Offense: 400 / 495
Rushes-Yards-TD: 32-179-3 / 61-344-4
Comp-Att-TD: 19-22-1 / 19-27-2
Passing Yards: 221 / 151
Turnovers: 0 / 1
Total Yards: 554 / 616
Penalties-Yards: 4-60 / 1-5
T.O.P.: 11:38 / 24:22
Northern Illinois Huskies
J. Lynch: 19/22, 221 Yds, TD
A. Daniels: 16 Car, 125 Yds, 2 TD, 2 Rec, 13 Yds
L. Settle: 6 Car, 59 Yds, TD
J. Brescacin: 6 Rec, 57 Yds
D. Brown: 5 Rec, 56 Yds
T. Lewis: 3 Rec, 43 Yds, TD
L. Eakes: 3 Rec, 42 Yds
J. Ward: 18 Tkl
A. Wells: 8 Tkl, TFL
M. Santacaterina: 8 Tkl
D. Durante: 8 Tkl
S. Evans: Int
M. Sims: 0/0 FG, N/A Long, 4/4 PAT
UMass Minutemen
M. Wegzyn: 19/27, 151 Yds, 2 TD, Int, 6 Car, 34 Yds, Rush TD
J. Broadnax: 38 Car, 244 Yds, 2 TD, 3 Rec, 12 Yds
S. Bedell: 8 Car, 33 Yds, Rec, 7 Yds, Rec TD
M. Carini: 8 Car, 29 Yds, TD
R. Branchflower: 3 Rec, 42 Yds
T. Sharpe: 4 Rec, 35 Yds
D. Woods: 3 Rec, 22 Yds, TD
J. Santos-Knox: 11 Tkl, TFL, Sck
K. Bailey-Smith: 6 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sck
T. Brandt: 6 Tkl, TFL
E. Saint-Vil: 5 Tkl, TFL
M. Lee: 5 Tkl
B. Lucas: 0/0 FG, N/A Long, 6/6 PAT
J. Strait: 2 Punts, 83 Yds, 41.5 Avg, 0 Inside 20
|
02-02-2019, 11:09 AM
