DEKALB, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 5: Gavin Williams #21 of the Northern Illinois Huskies celebrates scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Huskie Stadium on October 5, 2024 in DeKalb, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff S …
DEKALB, Ill. - Jaylen Poe ran for two touchdowns, Gavin Williams had 19 carries for 125 yards and a TD and Northern Illinois beat Massachusetts 34-20 Saturday.
Poe finished with 89 yards rushing on 15 carries. Ethan Hampton was 5-of-9 passing for 34 yards and added 64 yards rushing and a TD for the Huskies.
Poe ran for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 13-all after Kanon Woodill's PAT attempt was no good with 11:23 left in the third quarter and his 3-yard scoring run about a minute into the fourth quarter capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 7-plus minutes off the clock and gave Northern Illinois (3-2) the lead for good at 20-13.
"Once we started changing the line of scrimmage, it became clear what we needed to do," NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said, according to NIU athletics. "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."
The Huskies made it 14-point game when they went 90 yards in nine plays and Williams scored on a 1-yard run with 5:29 to play. Taisun Phommachanh threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Harding that pulled UMass (1-5) within 27-20 about 2 minutes later but Poe returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards to the 4 and three plays later Ethan Hampton's 1-yard TD run capped the scoring with 2:05 to play.
On the game's second play from scrimmage, Jalonnie Williams recovered a fumble by Phommachanh at the UMass 15 and Hampton threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brock Lampe that gave Northern Illinois a 7-0 just 45 seconds into the game.
Phommachanh hit Harding for a 58-yard TD about 2 minutes later and Jacob Lurie kicked a 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter and a 27-yarder just before halftime that gave the Minutemen a 13-7 lead.
Phommachanh was 15-of-30 passing for 263 yards and Harding finished with four receptions for 85 yards.