Northern Illinois' tops Western Michigan with big second half

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Northern Illinois followed the same script of its victories over Kansas, Central Michigan, Ball State and Akron.

The Huskies started slow in the first half, and then embarked on a scoring spree in the second half.

Northern Illinois captured its eighth straight victory, scoring 28 straight points after halftime in a 48-34 win over Western Michigan in Mid-American Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Waldo Stadium.

The Huskies (8-1, 5-0 MAC West) scored 14 points in the third and added 17 in the fourth quarters. The Huskies totaled 453 yards and scored a touchdown on four straight second-half possessions.

"We played really well in the third quarter, and our defense played strong," said NIU coach Dave Doeren. "It was a great comeback victory."

Northern Illinois, which has won 17 of its last 18 games, rode junior quarterback Jordan Lynch to its third straight blowout conference victory. Lynch, who came into Saturday's game with more offensive yards than 40 FBS teams, totaled 410 yards against the Broncos.

"We just seem to play better in the second half," Lynch said. "Western Michigan did some different things (in the first half). We made some good adjustments. The line blocked great, and the receivers made some big plays."

On pace to break the NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a season, Lynch shredded the Broncos with his right arm. Lynch threw a pair of touchdown passes each to Tommylee Lewis and Da'Ron Brown. The junior threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Northern Illinois wide receiver Martel Moore caught seven passes for 120 yards.

"The guy is playing at such a high level," Doeren said of Lynch. "I hope he gets some more national attention."

Northern Illinois scored on its first drive of the game, but struggled finding the end zone until midway through the third quarter. Down 21-17 at halftime, the Huskies scored 31 unanswered points after kicker Mathew Sims' drilled a school-record 54-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter. Sims made two field goals to highlight a strong game by NIU's special teams.

"I thought our special teams were pretty good today," Doeren said. "The return game was big today and Tommylee had a big game. He had a good week of practice."

The Broncos (3-6, 1-4) started fast, but the Huskies' defense tightened up in the final two quarters. Western Michigan tallied 250 yards in the first half, but clearly missed quarterback Alex Carder, who sat out his fifth consecutive game with a finger injury on his throwing hand. The Broncos also played without injured freshman wide receiver Jaime Wilson, who tops all freshmen in the country with 59 catches for 706 yards and six touchdowns.

But Western Michigan junior quarterback Tyler Van Tubbergen made the best out of a bad situation during the first half, completing 11 of his 12 first-quarter passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns for an early 14-7 Western Michigan lead.

The Broncos scored on their first two drives with 175 yards in the first quarter. Van Tubbergen answered NIU's game-opening touchdown with a 27-yard scoring pass to Eric Monette. Van Tubbergen padded WMU's lead to 14-7 with a 6-yard touchdown toss to Monette late in the first.

After WMU's strong start, the Huskies started bringing more defensive pressure and didn't allow a point after halftime.

Van Tubbergen threw for a career-high 333 yards and three touchdowns and scored a rushing touchdown. Monette finished with eight catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

"I couldn't be happier with how we started the game," said WMU coach Bill Cubit. "Northern Illinois has a really good quarterback in Lynch. He's tough to stop because he ran do so much."

Notes: Van Tubbergen started his fifth straight game in replacing Carder. ... Northern Illinois wide receiver Perez Ashford (ankle) and cornerback Rashaan Melvin (knee) sat out. ... Before Saturday, Lynch had more rushing yards than 42 teams, including Penn State, West Virginia and Miami. ... The Huskies own the longest conference winning streak in the country with 13 straight victories.