MONTGOMERY, Alabama – History repeats itself.
Northern Illinois (7-6, 5-3 MAC) snapped its bowl losing streak with a 21-19 win over Arkansas State (6-7, 4-4 Sun Belt) in the Camellia Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The win in Montgomery, Alabama, snapped the Huskies’ seven-game losing streak in bowl games with its last win coming against Red Wolves in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl after the 2011 season.
Arkansas State had its chances late, scoring a touchdown in the final two minutes but missing a two-point conversion that would have tied things up. They succeeded in recovering the onside kick but were ruled offsides, forcing a rekick which NIU recovered.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s Camellia Bowl matchup:
Bag of tricks
It was a weird one.
The highlight of the bizarre affair came on a fake field goal with 1:24 left in the first half, when punter Tom Foley flicked the snap to kicker Kanon Woodill. He took it 32 yards to the house.
Of course, it was followed by a two-point conversion attempt that was successful with a “Philly special” play.
Along with the scoring plays, the first-quarter onside kick was recovered by Northern Illinois, but an illegal touching penalty on Billy Dozier called it back and handed the Red Wolves the ball.
Even Arkansas State joined in the fun, attempting a “Philly special” of their own in the second quarter that would’ve been a touchdown if the receiver didn’t drop the ball.
And of course, after the highest-scoring first half in Camellia Bowl history (34 combined points), the rest of the game provided just six.
Third-down theatrics
Along with the plethora of odd plays came some strange plays on third down.
The Huskies shined on third down attempts on their first drive, going 3-for-3 on such attempts to score the first touchdown on the opening drive in Camellia Bowl history. All of them came due to heroics of Rocky Lombardi:
- Third-and-11: Lombardi 17-yard pass to Barnes
- Third-and-8: Lombardi 12-yard pass to Rudolph
- Third-and-13: Lombardi 18-yard TD pass to Barnes
However, the Huskies went 2-for-6 on third-down attempts in the rest of the first half, with Lombardi throwing a pair of picks for two of them.
Overall, Northern Illinois finished the day 7-for-16 (43.75%) on third down.
Another for Antario
After a season that earned him first-team all-conference honors, star running back Antario Brown proved yet again to be a difference-maker in the Huskies’ Camellia Bowl appearance.
Brown put on his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season against Arkansas State, piling on 132 yards on 25 rushing attempts.
His Camellia Bowl performance was the most yards he had on the ground since racking up 159 since Western Michigan.
At the half, he had 91 yards on 14 attempts, with his longest rush of the day being a 36-yard run to Arkansas State’s 43 with 6:30 left in the first half.
Despite not finding the end zone on Saturday, Brown still proved to be a difference-maker in the team’s Camellia Bowl win.
Time’s ticking
To be succinct, Northern Illinois had the ball a lot.
The Huskies dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 40:16 to Arkansas State’s 19:35.
The total time of possession marked a season-high for the Huskies, breaking its past mark of 39:25 against Western Michigan.
In the first half, the Huskies held the ball for 21:10 to Arkansas State’s 8:50.
Seventh-year sendoff
Lombardi’s final college football game helped Northern Illinois make history.
The seventh-year quarterback went 18-for-29 on the day, throwing for 200 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
He also ran for 21 yards on three attempts.
His Saturday performance marked the first time he’s thrown for over 200 yards and posted a completion percentage above 60% since the Huskies’ win over Central Michigan.