Back to the Real Salt Lake Newsfeed

Edge on special teams helps Northern Illinois beat BYU

Provo • Special teams have generally been solid for BYU this season, but on Saturday in a razor-close game against Northern Illinois when every mistake was magnified, they let the Cougars down.

The result was a 7-6 win for the visiting Huskies, who got a sensational game from punter Matt Ference to help spring the upset.

NIU’s defense also played well, holding the Cougars to no touchdowns, just 301 yards of offense, and 3 of 15 on third-down conversions.

“Our kicking game was really outstanding today. Matt Ference did a nice job minus that one kickoff return that they had to open the game,” said NIU coach Rod Carey.