Western Michigan quarterback Reece Goddard enjoyed a breakout performance, but it wasn’t enough, as Northern Illinois shut down the Broncos’ ground game in the second half to claim a 35-31 win Wednesday at Huskie Stadium.
Goddard threw the first two touchdown passes of his career, the second of which gave WMU a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter.
The Broncos defense bottled up NIU for much of the second and third quarters, but the Huskies ground game got going in the fourth with 116 yards on 19 carries.
NIU’s game-winning touchdown came through the air with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter, when Marcus Childers found tight end Mitchell Brinkman for a 26-yard scoring strike.