Utah Football Posts 35-17 Win Over Northern Illinois

Saturday, September 7

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:00 AM

University of Utah

2-0

Northern Illinois

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northern Illinois

UTAH

Utah Football Posts 35-17 Win Over Northern Illinois

9/7/2019 3:22 PM | Football

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SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah football team came away with a 35-17 win against the Northern Illinois Huskies Saturday morning, posting its 12^th straight home opener to improve to 2-0 this season.

For the second game in a row, the Utah offense walked away without a turnover or a sack with Tyler Huntley finishing the game 14-of-19 passing for 214 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 38 yards on three carries, running in his 12^th career rushing touchdown in the second quarter.

The Utes had 10 players record at least one rush and seven notch at least one catch, giving Utah a balanced offense with 193 rushing yards and 214 receiving yards. The Utes had 407 yards of total offense, the first game with 400 yards on offense since Utah's win over Oregon last season.

Zack Moss led the Utes on the ground with 18 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 26 career rushing scores to tie for second in program history. Sophomore Bryan Thompson led the Utes with 66 receiving yards, a career-high, while Jaylen Dixon finished with four catches for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Two weeks in a row the Utah defense was also able to hold its opponent under 100 yards rushing, keeping the Huskies at just 67 yards. The Huskies finished the game with 302 total yards on offense with no touchdowns in the second half while the Utah defense notched a turnover, four sacks and six tackles for loss overall.

Francis Bernard led the Utes in tackles with 12, his highest total since becoming a Ute, while fellow linebacker Devin Lloyd added a career-high 10 tackles that included a sack. Julian Blackmon tied his career-best in tackles with eight while also notching his second interception of the season in the fourth quarter. Bradlee Anae also had a career-high three sacks, giving him 20 in his career to tie for eighth all-time at Utah.

Both Utah and Northern Illinois got off to a slow start on offense, but the Huskies were able to score first on an 88-yard drive that ended in a diving, nine-yard rushing touchdown to put them up 7-0 with 3:18 on the clock. It ended a 12-play drive that burned 6:53 off the clock in the first quarter.

Utah evened the score on a drive that started with a downhill rush from Moss for 25 yards to put the Utes on the NIU 35. The drive poured into the second quarter, ending with a fake handoff by Huntley to Demari Simpkins for a walk-in, 13-yard rushing touchdown to make it 7-7 with 13:41 on the clock.

The Utes took the lead with 8:20 left to play in the second quarter on a seven-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard rushing touchdown by Huntley up the middle. The score was set up by a 23-yard reception by Derrick Vickers to the NIU 16-yard-line, allowing Huntley to bust through the Northern Illinois defense to give the Utes a 14-7 lead.

It didn't take long for Northern Illinois to strike back though, quickly scoring on a two-play drive. On the second play of the drive, Huskie quarterback Ross Bowers found Spencer Tears down field for 74 yards to the end zone, tying the game 14-14 with 7:20 remaining in the second quarter.

The second quarter shootout continued as Moss went head-to-head with the NIU defense for a 16-yard rush and won, powering his way into the end zone to give Utah a 21-14 advantage with 2:48 on the clock. It was the end of a nine-play, 75-yard drive that took 2:48 off the clock for their longest drive of the game.

The Utah defense was able to hold Northern Illinois to a 46-yard field goal with 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter after Bradlee Anae came up with a big sack on a NIU third down attempt, forcing the Huskies to kick. The field goal cut the Utah lead to 21-17, ending a nine-play, 47-yard drive that took 1:57 off the clock to end the half.

Utah got the scoring started in the second half after Huntley and Thompson linked up for a 38-yard reception down field to put the Utes at the NIU five-yard-line. On the next play, Moss punched in his second touchdown of the game, running in for five yards to give Utah a 28-17 lead with 12:16 to go in the third quarter.

After neither team scored the remainder of the third quarter, Utah was able to jump out to an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter when Blackmon came away with his second interception of the season to put the Utes on the NIU 29-yard-line to start their drive. Huntley then found Dixon open in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown, putting Utah up 35-17 at the 12:49 mark.

Dixon's touchdown would be the final score of the game with the Utes holding NIU to just 21 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter for the win.

THANK YOU FANS!!! #goutes #NIUvsUTAH pic.twitter.com/EMXFBdUSow
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) September 7, 2019

Utah will return to action when they host the second part of its two-game home stand on Saturday, Sept. 14 against Idaho State. The game is slated for a 2:15 p.m. MT kick on the Pac-12 Networks.