Northern Illinois 38, Arkansas State 20
When: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 8, 2012
Where: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
Temperature:
64°
Head Official:
Tom McCreesh
Attendance:
38734
By SportsDirect Inc.
Senior quarterback Chandler Harnish completed his record-setting career by throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns to lead Northern Illinois to a 38-20 win over Arkansas State in the Go Daddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Harnish, voted the Most Outstanding Player in the Mid-American Conference after leading the Huskies to the conference title, completed 18 of 36 passes and became the school’s first player to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season. Harnish threw scoring passes of 9 yards to Perez Ashford and 43 yards to Martel Moore. Ashford had seven catches for 74 yards, while Moore exploded for eight catches for 223 yards.
Northern Illinois (11-3) also scored on a 3-yard run by Jordan Lynch and 1-yard run by Jamal Womble. Mathew Sims added a 22-yard field goal.
Arkansas State (10-3) was unable to hold a 13-0 first-quarter lead thanks largely to five turnovers. The Red Wolves, who had a nine-game winning streak broken, got field goals of 33 and 36 yards from Brian Davis, a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ryan Aplin, and a 17-yard scoring pass from Aplin to Taylor Stockemer.
Aplin, the Sun Belt Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, completed 30 of 58 passes for 351 yards, but was intercepted three times. The last pick was returned by Dechane Durante for a 36-yard touchdown.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Arkansas State |
|
Northern Illinois |
Derek Lawson |
Player |
Jamal Womble
|
12 |
Attempts |
6 |
25 |
Yards |
25 |
2.1 |
Avg Yards |
4.2 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Receiving
Arkansas State |
|
Northern Illinois |
Taylor Stockemer
| Player |
Martel Moore
|
11 |
Receptions |
8 |
185 |
Yards |
224 |
16.8 |
Avg Yards |
28.0 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary