Martel Moore’s 65-yard TD jump-starts another rally by Northern Illinois
BY STEVE NITZ Shaw Media September 22, 2012 11:38PM
Martel Moore’s 65-yard scoring scamper on a jump pass from Jordan Lynch started the Huskies’ comeback. | NIU
Updated: October 24, 2012 6:50AM
DeKALB — Dave Doeren didn’t necessarily want to admit his team has done a good job of rallying, but he couldn’t deny it after Northern Illinois dumped Kansas 30-23 on Saturday. “I hate to say it, but we’re pretty good at coming back,” the second-year Huskies coach said. “I’d like to get up on somebody and put them in the woodshed once, but we didn’t get to do that today. There was no panic, that’s not going to be part of our makeup.” A 41-40 victory over Army last week saw NIU score in the final five minutes to take the lead. Against Kansas, the Huskies did it again, tallying 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The win was NIU’s 17th in a row at Huskie Stadium.
Kansas coach Charlie Weis thought it was a broken play. Lynch had dropped the snap, and it looked as if he might take off and run. But he also had the option of throwing, and he hit Martel Moore with a short jump pass that the senior receiver took 65 yards for a touchdown.
“We saw the linebacker had been coming down all day on Tel,” Lynch said. “Tel did a little slant behind him, and I got the option of just running it or throwing it. Tel was open, so I just threw it to him.” Mathew Sims tied the score at 23 with a 44-yard field goal with 7:58 left, and Leighton Settle gave the Huskies the lead for good when he scored from two yards out with 4:33 to go. Moore’s touchdown catch came after he had communication issues with Lynch on the interception. “The miscommunication was a big thing. I just knew I had to come back and help the team out and make a spark,” Moore said. “If I make a spark, then the defense is going to spark up.” The Jayhawks were able to run on NIU at times, gaining 179 yards on 45 carries.
Weis didn’t want to comment on the performance by Crist, a transfer from Notre Dame, until he watches the film on Sunday.“I don’t assess it on game day,” Weis said. “You can make irrational comments. I do know that there are some throws that he’d like to have back that I’d expect him to make.”
