N. Illinois defense handles Kent St. in 24-3 victory

Oct 7, 2017, 07:07 pm

DEKALB, Ill. -- Marcus Childers threw three touchdowns and Northern Illinois' defense suffocated Kent State's offense with a 24-3 win on Saturday night in the Huskies' Mid-American Conference opener.

Northern Illinois (3-2, 1-0) held Kent State to 29 yards passing and intercepted Dustin Crum once and George Bollas twice.

Crum rushed for 77 of Kent State's 131 total yards. The Huskies defense also forced and recovered a fumble and held Kent State (1-5, 0-2) to 2 for 16 on third-down conversions.

Childers, meanwhile, threw for 114 yards and rushed for 65. Childers threw touchdown passes of 10, 25 and 2 yards to Spencer Tears, Shane Wimann and Jordan Huff, respectively.

Northern Illinois leads the all-time series against Kent State with a 21-7 record and now has won 21 of 22 games against the MAC's Eastern Division opponents since 2010.

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