By Chris Estrada
For the second time in four seasons, the Huskies couldn’t put away Georgia Southern in regulation. And for the second during that period, the Eagles made them pay for it in overtime.
Just like in its 41-38 loss in 2005 at Parsons Field, Northeastern was unable to hold on to a halftime lead and was vanquished in the extra frame.
After GSU broke a 27-27 tie on its first OT possession, a halfback pass from the Huskies’ Alex Broomfield on fourth-and-1 from the 16-yard line failed to find tight end Brian Mandeville, sealing a 34-27 triumph for the 17th-ranked Eagles at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.
Despite great efforts from the senior trio of quarterback Anthony Orio (24-for-38, 287 yards, 1 TD), Broomfield (30 carries, 126 yards), and Mandeville (six catches, 82 yards), the Eagles came out on top with the help of their own signal-caller Antonio Henton, who went 16-for-27 through the air for 298 yards and two touchdowns and also scored three more touchdowns on the ground.
Two key fumbles also haunted the Huskies. Leading 21-14 in the third quarter, NU recovered a Georgia Southern fumble on the kickoff. The Huskies then drove inside the GSU 10 only to have Broomfield fumble on the one-yard line with 12:48 left in the quarter, stopping a drive that could have put NU up by two touchdowns.
Northeastern managed to survive the error and with 3:07 left in the game, and a 27-21 edge and the possession of the ball after GSU failed to convert on fourth down. But on third and 1 from the opponent’s 26, Broomfield fumbled again in an encounter with GSU’s Chris Rogers. After JB Shippy recovered for the Eagles on the 15, Henton found receiver Tim Camp for a 65-yard touchdown strike three plays later to tie the game at 27.
Senior defensive lineman Mark Washington blocked the extra point to keep the game tied. After NU went three-and-out, GSU’s Jesse Hartley was unable to make a 45-yard field goal with nine seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
GSU won the right to go first in OT, and on second down from the 25, Henton faked a handoff to Darell Norman from the shotgun and ran into the end zone for what would be the game-winning score. On the Huskies’ overtime drive, Greg Abelli ran for three yards on first down, followed by an incomplete pass. Third down saw Orio carry the ball for six yards to set up the final play that would go for naught.
“Georgia Southern is a very tradition-rich program, and it would have been nice to be able to get the win,” said head coach Rocky Hager. “Ultimately, we played dog-gone well and they just made one more play than us. It’s a very difficult defeat to swallow, because I think we got ourselves in a position to win.”
But despite the loss and the costly turnovers, Hager found a silver lining in the fact that the offense was able to capitalize in the red zone this weekend, unlike in the team’s 48-14 season-opening loss to Football Bowl Subdivision squad Ball State.
Four of the Huskies’ five scoring drives went inside the GSU 20; junior kicker Mat Johnson’s 39-yard field goal with 1:39 in the third quarter put NU up 27-21 after that possession stalled at the Eagle 21.
“We were upset that we had the opportunity to be successful but we had fundamental breakdowns – things we work on every day, things we need to get better on executing in crunch time situations when the game is on the line,” Hager said. “We need the fundamentals to carry us to victory. On Saturday night, we broke down fundamentally and missed some opportunities.”
The Huskies head to Syracuse Saturday. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
