If you didn’t know any better, you might think the Northeastern football team has it out for the school’s cheerleaders. Remember, they’re the ones who pump out pushup after pushup for every point the Husky score. After NU’s 51-0 pasting of Division I-AA Albany, that makes for 805 pushups in the team’s first pair of games. Ouch.
A week after setting seven school records, mostly on the ground, wide receiver Corey Parks must have felt left out. The 5-11, 170-pound sophomore recorded seven catches for a record 264 yards and touchdowns of 10, 62, and 69 yards.
Just a minute and eight seconds into the second quarter, Parks caught a ten-yard pass off of a play action and raced the necessary 69 yards for the score.
It wasn’t the only time Northeastern’s ample running game scared the opposing defense.
Anthony Riley posted his second consecutive 100-yard effort, doing so on just 16 carries. Tim Gale (12 carries, 58 yards), Peter Harris (seven carries, 57 yards) and freshman Shawnn Gyles (seven carries, 49 yards) also contributed to the ground game.
Quarterback Shawn Brady gave credit to the runners for his offensive burst in his first start of the season (10-for-14, 264 yards, four touchdowns).
“The biggest thing is starting off with the run game,” he said. “We have such a good run game that when we play action a lot of teams bite on it. I think we have the best running game in I-AA, the best o-line in I-AA. It’s pretty easy for me when they get that open to just get them (receivers) the ball and let them go.”
Not all the news was good, however. Curtis Guilliam, the team’s third-string receiver, is “lost probably for the season,” according to Brown after an apparent tear of his right anterior cruciate ligament on the right sideline. The 6-2, 207-pound Guilliam leapt for the ball just four yards from the end zone, landing with the ball in hand before rolling awkwardly on his knee and being carried off to eventually travel to New England Baptist Hospital.
“We took a big hit today, though,” Brown said. “One of our key guys, Curtis Guilliam, who does everything, special teams, he’s our best blocking wideout. He does an awful lot of good things for us. Obviously he’s been a big part of our turnaround last year and this year.”
Northeastern forced three turnovers, including one on each of the Great Danes (0-1) first two drives. On every occasion, the Huskies were able to cross the goal-line.
“These are statistics, and at the same time they get to be statistics over a long number of games,” said 31-year Albany coach Bob Ford. “If you turn the ball over one more time than your opponent, they win 67 percent of the time. Turn it over two more times, they win 82. Turn it over three more times and they win 91. I think we turned it over three more times than they did.”
Northeastern also held preseason All-American running back Gary Jones to just 23 yards on seven carries before leaving the game in the first half with a rib injury.
“I thought we looked fast today,” Brown said of his defense. “I thought we were fast and physical. We did get the blitz game going a little bit today.”
A game after sitting out due to a violation of team rules, Brady won his 15th career game at NU.
“I thought we threw the ball when we wanted and where we wanted,” Brown said. “We just did a great job with it today. I thought Shawn was Shawn today. His efficiency is always high. He takes care of the damn football, and runs the Northeastern offense the way it’s supposed to be run.”
Northeastern begins its Atlantic-10 title defense on Saturday in Rhode Island. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
NOTES:
Northeastern finally missed a red-zone opportunity with an Anthony Riley fumble in the third quarter. NU is now 13-for-14 inside the opposing 20-yard line … For the second consecutive game, NU blew out its opponent despite close numbers in time of possession. Of the Huskies’ 9 scoring drives, three were under a minute long and three more lasted less than three minutes … Junior Quintin Mitchell was effective returning kicks for NU, going for 68 yards on three returns and setting Northeastern up with stellar field position all day … Saturday was the first time in 90-consecutive games that Albany had been shutout, dating back to Oct. 8, 1994 … Kicker Miro Kesic got his first work of the year, connecting on field goals of 35, 30, and 37 yards.
