Tyrice Richie made a diving catch of a two-point conversion pass with 38 seconds to play to give the Northern Illinois University Huskies, 1-0, a 22-21 victory over Georgia Tech, 0-1, Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Ga..
The reception, made official after a review that seemed much longer than the two minutes in actual time, followed a three-yard touchdown pass from Rocky Lombardi to Clint Ratkovich that pulled Northern Illinois within one point at 21-20. Ratkovich’s catch capped a textbook two-minute drive executed nearly perfectly by Lombardi and the Huskie offense as they drove 80 yards in nine plays and 2:04 for the winning score.
Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock was not surprised that the Huskies made the plays when it counted in the end and said the decision to go for two to win the game in that situation was made Friday night in game-management planning.
“I know the toughness of our team, and the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,” Hammock said. “We were not gonna quit, we were not gonna give up, we were going to find a way to make a play and those kids did that.
“I’m proud of our kids and proud of our coaches. The commitment it takes to go through a season like we did last year (0-6) with every adversity, nobody made an excuse, nobody got down, everyone still believed, and today it was good to see their belief rewarded. I thought we played well in all three phases and gave ourselves a chance.”
Lombardi completed 11-of-17 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Senior linebacker Lance Deveaux Jr. led the Northern Illinois defense with 12 tackles, eight solo and the Huskies collected four sacks on the night.
After Georgia Tech took its first lead of the game with 6:32 to play on a four-yard run by quarterback Jordan Yates that followed a Huskie fumble at the 25-yard line, Lombardi and company began the game-winning drive with a 39-yard completion to Richie. After a pair of incompletions, the junior transfer connected with tailback Harrison Waylee for 16 yards on third-and-10, and Waylee ran for 11 yards to the Georgia Tech 14 on the next play. Runs by Waylee and Lombardi gained five yards and a six-yard completion gave the Huskies a first down at the Tech three, setting up the final plays.
The Huskie defense stopped Georgia Tech one final time in the last 38 seconds when the Yellow Jackets drove from their 25 to the Northern Illinois 43 prior to a 60-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by Northern Illinois’ Michael Kennedy. The victory was Huskies’ third over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent all-time and first since defeating Maryland in 2003.
— Northern Illinois University