Northern Illinois holds off BYU 7-6

A Brigham Young University fan watches in dismay as Utah State scores another touchdown at the Utah State University Football game verses Brigham Young University on Friday, October 5, at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Utah State won the game 45 to 20. (Megan Nielsen)

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Marcus Childers capped the opening drive of the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run and Northern Illinois defeated Brigham Young 7-6 in a defensive struggle on Saturday.

The Huskies (5-3) had 84 yards of total offense in the second half, 65 coming on a 10-play drive that included three third-down conversions. The third was a holding penalty on BYU on third-and-2 at the Cougars 3.

Skylar Southham had a 35-yard field goal late in the first quarter and a 22-yard late in the third but he missed on a 51-yard attempt with 9:27 to play. The career long for the freshman kicker is 47 yards. After getting a first down at the NIU 29, an incompletion and two tackles for loss for 5 yards forced the long field goal attempt.

BYU (4-4) had 301 yards of offense.

The teams combined to go 6 of 29 on third down and 3 for 3 in the red zone. There was just one turnover.

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