Sept 8, 2001

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Walter Young caught a 13-yard touchdown pass, and Brandon Lloyd had 126 yards receiving Saturday as Illinois survived a scare and beat Northern Illinois 17-12.

The Huskies rallied as Darrel Hill caught a 26-yard pass with 1:12 left, but the 2-point conversion failed. Northern Illinois (1-1) also missed two field goals in the first half.

A week after dominating California offensively, Illinois (2-0) looked inept for most of the day. The running game was nonexistent, as the Illini managed 102 yards rushing, 42 in the fourth quarter.

And the passing game, so strong last week, got off to a rough start. After throwing incompletions on his first six attempts, Kurt Kittner was off the entire day, overthrowing receivers, missing open men and throwing into coverage.

Kittner was 8-for-22 in the first half, though he finished 17-for-34 with two touchdowns.

But Lloyd, who missed last season with a broken leg, bailed out the Illini again. He caught seven passes, including a 17-yarder late in the third quarter that put Illinois at the Huskies 42 and set up the go-ahead touchdown.

The Illini got a break on the next play when Northern Illinois was called for pass interference after Akil Grant grabbed Young's arm in front of the end zone. Kittner rushed for 10 yards, and Rocky Harvey added a 3-yard scamper to put Illinois at the 13-yard line.

Kittner then found Young, who beat Vince Thompson in the deep left corner of the end zone to give Illinois a 17-6 lead with 13:20 left.

The Illini added an insurance touchdown with 4:32 left when Kittner found Carey Davis on a 2-yard scoring pass. J.J. Tubbs also kicked a 29-yard field goal for Illinois, which won its ninth straight nonconference game.

Steve Azar kicked two field goals for the Huskies, including a 50-yarder in the second quarter that was the second longest in school history. He missed field goals of 29 and 44 yards.

As if the Illinois offense didn't have enough trouble getting going, it couldn't keep up the momentum when it did make big plays. Lloyd made a spectacular 34-yard catch in the third quarter with NIU's Randee Drew practically hanging on his back. That brought the Illini to the Huskies 8.

Illinois couldn't get in the end zone and went for a 25-yard field goal. But the snap was high and holder Steve Fitts had little choice but to take off running. No one was open, and Fitts was shoved out of bounds inside the 10-yard line.

When Eugene Wilson returned a punt 40 yards in the second quarter, Kittner threw two incompletions and the Illini went three-and-out.

Northern Illinois had its own problems, going 17-for-44 for 159 yards passing. But Thomas Hammock outrushed the Illini on his own, finishing with 111 yards on 23 carries. Michael Turner added 43 yards.