Huskies left it all on the field, Kill says : govolsxtra.com

Northern Illinois exited the Neyland Stadium tunnel to cheers from a few hundred of its fans who had made the trip.

And why not? The Huskies (2-3) went toe-to-toe with one of the most tradition-laden programs in the South and were in position to pull off the upset before falling to Tennessee 13-9 Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.

"In 25 years of coaching, to have the opportunity to play at Tennessee was a tremendous dream,'' said first-year NIU coach Jerry Kill. "The big thing is they are bigger, faster, stronger.''

And the Vols (2-3) proved just slightly better.

Kill didn't make any excuses, and he took the blame for allowing second-string quarterback Dan Nicholson to get hit too much and knocked out of the game with 5:49 left in the second quarter and the score tied 3-3.

Nicholson, a senior, missed spring drills and part of August with the same shoulder injury. He was pressed into action when first-string QB Chandler Harnish went down with a sprained foot in NIU's 29-26 loss to Western Michigan in the second game of the season.

Redshirt freshman DeMarcus Grady, who saw most of the snaps Saturday, was pressed into action when UT knocked Nicholson out of the game.

Nicholson was 10-of-15 passing for 83 yards when he left the game, and Grady came in to complete four of 10 passes for 39 yards as the Huskies were forced into a predominantly run mode.

Grady had 41 yards on 14 carries to lead NIU rushers.

The difference in the game, Kill implied, was that Vols quarterback Nick Stephens hit a couple of deep passes - a 52-yard TD strike to Denarius Moore and a 43-yarder to Gerald Jones that set up a UT field goal.

"We tried to get as many people in the box as we could, and they hit us with some big ones,'' Kill said. "We tried to do the same thing; we got behind the corner, but we overthrew the ball.''

The Huskies defense, however, kept them in the game by limiting UT to 69 yards rushing on 32 attempts despite being outweighed by 43 pounds per man on the front line.

"The big thing was our kids played with low pad level, and we slanted,'' Kill said. "We knew we had to stop the run; we were worried about the physicalness.''

The Huskies got physical themselves, as 2007 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Larry English blew past UT offensive tackle Ramon Foster to deliver a fumble-inducing shot on Stephens with 3:57 left in the third quarter at the Vols' 9-yard line. That led to an NIU field goal.

"We were able to move and use our speed against big offensive linemen that couldn't move as well and keep up with us,'' English said. "Our coaches really set us up with a good plan.

"We played a really good game despite those two big plays; those are two plays you wish you could have back.''

UT's two long passes accounted for nearly half - 95 of 225 - of the Vols' total yards on offense.

Kill said he didn't really know what to expect from Stephens - he wasn't able to get his hands on the only significant game film of the Vols' sophomore quarterback, that of a JV game against Hargrave Military Academy last season.

"We didn't really know anything, as far as what to expect or how they would play him,'' Kill said. "You can't prepare for ghosts.''

But Kill said the Huskies' overall game plan proved to be on course.

"We had to shorten the game, and in the first half we did exactly what we wanted,'' he said. "But in the second half the pressure of Tennessee's defense got to us.

"I just don't know if you could ask for any more effort from our guys.''