DEKALB, Ill. -- Marcus Childers threw three touchdowns and Northern Illinois' defense suffocated Kent State's offense with a 24-3 win on Saturday night in the Huskies' Mid-American Conference opener.
Northern Illinois (3-2, 1-0) held Kent State to 29 yards passing and intercepted Dustin Crum once and George Bollas twice.
Crum rushed for 77 of Kent State's 131 total yards. The Huskies defense also forced and recovered a fumble and held Kent State (1-5, 0-2) to 2 for 16 on third-down conversions.
Childers, meanwhile, threw for 114 yards and rushed for 65.