by The Union Leader

DURHAM -- John Griffin is this year's Maurice Murray, this year's Alex Broomfield.

The Northeastern University football team has given the University of New Hampshire problems the last couple of years in large part because of running backs Murray and Broomfield, and today at Cowell Stadium, John Griffin will take his turn.

"They've got a real good running back, as they seem to have every year," said UNH junior defensive tackle Steve Young. "One kid graduates and they seem to get another."

Griffin, a 6-foot, 205-pound junior, carried 29 times for 200 yards and had a 70-yard touchdown in Northeastern's first win of the season last weekend, a 27-7 triumph over Towson.

Now the Huskies (1-6 overall, 1-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) will try to upset UNH (6-1 and 3-1, and ranked No. 8 in the country) again.

Two years ago, Murray carried the ball an unheard of 55 times for 206 yards and scored three short touchdowns, and Northeastern (1-7 coming into that game) beat up on UNH, 31-13, in Durham. UNH entered that game 6-2 and ranked No. 8.

Last year Broomfield scored three first-half touchdowns and Northeastern (2-4 at the time) led the Wildcats 21-6 at halftime.

UNH rallied on offense and defense and shut down the Huskies the rest of the way to win, 33-21.

"We had to make some halftime adjustments, and luckily we did because we would have caught another loss," said senior captain and linebacker Sean Ware. "We know the importance of this game."

The Wildcats want to get one win closer to the magic number of eight, the total that usually is enough to qualify a team for the NCAA tournament.

Three of UNH's last four games are at home. Rhode Island comes to Durham next Saturday, and then the Wildcats travel to face No. 5 William & Mary on Nov. 14. They close out the regular season with Maine at home on Nov. 21.

The more wins they can pile up, the better chance they have of getting a home game or two for the playoffs.

Northeastern's record, UNH coach Sean McDonnell noted, is a bit deceiving.

The Huskies lost their opener to Boston College and three straight losses before the Towson game -- to William & Mary, Holy Cross and Villanova -- were to teams who today have a combined record of 19-3.

Northeastern led William & Mary 7-6 midway through the third period before falling, 34-14.

McDonnell expects Northeastern to be aggressive on defense and to get after junior quarterback R.J. Toman.

"They're very multiple with what they do, and they come at you from a lot of different angles," McDonnell said. "Somebody comes on every play."

Toman, who has dealt with toe and ankle injuries and is playing behind a new offensive line, has not led the offense to the same kind of numbers it put up last year.

"I think he's playing well," McDonnell said. "It's a whole different cast of characters, as always, with us ... The one thing that keeps jumping out at me is his toughness. He keeps getting whacked around after delivering some passes, and he's fighting through it."

Last year Toman had a rough postseason, but in the regular season he threw 27 touchdown passes and was intercepted eight times. In the six games he's played this year, he's thrown seven scoring passes and been intercepted six times.

'CAT TRACKS: Senior kicker Tom Manning has made his last 10 field goals. He had three against Villanova three weeks ago and three more in last week's 18-10 win over Hofstra, including a school-record 54-yarder ... Tight end Scott Sicko leads the receivers with 29 catches for 411 yards and four touchdowns. J.T Wright is the top wide receiver with 16 grabs for 226 yards and a score.

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