Nov. 15, 2010

DEKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois University quarterback Chandler Harnish (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) earned his third Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week honor Monday after leading the Huskies to a 65-30 win over Toledo.

The first NIU quarterback to earn the MAC player of the week award three times in a single season, Harnish was also named offensive player of the week for his performances against Temple and Akron earlier this year. In addition to earning conference player of the week accolades, he was named MAC Player of the Week by Rivals.com.

Harnish accounted for 311 yards of total offense in the victory over the Rockets. He completed 11-of-16 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 149 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. He hit Nathan Palmer with a 33-yard strike in the first quarter for one touchdown and scampered 28 yards for his fifth rushing score of the season.

Harnish also had a career-long 69-yard run to set up a NIU score in the third quarter and averaged 11.5 yards per rush on the day. He has accounted for 18 touchdowns (five rushing, 13 passing) and 2,309 yards of total offense (1,601 passing, 708 rushing) on the year.

Harnish's selection marks the eighth-straight week a Huskie has been named MAC West POTW dating back to the Illinois game. Defenders Jake Coffman and Tyrone Clark, specialists Jimmie Ward and Josh Wilber and tailback Chad Spann are the other Huskies to earn weekly honors this year.

Northern Illinois returns to the field Saturday, Nov. 20 when the Huskies travel to Muncie, Ind. to face Ball State. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and the game can be heard on the Huskies' flagship station, 1360 AM WLBK and in Chicago on The Score 670 AM as well as on WTJK ESPN 1380 AM in Janesville, Wis. which covers the Rockford market. There is no over the air television broadcast of the game, but it will be available online through the All-MACcess package at www.mac-sports.com.

For the third straight season, Northern Illinois has qualified for postseason play. Fans can reserve tickets for any of the five MAC-affiliated bowl games that NIU could play in on the 2010 Football Postseason Central page at NIUHuskies.com. Fans will not be charged for those ticket reservations unless NIU accepts an invitation to the bowl for which the tickets are reserved. Tickets can be reserved for any or all MAC five bowls. There is also information available regarding the 2010 Marathon Mid-American Conference Championship Game.

-NIU-