Box Score DeKALB, Ill. – Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush hit tight end Tyler Conklin on the first play of CMU's third overtime possession to give the Chippewas a 34-28 victory over the Northern Illinois University Huskies Saturday at Huskie Stadium.
NIU fell in three overtimes for the second time this season to fall to 1-6 overall, 1-2 in the Mid-American Conference. CMU improved to 5-2, 2-1 in defeating NIU for the third consecutive season.
"It was a game of back and forth swings," said NIU Head Coach
Rod Carey. "You've got to make the critical plays. They're going to come in every game and we didn't make them. We've got to go back to the drawing board and get this better. Certainly it was a hard-fought game, one that was there for the taking."
Regulation ended in a 21-21 tie after CMU kicker Brian Eavey missed a 33-yard field goal with 16 seconds on the clock, giving the Huskies new life. CMU had driven from its 25 to the NIU 15 after the Huskies'
Aregeros Turner went 53 yards on a jet sweep run to tie the game at 21. Turner appeared to be stopped after a gain of approximately 15 yards, but he rolled over the defender and kept going for the game-tying score with 3:43 on the clock.
"Great run by [Turner]," Carey said. "We really needed that spark at that time."
Turner's score came just two plays after CMU's Devon Spalding had broken a 14-14 tie with a 58-yard touchdown run on a third-and-one play to give the Chippewas the lead.
That was just the start of the late game action.
CMU won the overtime toss and elected to start the first overtime on defense. On NIU's third play,
Anthony Maddie's pass was intercepted by CMU's Nathan Ricketts. CMU needed just a score to end the game, however the Huskie defense stiffened again, forcing a 35-yard field goal attempt by Eavey that went wide left.
In the second overtime, Rush hit Corey Willis from 25-yards out on the Chippewas' second play to put CMU ahead 28-21. NIU responded with a Maddie to Bouagnon 13-yard pass to tie the game at 28.
The Huskies had the ball again to start the third overtime. Three plays netted eight yards and
Christian Hagan's 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
After a scoreless first quarter in which the Huskies'
Shawun Lurry picked up his first interception of the season to halt CMU's first drive, and saw Hagan tackled on a fake field goal attempt, CMU took a 7-0 lead on an 11-yard pass from Rush to Trevor Thomas with 8:38 to play before halftime.
The Huskies responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown. Maddie, Turner and
Jordan Huff accounted for 57 yards on the ground and one play later, Maddie hit
Christian Blake in the corner of the end zone for the Huskies' first score. Blake appeared to wrestle the ball away from the defender to record his first career receiving score.
CMU took a 14-7 lead into halftime on a three-yard run by Jahray Hayes with 42 seconds on the clock. Hayes had picked up 27 rushing yards on the drive, which started at the CMU 35-yard line and took 11 plays and 5:48.
NIU tied the score with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took 5:06 off the clock. The Huskies converted three third downs on the drive. From the CMU 11, Maddie hit Turner to tie the score.
Turner led NIU with 80 rushing yards on just four carries while CMU had a pair of 100-yard backs in Spalding (124) and Hayes (105) as the Chippewas rushed the ball 50 times in the game. Rush completed 19-of-35 passes for 254 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Maddie completed 18-of-30 for passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two interceptions.
Kenny Golladay caught seven passes for 70 yards for NIU. Defensively,
Ladell Fleming had a pair of sacks. The Huskies forced a season-high three turnovers, equaling its season total entering the game.
NIU had previously fallen to Wyoming in the 2016 season opener
NIU plays host to Buffalo on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2:30 p.m. in its 110
th Homecoming game. Tickets to the game are available for just $15 and can be ordered online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225).
-- NIU --
