Mid-American Conference

Ohio continued the scoring in the first quarter as the Bobcats extended their lead to 10-0 with some trickery.  With backup quarterback Phil Yates lined up as a receiver, Tettleton took the snap and flipped it to LaVon Brazill.  Brazill then reversed it to Bates who found Donte Foster for the easy 24-yard touchdown.

Matt Weller opened the Bobcats lead to 13-0 as he capped off an impressive drive with his second field goal of the game, this one from 21 yards out.  The scoring drive was 15 plays and used up 6:11 of the second quarter.   The key play of the drive was a long 19 yard run by Donte Harden to give the Bobcats a first-and-goal at the NIU 5 yard line and set up the eventual Weller field goal.

Northern Illinois missed a perfect opportunity to break into the scoring column as the Huskies had a first and goal midway through the second quarter.  But on second and goal from the three yard line, Noah Keller and Corey Hastings got to Harnish in the backfield and forced a fumble that was recovered by Keller for the Bobcats.  The fumble recovery for the Bobcats was the third take-away of half, and Keller’s second of the game.

Off the turnover, Ohio marched right down the field and following a 16 yard completion to Mario Dovell, which was reviewed and upheld, Tettleton capped off yet another drive.  With pressure coming from the right end, Tettleton scrambled up the middle bouncing off defenders and diving into the endzone with 2:35 remaining to open up a 20-0 halftime lead.

Things only got worse for Northern Illinois out of the halftime intermission.  On the Huskies opening drive of the second half, following a completion from Harnish to Jamison Wells, Noah Keller forced a fumble that was eventually recovered by Josh Kristoff for the Bobcats.

Following an Ohio punt, Chandler Harnish finally got the Huskies on the scoreboard with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter following a 10 play, 78 yard drive that was capped off by a 39 yard touchdown strike from Harnish to Nathan Palmer.  The point-after by Mathew Sims cut the lead to 13 points.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, following a personal foul against Ohio’s defense, Chandler Harnish found wide receiver Martel Moore inside the five yard line.  Moore was able to spin off a defender and lunge into the end zone to cut into the Bobcat lead.  A missed extra point by Sims kept it a 20-13 game.

Palmer was on the receiving end of his second touchdown pass from Harnish with 2:52 left in the game.  Harnish orchestrated a 6 play, 1:44 drive that allowed Sims to even the score with the extra point at 20-20.

A three-and-out by the Bobcats gave the ball back to Harnish and the Huskies with 1:18 left in the game at their own 36.  On the first play of the drive, Harnish found Perez Ashford for 27 yards along the sideline.  After a failed Ohio challenge and a short run by Jasmine Hopkins, Harnish found Moore across the middle for 15 yards getting the Huskies into field goal range.  After Hopkins rushed the ball to the middle of the hashes, Mathew Sims lined up for what would be the championship-winning kick.

Following back-to-back Ohio timeouts, Sims kick curled just inside the left upright and gave the Huskies the 23-20 victory.

The Huskies 20 point comeback is the largest in MAC Championship history since 1999, when Marshall came back from 23 down in the third quarter.  

Northern Illinois and other MAC bowl eligible teams will now wait to see if the receive an invite to a post-season bowl game.