N. Illinois 17, Miami (Ohio) 13

 

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	16	16
Total Yards	284	326
Passing	149	111
Rushing	135	215
Penalties	12-79	3-26
3rd Down Conversions	6-16	4-12
4th Down Conversions	1-3	0-0
Turnovers	0	0
Possession	29:12	30:48

Air/Ground Leaders
Miami (OH) Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Raudabaugh 19/35 149 0 0	Northern Illinois Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Grady 7/12 63 1 0 Harnish 4/9 48 0 0
Miami (OH) Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Merriweather 17 60 0 13 Bratton 6 42 0 9	Northern Illinois Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Brown 16 123 0 36 Grady 6 43 0 28
Miami (OH) Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Bratton 5 38 0 17 Woods 5 34 0 8	Northern Illinois Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Perez 4 76 0 36 Skarb 2 18 0 10

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				M-OH	NIU
	FG	12:30	Mike Salerno 38 Yd	0	3
SECOND QUARTER				M-OH	NIU
	TD	10:11	Landon Cox 3 Yd Pass From Demarcus Grady (Mike Salerno Kick)	0	10
	TD	04:49	Eugene Harris 63 Yd Punt Return (Nathan Parseghian Kick)	7	10
	FG	00:00	Nathan Parseghian 44 Yd	10	10
THIRD QUARTER				M-OH	NIU
	FG	04:53	Nathan Parseghian 35 Yd	13	10
	TD	02:32	Chad Spann 2 Yd Run (Mike Salerno Kick)	13	17

DEKALB, Ill. -- Northern Illinois thwarted Miami University's bid for a come-from-behind victory with a last-ditch defensive stand to preserve a 17-13 Mid-American Conference victory on Saturday.

Huskie cornerback Melvin Rice and linebacker Josh Allen broke up back-to-back end zone passes by RedHawks quarterback Dan Raudabaugh with less than 90 seconds to play to shut down the late Miami of Ohio drive.

Northern Illinois (3-3, 2-1) has now won three of its last four games, with only a four-point loss at Tennessee in the span. Miami slipped to 1-5 and has lost three straight.

The RedHawks led 13-10 after a 35-yard Nathan Parseghian field goal with 4:53 left in the third quarter. Northern Illinois reclaimed the lead with 2:32 remaining when sophomore tailback Chad Spann capped a 5-play, 67-yard drive with his 2-yard touchdown run.

The Huskies opened a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter thanks to wide receiver Landon Cox's 3-yard touchdown reception from starting quarterback DeMarcus Grady.

Miami replied five minutes later when return specialist Eugene Harris snared a Andy Dittbenner punt and ran back 63 yards for a touchdown. Miami forced a 10-10 tie just before halftime on Parseghian's 44-yard field goal.

Northern Illinois drove deep into Miami territory on each of its two first possessions and settled for field goal tries each time. Kicker Mike Salerno hit his first -- a 38-yd attempt -- but missed a 30-yarder with 4:58 left in the opening quarter.