Central Michigan blows 24-point lead but beats Northern Illinois in overtime

 

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• Central Michigan Tops Northern Illinois

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	28	19
Total Yards	430	368
Passing	189	288
Rushing	241	80
Penalties	4-40	5-45
3rd Down Conversions	9-15	3-15
4th Down Conversions	1-1	3-3
Turnovers	1	2
Possession	29:24	30:36

Air/Ground Leaders
Central Michigan Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT LeFevour 19/26 189 2 0	Northern Illinois Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Harnish 18/36 288 0 2 Team 0/2 0 0 0
Central Michigan Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG LeFevour 29 121 2 21 Sneed 11 60 0 17	Northern Illinois Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Harnish 17 31 1 10 Perez 1 20 0 20
Central Michigan Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Brown 7 50 1 25 Anderson 2 33 0 17	Northern Illinois Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Simon 6 131 0 30 Perez 3 61 0 39

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				CMU	NIU
	FG	08:31	Andrew Aguila 33 Yd	3	0
SECOND QUARTER				CMU	NIU
	TD	13:34	Antonio Brown 25 Yd Pass From Dan LeFevour. (Andrew Aguila Kick)	10	0
	TD	12:10	Ontario Sneed 27 Yd Pass From Dan LeFevour. (Andrew Aguila Kick)	17	0
	FG	10:13	Mike Salerno 39 Yd	17	3
	TD	00:40	Dan LeFevour 1 Yd Run. (Pat Failed)	23	3
THIRD QUARTER				CMU	NIU
	FG	10:14	Mike Salerno 31 Yd	23	6
	TD	05:36	Dan LeFevour 8 Yd Run. (Andrew Aguila Kick)	30	6
	TD	01:25	Chandler Harnish 2 Yd Run. (Chandler Harnish Pass To Britt Davis For Two-Point Conversion)	30	14
FOURTH QUARTER				CMU	NIU
	TD	13:44	Chad Spann 1 Yd Run. (Two-Point Conversion Failed)	30	20
	TD	07:38	Chad Spann 3 Yd Run. (Mike Salerno Kick)	30	27
	FG	00:19	Mike Salerno 25 Yd	30	30
OVERTIME				CMU	NIU
	FG		Andrew Aguila 40 Yd	33	30

DEKALB, Ill. -- Andrew Aguila kicked a 40-yard field goal in overtime to lift Central Michigan to a 33-30 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday night.

The Huskies rallied from a 24-point deficit over the final 16 minutes to force the overtime.

The Chippewas (8-2, 6-0 Mid-American Conference) dominated most of the first three quarters as Dan LeFevour threw two touchdown passes and rushed for two to help build the 30-6 lead. LeFevour was 19-of-26 for 189 yards and rushed for 137 yards on 29 carries.

Running back Chad Spann scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards in the fourth quarter for Northern Illinois (5-5, 4-3), while Mike Salerno kicked a 25-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.

The Huskies had the first overtime possession, but Chandler Harnish was intercepted by cornerback Josh Gordy.

The Huskies broke a 43-minute touchdown drought when Harnish scored on a 2-yard run with 1:25 left in the third quarter. Northern Illinois then recovered an onside kick and trimmed Central Michigan's lead to 30-20 with 13:44 left in the fourth quarter.

Harnish added a 3-yard TD run with 7:38 left in the fourth.

LeFevour threw second-quarter touchdowns to Antonio Brown (25 yards) and Ontario Sneed (27 yards). He also scored on a 1-yard run with 40 seconds left in the half and added an 8-yard scoring run with 5:36 left in the third.

Brown caught seven passes for 50 yards. Harnish was 18-of-36 for 288 yards while Matt Simon caught six passes for 131 yards.