NIU Wins MAC Championship on Last Play

By Raymond Rolak
       Western Michigan and Purdue for Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

DETROIT—  With only five seconds remaining at Ford Field for the Mid-American Conference Championship the ball was centered, spotted and kicked as Northern Illinois screamed back erasing a 20 point deficit.  The kick was good and

The winning 33 yard kick by Sims, a sophomore, brought heartbreak to the Bobcats.  It was the last play of the game.  Ohio had played an outstanding first half.  Everything changed NIU way in the second half with senior wide-receiver Nathan Palmer being named game MVP.  He had two touchdown catches and 132 all-purpose yards.

 

Sophomore kicker Mathew Sims #99, celbrates with holder #18, junior Ryan Neir after combining for the game winning play in the 2011 Marathon Mid-American Conference Championship in Detroit.

 Photo by Lars Hjelmroth,

Rolco Sports Network

 

The crowd was sparse but the intense game action kept Ford Field ‘hot’.  It was redemption for NIU as they lost last year in the Championship tilt on a last second field goal against Miami.
A first half sizzling performance by Ohio sophomore QB Tyler Tettleton vanished in the second half as the Bobcats went into an offensive deep freeze.    

The Huskies dominated in the last seven minutes.  The comeback was generated by the clutch quarterbacking of NIU senior Chandler Harnish who went 16-26-1 for 250 yards and three TD passes.  Harnish had been named MAC Conference Player-of-the-Year the day before and has now thrown for 26 Touchdowns on the year.  It has been quite a ride so far for first year head coach Dave Doeren.
The 10-3 Huskies are expected to go to the goDaddy.com Bowl on January 8, 2012 in Mobile, Alabama and face Arkansas State.

The Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) accepted the MAC bid to play in the 2011 Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl on Tuesday December 27, in Detroit at Ford Field.  Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST.  The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.  Their Big Ten opponent will be Purdue (6-6).

Director of Athletics for WMU Kathy Beauregard said, “On behalf of the 114,500 alumni living in Michigan we are pleased to accept the invitation to play in Detroit on December 27.  It is definitely a great day to be a Bronco.”  Western Michigan has three elite players ranked nationally.  Included are wide-receiver Jordan White, quarterback Alex Carder and defensive tackle Drew Novak.  Novak, a senior who goes at 6’4” and 295 was MAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.