MAC Football: Miami (OH) surprises Northern Illinois on the road

MAC football West leader Northern Illinois lost a defensive battle to Miami of Ohio. It was the RedHawks’ first win over NIU since the 2010 MAC title game.

Unlike the blowout upset by Ohio against MAC East leader Buffalo, the matchup between Northern Illinois and Miami of Ohio was much closer on the scoreboard. But in the end, the RedHawks managed to pull off an upset just like the Bobcats. Chuck Martin’s squad followed up their takedown of rival Ohio with a 13-7 win in DeKalb on Wednesday night.

The first half proved a defensive affair, as the two teams traded five straight punts to start the game before the RedHawks punched through a field goal. That ended up as the only scoring of the first half. Northern Illinois fumbled on the ensuing drive in the second quarter and Miami punted before the Huskies ran out the clock to head to the locker room in a 3-0 deficit.

Miami got the ball first in the second half, and the Huskies forced a quick three-and-out. Getting the ball back, Northern Illinois punched the ball downfield quickly, as quarterback Marcus Childers drew a flag and then hit on a 37-yard connection to Spencer Tears. Running back Marcus Jones punched in the football on a 29-yard run to cap the five-play, 80-yard drive on NIU’s first drive of the second half.

The hosts kept the lead on the next drive after holding Miami University to a field goal. But the momentum shifted midway through the third quarter, when Childers threw a telegraphed ball to his left that defensive back Ja’don Rucker-Furlow jumped and returned 28 yards for a 13-7 Miami lead.

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Once they regained the lead, the RedHawks proved unwilling to give it up. The RedHawks generated only 201 total yards of offense, while punter Kyle Kramer was forced to boot away the ball 10 times for 407 throughout the night. NIU’s defense did just about everything right, as they gave up just two field goals to their visitors. But their offense once again struggled to score points, as the nation’s 120th-ranked scoring offense came up short once again.

NIU threatened on what would prove to be their penultimate drive of the game. But a pair of incompletions ended any hope of a comeback for the Huskies at home. They got the ball one more time, with 2:28 remaining and 80 yards to go. But four straight plays resulted in a turnover on downs, and with less than two minutes remaining all Miami had to do was run out the clock deep in NIU territory.

Ultimately it came down to Miami’s key scoring contribution from their secondary. The score by Rucker-Furlow made all the difference as the RedHawks nabbed just enough points to deal the Huskies a fourth defeat.

After upsetting Northern Illinois, Miami finds its dreams of bowl eligibility still alive heading into their last game of the regular season against Ball State. The Cardinals enter the contest without any chance to reach six wins, and the RedHawks will hope to become eligible in front of a home crowd on Senior Night.

Even with the loss on Wednesday, Northern Illinois had already sealed their spot in the MAC championship game prior to facing the RedHawks. The trip to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend will be played solely for pride and regaining some momentum prior to the title game in Detroit.

Between this defeat and Buffalo’s even bigger loss against the Bobcats, Wednesday night MACtion effectively killed any lingering hopes the conference had of landing a New Year’s Six berth in 2018. Northern Illinois missed their chance to replicate the exploits of the 2012 squad, and the Group of Five battle further drifted toward a two-league race.