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NIU fails to finish incredible comeback

DEKALB - After an abysmal first half that threatened to reduce ESPN2's Nielsen rating to zero, Northern Illinois decided it had zero to lose Wednesday night.

"The game was close to getting completely away from us," said Huskies coach Jerry Kill. "We had to create some momentum."

So NIU started the second half with a perfect onside kick. Then came a fake-punt reverse. Then came another onside kick identical to the first.

Fueled by these tricks, the Huskies erased a 24-point third-quarter deficit and forced overtime.

Chandler Harnish took NIU 72 yards in the final two minutes to set up Mike Salerno's tying 25-yard field goal with 19 seconds left.

But once in overtime, Harnish's magic ran out.

Cornerback Josh Gordy broke off his man and intercepted Harnish's deep down-and-out to Britt Davis on the second play.

Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour then ran three safe keepers to set up Andrew Aguila's 40-yard field-goal attempt.

Aguila's perfect kick left NIU with a crushing 33-30 Mid-American Conference defeat before 13,543 at foggy Brigham Field.

"It's like someone just hit you in the stomach and you lost all your air," Harnish said.

Had Northern Illinois (5-5, 4-3) pulled off the win, it would have been the biggest rally in school history.

On three occasions, most recently against Ben Roethlisberger and Miami (Ohio) in 2002, NIU delivered comebacks from 20-point deficits.

Instead, Central Michigan (8-2, 6-0) set up a MAC West winner-take-all showdown with Ball State next Wednesday.

LeFevour, the 2005 Benet Academy graduate who missed 21/2 of Central Michigan's last three games with sprained ankles, directed an offense that seemed at times to be undetectable by NIU's defense.

LeFevour rushed for a season-high 121 yards and 2 scores while throwing for 189 yards and 2 more scores. On three of those touchdowns, nobody on NIU's defense came close to making a play.

"Quarterback," Kill said. "That's all you need to say. Danny LeFevour. He's a player."

And Northern Illinois turned into tricksters to recover from a 23-3 halftime deficit.

The Huskies opened the third quarter with Mike Salerno's onside kick to sophomore Mike Sobol. When the possession stalled, a 20-yard fake-punt reverse to Marcus Perez led to a Salerno field goal.

LeFevour responded by leading the Chippewas to their fourth touchdown in five possessions - LeFevour scoring untouched from 8 yards out - but Chandler Harnish's touchdown keeper and 2-point pass to Britt Davis cut the margin to 30-14 late in the third quarter.

Somehow, Central Michigan didn't expect another onside kick, and Salerno easily bounced another one to Sobol. That led to Chad Spann's 1-yard touchdown blast and a 30-20 deficit with 13:44 to go.

Another Spann rush cut the margin to 30-27 with 7:38 left, which was followed by Salerno's overtime-forcing kick.

Now NIU needs to sweep Kent State (3-7) and EagleBank Bowl-bound Navy (6-3) in order to earn its own bowl trip.

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