NIU drops MAC title game in stunning fashion
DETROIT -- When Austin Boucher's harried pass on fourth-and-20 headed directly toward a pair of Northern Illinois defenders, Huskies fans started to celebrate.
Even defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys stood up in the coaches' box as NIU's first Mid-American Conference title since 1983 appeared all but official.
“When I saw the tip, I thought it was over,” Claeys said.
But linebacker Tyrone Clark's leaping deflection sent the ball over his teammate and right to Miami's Chris Givens for a 31-yard gain.
Two plays later, a blown coverage on a blitz allowed Boucher to hit uncovered Armand Robinson for a 33-yard score with 0:33 left.
Just like that, Miami finished off a shocking 26-21 victory Friday night before an announced crowd of 12,031 at Ford Field.
“We were in a blitz situation and we had a (safety) not get over the top where he needed to be,” said NIU coach Jerry Kill. “Those things happen sometimes, but we certainly wish it wouldn't have.”
The Huskies (10-3) entered the night with a nine-game winning streak, a No. 25 BCS rank and an 18-point edge according to Vegas.
Yet the MAC title eluded them in strikingly similar fashion as the school's previous title game in 2005, when Akron hit a 36-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left to stun NIU 31-30.
This one stung just as badly.
Senior linebacker Alex Kube, who led NIU with 9 tackles and contributed 1 of the team's 5 sacks, emitted a long noise somewhere between a wheeze and a cry as the Cary-Grove graduate made the long walk up the tunnel to the loser's locker room.
“I'm not going to sit here and lie to you,” Kube said. “It hurts. It's painful ... I'm sorry for the community. I'm sorry for the program, but I'm telling you we're going to bounce back.
“We're going to play the bowl game and we're going to play it tough.”
NIU (10-3) learns by Sunday its MAC-affiliated destination. The leaders are a return trip to Detroit for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Dec. 26) or a trip to Boise, Idaho, for the Humanitarian Bowl (Dec. 18).
It might take that long for the Huskies to count all of their missed opportunities.
They came in as the nation's 11th-best scoring offense (39.3 ppg) and lived up to billing in the first quarter.
While Miami hit NIU with 2 quick rushing touchdowns, junior quarterback Chandler Harnish answered with touchdown passes of 69 and 27 yards to wideout Martel Moore.
The Huskies' defense adjusted and bottled up Miami's rushing game, but NIU missed chances for a pair of additional long touchdown passes in the second quarter.
Junior wideout Nathan Palmer beat double coverage on a deep post pattern, but dropped what would have been a 53-yard score from Harnish.
The next possession, backup quarterback Jordan Lynch took advantage of his run-only reputation and faked a run before dropping back.
Willie Clark got behind the defense, but Lynch's long pass came up a yard short. Had the ball reached Clark, it would have been a 41-yard score.
“Ten times out of 10, Jordan makes that play,” said offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover. “We put it in specifically for him.”
With Miami's safeties focused on stopping the run, Limegrover trotted out the same play on the first play of the fourth quarter. Harnish hit Clark for a 39-yard score that made it 21-20 NIU.
After Miami's miracle tip and go-ahead touchdown, NIU regained possession at its own 30 with 26 seconds left.
Harnish moved the Huskies to Miami's 32 with 10 seconds left, but went no further.
On the game's final play, Harnish tried to buy time for a Hail Mary but was dragged down just beyond the line of scrimmage as Miami's players celebrated all around.
“The coaches told me don't take the sack,” Harnish said. “I got hung up looking over at Willie (Clark) on the right side and I just held on to the ball too long and didn't really realize the situation.
“I just didn't give our team a chance and I feel absolutely sick about that.”