Spann's gives NIU big boost

Posted October 23, 2009 11:00 pm

Associated Press

OXFORD, Ohio - Chad Spann had 2 long touchdown runs to lead Northern Illinois to a 27-22 win over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Spann, who had 156 yards on 21 carries, opened the scoring on a 42-yard run with 8:01 left in the first quarter. Spann also had the last TD for Northern Illinois (4-3, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) on a 40-yard run for a 27-16 lead with 58 seconds left.

Span has scored 12 touchdowns, 11 rushing, this season.

The Huskies, who had 202 rushing yards, limited the RedHawks on the ground to a school-record minus-11 yards.

The Northern Illinois defense, led by Jake Coffman with 21/2 sacks for a loss of 20 yards, sacked Miami quarterback Zac Dysert eight times for a total loss of 66 yards.

Despite the sacks, Dysert had a career-high 348 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27-of-37 passing for the RedHawks (0-8, 0-4).

Armand Robinson had 7 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown for Miami.

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