Ohio went up 21-9 after an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Rourke to Connor Brown on the final play of the third quarter, However, NIU scored a pair of touchdowns, including a two-point conversion by left tackle Max Scharping, to earn its fourth Mid-American Conference win of the season.
“This team is battle-tested,” said NIU Head Coach Rod Carey. “All of our games have been four-quarter games. There was no panic [down 21-9]. There was frustration, sure, but no panic.”
Ohio (3-3, 1-1 MAC) looked to extend its lead but Sutton Smith and the Huskie defense had other ideas. After the Bobcats drove from their 25 to the NIU 39, Smith recorded his third strip sack of the season when he simultaneously took the ball out of Rourke’s hands while sacking him. He then recovered the ball for his second fumble recovery of the game.
From its 47-yard line, Childers hit Jauan Wesley for a 20-yard pick-up, ran for 20 yards on second down and 18, then took advantage of a pass interference call on Ohio to advance to the two-yard line. Marcus Jones scored from there to give NIU the lead. Childers hit Scharping with a lateral, which the big (6-6, 320) left tackle ran in for the two-point score.
The Huskie defense forced a three-and-out on Ohio’s next possession and the Huskie offense, unlike a week earlier at Ball State, ran out the clock for the Homecoming win.
“We had to run the ball to win, and today it was Marcus [Childers] who had the hot hand,” Carey said. “The offense was good, the defense was outstanding today, except for the penalties. We were able to stuff the run and make them one dimensional.”
The Huskie defense forced three turnovers and held Ohio to just 46 rushing yards. They sacked Rourke four times, led by Smith with two, with Josh Corcoran and Jack Heflin also contributing sacks.
Ohio scored on a two-yard run by A.J. Ouellette with 8:39 to play in the second quarter to cap a nine-play, 92-yard drive and take a 7-3 lead. Rourke hit Isiah Cox for a 70-yard completion before he was run down by Jordan Cole and Mykelti Williams at the five-yard line. NIU twice looked to halt the Bobcats on third and goal plays, but pass interference was called on both occasions, allowing Ohio eight total plays before scoring.
NIU came back with a six-play, 74-yard drive with D.J. Brown scoring on a 28-yard rush on the jet sweep to give the Huskies a 9-7 lead after the PAT snap was fumbled.
The score stood until the 6:39 mark of the third quarter when Ohio took a 14-9 on a 56-yard completion from Rourke to Cox. It extended the lead to 21-9 with an 11-play, 90-yard drive to close out the third period, aided by three 15-yard penalties on the Huskies.
Kyle Pugh led the Huskie defense with nine tackles, while Smith contributed two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, one fumble forced and two recovered.
(Courtesy of NIU Athletics)