Ohio Bobcats vs Northern Illinois Huskies Match Player Stats On Dec 02, 2011

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 2, 2011

Chandler Harnish threw three second-half touchdown passes and Mathew Sims kicked the winning 33-yard field goal with no time left as Northern Illinois scored the final 23 points to defeat Ohio 23-20 in the MAC Championship Game on Friday.

Harnish, who never found his rhythm in the first half, threw three second-half touchdowns - a 39-yarder to Nathan Palmer, 32 yards to Martel Moore and a 22-yarder to Palmer that tied the game with 2:52 remaining.

Northern Illinois (10-3) got the ball back with 1:18 left and Harnish drove the Huskies to the 16-yard line with five seconds left to set up the field goal for Sims, who redeemed himself for missing the second extra point.

Harnish completed 16-of-26 passes for 250 yards.

Ohio (9-4) sandwiched its first touchdown, a 24-yard option pass from Phil Bates to Donte Foster, between a pair of field goals by Matt Weller. Quarterback Tyler Tettleton finished the scoring in the first half on an 18-yard touchdown run that gave the Bobcats a 20-0 lead at halftime.

Tettleton completed 18-of-31 passes for 218 yards, but was intercepted three times, and rushed for 51 yards, but fumbled once.

Northern Illinois has won eight straight games and avenged its loss to Ohio in last year’s MAC title game, and will likely earn a bid to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.