DETROIT — Northern Illinois won its second straight Mid-American Conference championship Friday night, this time out-dueling No. 17 Kent State 44-37 in double-overtime at Ford Field to successfully defend its title in exhausting fashion.
NIU (12-1) has won 12 consecutive games while Kent State (11-2) had its 10-game winning streak snapped. The Huskies became the first NIU team ever to win 12 games in a season.
Jordan Lynch, the MAC regular-season MVP, rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the second overtime. Lynch broke the NCAA record for quarterback rushing yards with 1,771 yards, eclipsing the 1,702-yards mark of Michigan's Denard Robinson in 2010. Lynch completed 19 of 34 passes for 212 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Golden Flashes had their final offensive opportunity in the second overtime thwarted when Demetrius Stone intercepted Spencer Keith's fourth-down pass in the end zone.
"We beat a team tonight that beat Rutgers at Rutgers," NIU coach Dave Doeren said. "It was a great season for our conference. For us to go through the entire MAC schedule undefeated and beat this team in double overtime says a lot about our football team.
"I don't care where you play. There's a huge target on these guys' back. Because of the streaks we have, it even adds to that incentive. With all that on the line, we just keep winning."
NIU converted 10 of 19 third-down situations and 2 of 2 on fourth down.
"If we can get to fourth-and-short, we're going to try and go," Doeren said. "Leading the way with some beef and with Jordan following them or Akeem (Daniels) following them, it was a nice little package."
NIU's defense limited Kent State first-team All-MAC running back Dri Archer to 15 yards rushing. He entered the game averaging 9.7 yards a carry. Archer did manage to catch five passes for 81 yards.
The Huskies' Tyler Weidel executed short "sky" kickoffs all night to keep the ball away from Archer, but the Golden Flashes came away with excellent field position.
"He's a great football player and (the strategy) hurt us the second half … they got out to the 50 several times," Doeren said.
While pollsters, selection committees and other ranked teams will determine the long shot BCS bowl fate for NIU, the players determined the outcome on the field Friday night.
Akeem Daniels rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown. He also caught four passes for 67 yards. Martel Moore and Perez Ashford also each had four catches.
Doeren and Kent State coach Darrell Hazell each predicted a close game that would come down to the final seconds.
With representatives from the Orange and Sugar bowls in attendance, Northern Illinois led 17-10 at the half. They led 27-13 going into the fourth quarter before Kent State scored 14 points within 15 seconds to tie the game 27-27.
When Lynch scored on a 9-yard run with 3 minutes, 12 seconds left in regulation to make it 34-27, Kent State countered with a 19-yard pass from Keith to Tim Erjavec with 44 seconds left.
Freddy Cortez kicked his third field goal of the night from 33 yards to lift Kent State into a 37-34 lead in the first extra session. But NIU's Mathew Sims came through with a clutch 40-yarder to extend the contest.
Lynch scored from 2 yards out on the next possession setting up the Golden Flashes final, futile drive in OT.
The Huskies appeared in the MAC title game for the third straight year, having won it last season over Ohio on a last-second field goal. Friday night's contest was every bit intriguing.
The Golden Flashes came in ranked 17th and the Huskies 21st in the most recent BCS standings. Hazell was named MAC Coach of the Year. This was the first time since 2003 that two nationally ranked teams were battling for the MAC championship.
Lynch entered the game ranked third in the nation in total offense with 4,361 yards, fifth in rushing with 1,611 yards and 12th in passing efficiency.
The MAC has seven teams eligible for bowl contests: NIU (11-1), Kent State (11-1), Ball State (9-3), Toledo (9-3), Ohio (8-4), Bowling Green (8-4) and Central Michigan (6-6).
fmitchell@tribune.com
Twitter @kicker34
NIU wins MAC Championship in double overtime
This article
NIU wins MAC Championship in double overtime
can be opened in url
http://inscriptionnews.blogspot.com/2012/11/niu-wins-mac-championship-in-double.html
NIU wins MAC Championship in double overtime
