KALAMAZOO - Western Michigan senior wide receiver Jordan White caught a career-high 14 passes for career-high 180 yards, but Northern Illinois scored a late touchdown to escape Waldo Stadium with the victory, 28-21, and remain undefeated in the Mid-American Conference.
The Broncos (3-5, 2-2 MAC) had a chance to tie late in the game as they advanced to the Huskies' (7-2, 5-0 MAC) 16-yard line. On second down, sophomore quarterback Alex Carder was hit as he threw and his pass was intercepted by defensive end Jake Coffman to seal the win for NIU.
Carder finished with 31 completions in 53 attempts for 360 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Junior wide receiver Robert Arnheim set season highs with six catches for 81 yards and his first touchdown of the season.
Northern Illinois finished with 424 total yards with 214 passing and 210 rushing, while the Broncos had 404 yards of offense, including 360 in the air. Northern Illinois hung on to the ball for 34:23, while WMU had possession for 25:37. Both teams were able to stay on the field on third down as NIU converted 10-of-15 and WMU converted 8-of-15. The difference was in the red zone where NIU scored on 3-of-4 and WMU scored on 1-of-4 opportunities inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Dex Jones, senior safeties Mario Armstrong and Jamail Berry and junior defensive tackle Drew Nowak all had nine tackles. That's a career-high for Nowak and Jones. Jones ended with two tackles for loss and Berry had 1.5.
NIU was led by running back Chad Spann with 146 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown, while quarterback Chandler Harnish completed 18-of-30 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 3:42 to play to wide receiver Willie Clark. Clark led NIU with seven catches for 70 yards, while Nathan Palmer had five catches for 83 yards.
Defensive back Tommy Davis and linebacker Tyrone Clark led the Huskies with nine tackles each as the NIU defense had two sacks and eight tackles for loss.
The Broncos opened the game at their own 20 and subsequently began to march down the field, but not after overcoming an early third down. The Broncos faced third-and-10 after the first two plays, but Carder found White between two defenders for 12 yards. Two plays later, White took an end-around for a career-long 19-yard gain into NIU territory. The Broncos faced a short third down, but Carder found sophomore wide receiver Ansel Ponder for a first down to the 35-yard line. WMU faced another third down, but couldn't convert. That didn't stop WMU as they took a chance on fourth down and Carder found White for the first down, but White wanted more. He broke the tackle and raced into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown to put WMU on the board, 7-0, first with 10:41 left in the quarter.
The Huskies drove the ball inside the Western Michigan 20 on their first possession, but redshirt freshman cornerback Lewis Toler made an interception in the end zone to keep WMU in front.
After trading punts, WMU took over at the 20, but lost seven yards on the drive and punted back to NIU. The Huskies' Tommy Davis returned Ben Armer's 56-yard punt for 32 yards to the WMU 37-yard line. The Broncos forced a pair of third-and-longs, but each time Harnish found wide receiver Nathan Palmer for a first down. At the three-yard line, NIU was stuffed twice by the Broncos, but on third down Harnish scrambled around right end after finding no one open to get the touchdown with 10:28 to go in the first half. The Huskies then banged the extra point off the left upright to keep WMU in front, 7-6.
Redshirt freshman running back Brian Fields returned the ensuing kickoff a career-long 42 yards to the Northern Illinois 39. The Broncos converted one third-and-short as Fields dove over the line for three yards. Three plays later, WMU faced third-and-one again. This time, Carder faked the handoff and connected with senior wide receiver Juan Nunez for an 18-yard touchdown on the slant pattern. John Potter converted the extra point to put WMU up eight, 14-6, with 8:28 to go in the half.
After the WMU score, Northern Illinois marched 80 yards in 11 plays to score on Chad Spann's three-yard touchdown run with 3:53 left in the half. The Huskies then converted the two-point conversion to tie the score, but were called for offensive pass interference. NIU changed plans and made the 35-yard extra point to pull back within one, 14-13.
The Broncos were driving when Carder's pass to Nunez was picked off by cornerback Rashaan Melvin at the NIU 34. The Huskies advanced past midfield, but sophomore linebacker Dex Jones and sophomore defensive end Paul Hazel stuffed Harnish on third-and-short to force a punt. WMU ran the rest of the time off the clock to maintain the lead at halftime.
While the Broncos led on the scoreboard, NIU had 222 total yards in the first half, 128 on the ground, to 161 yards for the Broncos with 125 through the air. NIU dominated the time of possession by holding the ball for 18:49.
The Huskies started the second half with the ball and advanced to the WMU 11 after Spann broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage for a 44-yard gain. The Huskies were pushed back after a holding penalty, but got the ball back to the nine-yard line for third-and-eight. The Broncos brought the blitz, but Harnish beat it again by finding Palmer wide open on a slant route for the touchdown. NIU made the extra point to take the lead, 20-14, with 11:08 to go in the third quarter.
On the first play of the next drive, Carder pump faked and found a streaking White for 32 yards down the NIU sideline to the 36-yard line. Two plays later, after an incomplete pass, NIU linebacker Alex Kube was flagged for a late hit to move the ball to the NIU 20. The Huskies held and forced a WMU field goal on fourth-and-six, but were called offsides. With a fourth-and-one WMU decided to go for the first down. Carder went with play action, but under pressure his pass to tight end Blake Hammond in the end zone was incomplete.
For the second possession in a row, WMU started the drive with a long catch-and-run by White. This time, he went 33 yards to the NIU 44. White then converted a second-and-13 play by making a 20-yard completion to the NIU 27 and surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in a season for the first time in his career. After a sack by NIU, the Broncos faced third-and-12, but Carder found White again for 15 yards and a first down. The Broncos faced another third-and-long, but Carder scrambled seven yards to set up fourth-and-four at the eight. For the second possession in a row, WMU went for it, but Carder's pass to Nunez in the end zone was caught out-of-bounds.
The WMU defense held and forced NIU to punt after three plays and took over at its own 48-yard line. After picking up a first down, Carder found junior wide receiver Robert Arnheim for 19 yards to the NIU 23. On the next play, Carder stepped up in the pocket and found Arnheim wide open in the end zone for the touchdown with 5:56 to play. Potter's extra point put WMU back in front, 21-20, as WMU became the first team to score in the second half against Northern Illinois since Akron on Oct. 2.
On its first play of the ensuing series, NIU's Harnish found Palmer wide open for 35 yards to the WMU 44. The Broncos forced a third-and-10, but Harnish found wide receiver Eric Greenwood for 12 yards. On the next play, Harnish lofted a pass to wide receiver Willie Clark in the front corner of the end zone. Clark leaped over WMU's Toler to pull the pass in for a 21-yard touchdown. Harnish then found Palmer again for the two-point conversion to put NIU in front, 28-21, with 3:42 left in the game.
After a touchback, WMU started its final drive with a 12-yard completion to White on second down and a 17-yard completion to Ansel Ponder on the next play to advance to midfield. Two plays later, Carder found Ponder again for 13 yards to the NIU 38. Four plays later, WMU faced fourth-and-one and converted as Carder ran for two yards on the draw. Three plays later, Arnheim got open for 10 yards on third-and-nine to get the ball to the NIU 16, but two plays later Carder was intercepted to end the game.
The Broncos head back on the road to in-state rival Central Michigan next Friday at 6 p.m. in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
