YPSILANTI, Mich.—One play literally decided the winner of the NIU-Eastern Michigan game Saturday.

A two-point conversion pass from tailback Gary Patton to wide receiver Mark Ziegler gave the Hurons a 32-31 victory before 13,306 fans in Rynearson Stadium. The play came from the 8-yard line after a delay of game penalty.

The loss dropped the Huskies to 1-2-1 on the season and robbed them of an undefeated road trip. Eastern Michigan improved its record to 4-1 and returns to Mid-American Conference play on a high note.

In fact, the non-conference game situation helped EMU decide to go for the win instead of settling for the tie with a point-after kick.

“We had another play. I was about ready to kick it,” Eastern Michigan coach Jim Harkema said. “The kids say ‘Hey, coach, it’s non-conference, let’s win it.'”

The delay penalty further complicated matters, but Huron quarterback Ron Adams stepped in and called the play.

“Here’s a quarterback I’ve been ripping and been upset with and here he is ready to call the play and have the halfback throw the pass to win the game,” Harkema said.

“If I would’ve been across the field I would’ve been going for the win too in that situation,” NIU head coach Jerry Pettibone said. He said the penalty gave EMU a better chance at throwing the ball but said he did not consider declining the penalty. “I wanted them back as far as I could get them,” he said.

Patton is 2 for 4 lifetime passing for 38 yards. His last pass prior to Saturday was a 16-yard scoring strike against Miami (Ohio) last season.

“What a great throw. The ball had to be to that spot. Go interview Gary, he’ll tell you he knew he could do it,” Harkema said.

Patton said, “I was kind of surprised. I was happy. If it wasn’t open I was supposed to run it. So, it was open, I throw it, he caught it, two points. If he would’ve dropped it, oh well, everything would’ve been fine and dandy for Northern Illinois.”

The conversion was set up by a conventional pass from Adams to Ziegler from five yards out as the junior wide receiver from Palatine beat NIU’s Randall Townsel to the ball with a leaping catch.

The winning drive was set up by a 56-yard kickoff return by Glennard Smith, which both Pettibone called a “lapse in the kicking game” and Harkema called “the big turnaround.”

The Huskies had taken a 31-24 lead with 4:13 remaining on a quarterback sneak by Marshall Taylor. It was the first time the junior quarterback has rushed for three touchdowns in a game. Taylor went over from four yards in the second quarter and tallied NIU’s first points of the game with a three-yard run in the first.

Pettibone said he was pleased the offense battled back for the second week in a row.

“We were able to come back,” he said. “I was proud of the team in the second half, down by 10 at halftime, we moved the ball down and scored to get right back in the game.”

Before EMU’s winning score, NIU had outscored the Hurons 17-0 in the second half after trailing 24-14 at intermission.

Harkema blamed himself for the Hurons’ offense being shut out in the entire third quarter and the majority of the fourth.

“I coached terrible on offense in the second half,” Harkema said. “I didn’t get us in enough solid plays to hold the football. It seems we had eight plays there for a while and that was it. Our kids won that game. Our players did a heck of a job and found the 12th way to win because it certainly didn’t look good.”

The Huskies had scored two touchdowns, one field goal and driven for a missed three-pointer on their four second-half drives, but were stopped on four plays after giving up the winning two-point conversion.