The Huskies won in fashion on a fall night in DeKalb as sophomore tight end Mitchell Brinkman came up with a block punt, setting up a 10 yard, game winning touchdown run by redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Childers.

“[NIU] has been emphasizing special teams ever since the first day of camp,” Brinkman said. “That’s something we take pride in here.”

{{tncms-inline account=”ryry_ISIT05″ html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Huskie special teams come up CLUTCH with the block punt with two minutes left!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NIUnation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NIUnation</a></p>— Ryan Ostry (@ryry_ISIT05) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryry_ISIT05/status/923739683691155456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”923739683691155456″ type=”twitter”}}

The Huskies (6-2, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) won their fourth consecutive game and remained undefeated in conference after the come-from-behind win Thursday. NIU was trailing 24-10 entering the fourth quarter.

“This team didn’t flinch,” Head Coach Rod Carey said. “That’s probably the best characteristic I’ve seen from them this season.”

{{tncms-inline account=”tnb030″ html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Can NEVER count <a href="https://twitter.com/NIU_Football?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NIU_Football</a> out! The defense comes up big down the stretch like they've been doing all year. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Huskies?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Huskies</a></p>— Tom Burton (@tnb030) <a href="https://twitter.com/tnb030/status/923767666980130816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”923767666980130816″ type=”twitter”}}

The first quarter was a defensive game with multiple punts resulting in neither team scoring.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles pinned the Huskies inside it’s own 10 yard line with a fake field goal pooch kick.

NIU got on the board first with a three play, 91 yard touchdown drive ending in a 69 yard touchdown reception from junior wide receiver D.J. Brown.

The Eagles tied up the ball game at 7-7 shortly after with a 68 yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Sergio Bailey II.

After a blocked punt by sophomore wide receiver Eagles’ Matthew Sexton which led to a score, Sutton Smith, redshirt sophomore defensive end, tied the all-time school record for tackles for loss with 20, dating back to 1984.

NIU went into halftime down 14-7 following the first of three field goal misses by Eagles sophomore kicker Paulie Fricano.

The Huskies got on the board first in the second half with a 25 yard field goal by senior kicker Christian Hagan, cutting the lead to four for Eastern Michigan.

NIU squandered an opportunity the next time with the ball, as a fumble by senior wide receiver Christian Blake led to a 34 yard field goal make by Fricano.

The game got a little chippy at the end of the third quarter as Eagles sophomore cornerback Kevin McGill was thrown out of the game for a targeting penalty against Marcus Jones, redshirt sophomore running back.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Huskie offense was 1-11 in third down opportunities.

The fourth quarter started off with a trick play that went for a 45 yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Bryce Kemp that put the Eagles up by two touchdowns.

NIU’s offense got kicked into gear after the 13 minute mark with a 50 yard reception by Shane Wimann, redshirt senior wide receiver, leading to Wimann scoring on a five yard touchdown reception.

With the Brinkman block punt and a recover by Jauan Wesley, redshirt junior wide receiver, the offense did the rest with a 10 yard touchdown run from Childers to tie the game at 24-24 with two minutes remaining.

Fricano had the chance to win the game for the Eagles, but he missed a 42 yard field goal that put the game into overtime.

The Huskies won the coin toss and deferred, where they held Eastern Michigan to a field goal and went on to win with a nine yard run by Jones.

NIU started Childers for the third consecutive game. He went 23-40 with 278 yards and two touchdowns.

Childers preached protecting the ball after his second consecutive game without committing a turnover.

“[NIU] works on a lot of ball security drills in practice,” Childers said. “It is something I’m conscious of, but it is more of a repetition thing.”

With the win, the Huskies are now eligible for a bowl game and will be placed into one after the season ends.

NIU will return to the field against the conference-leading University of Toledo Rockets 5 p.m. Thursday in Toledo, Ohio.