DeKALB | The Huskies are still winless at home this season after losing to the Central Michigan University Chippewas 34-28 in triple overtime after not capitalizing on two missed field goals by Central late in regulation and overtime.

This is only the Huskies sixth conference loss since the 2010 season but is the third consecutive season the Huskies have lost to Central Michigan. The loss to Central Michigan put the Huskies record at 1-6 and 1-2 in Mid-American Conference play while Central Michigan improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the MAC.

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey said the game was hard fought and should have resulted in a Huskies win at the postgame press conference.

“It was a game of back-and-forth swings,” Carey said. “You’ve got to make the critical plays. They’re going to come [into play] every game, and we didn’t make them. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get better. Certainly it was a hard-fought game, one that was there for the taking.”

The game started off slow as neither team scored in the first quarter but picked up when the Chippewas intercepted redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Maddie midway through the second quarter. The Chippewas connected with an 11-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cooper Rush to wide receiver Corey Willis.

The Huskies answered back to tie the game at seven with a six play, 75-yard drive. The drive ended with a 17-yard passing touchdown from Maddie, who finished with 165 yards passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions, to junior wide receiver Christian Blake.

The game was tied at 14 headed into halftime.

The Huskies had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter after an interception was thrown by Rush to redshirt freshman safety Trequan Smith. NIU was unable to capitalize and were forced to punt.

The punt set up a go-ahead score from the Chippewas as runningback Devon Spaulding broke off a 58-yard touchdown run to put Central ahead 21-14 with 4 mintues and 21 seconds remaining in the game.The Huskies answered back within 32 seconds with a 2 play, 61-yard drive ending in a 53-yard touchdown run from Turner, his second touchdown of the day, to even the score at 21. Central Michigan had an opportunity to win the game late but missed a 32-yard field goal attempt, sending the game to its first overtime. 

The Huskies started with possesion of the ball but Maddie threw an interception. This set up a possible game winning field goal for Central but again the kick was missed, sending the game to second overtime.

In the second overtime Central Michigan scored a touchdown with a 25-yard pass from Rush to Willis, but NIU answered back with a 13-yard passing touchdown from Maddie to senior tailback Joel Bouagnon to tie the game at 28.

In triple overtime, NIU junior kicker Christian Hagan had a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked.

Central Michigan scored on the first play of their drive on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Rush to wide receiver Tyler Conklin, ending the game.

“This was an overtime game where both teams were slugging back and forth,” Carey said. “We are going to give Central Michigan credit, because they made more plays to win the game then we did.”

The Huskies next game will be 2:30 p.m. Saturday against University at Buffalo at Huskie Stadium. It will be the 110th annual homecoming game for NIU.