Redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Hare did his best Jordan Lynch impersonation Saturday in football’s 51-41 win over the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks.

The Huskies needed Hare’s Lynch-esque performance as the defense looked like a warm stick of butter being sliced into by the knife that was the RedHawks’ offense.

The vacillation between the Huskies’ offense showing up with the defense hibernating and the offense lost in space with the defense standing tall reared its head again this season.

Hare completed 12 of his 16 pass attempts for 185 yards and one touchdown. He carried the ground game, running for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 17 rushes. It was his first career game with more than 100 rushing yards.

Hare even caught an 18-yard pass on a throwback toss from Aregeros Turner, bringing back memories of Lynch’s 17-yard touchdown reception from Tommylee Lewis Oct. 26, 2013, against Eastern Michigan.

“He’s an athletic kid,” said Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin. “Everybody tried to compare the kid to Jordan Lynch. Hare’s got great numbers this year. He’s a great MAC quarterback. I don’t know that he’s one of the best players in the country like the last kid [Lynch] was. … Hare definitely can throw it, can run it [and] manage their offense … .”

The defense needed nearly every point the offense managed as the 10-point victory could have realistically been a 20-point win. The Huskies gave up 41 points, which is the second-highest total they’ve given up this season and the most points they’ve allowed in conference play.

The RedHawks totaled 514 yards of offense, including 346 yards through the air. They scored on all five of their trips into the red zone and converted both of their fourth down attempts.

“I thought our defense made enough plays tonight,” said head coach Rod Carey. “Obviously … 41 points isn’t good enough, and we know that, but we’re going to work to get better. We’re not a finished product on that side of the ball, either. But, when you face that type of an offense that can happen pretty easily.”

The 51-41 win continued the trend of the offense and defense not showing up in the same game. The offense stumbled to put together a complete four quarters when the defense came to play against Northwestern and Kent State. When the offense came out firing against UNLV and Miami (Ohio) the defense seemed like it had vanished for large portions of the game.

In NIU’s losses to Arkansas and Central Michigan neither the offense nor defense seemed to be present. The one game where both sides of the ball were on the same page was the 55-3 rout of Presbyterian, a Football Championship Subdivision school.

Saturday’s win, coupled with Central Michigan’s loss to Ball State, puts the Huskies back in control of their own destiny. If they win out they’ll represent the MAC West in the MAC Championship game for the fifth-straight season.

But winning the Huskies’ final fives games, which include four road contests, will require the offense and defense to be on the same page in the same game, which the team has struggled with. Hare doesn’t need to put up Lynch-like numbers — I don’t think anyone’s expecting him to — and the defense doesn’t need to post shutouts, but both sides of the ball need to work on being consistent.

“Well, that’s football, isn’t it? If I had some magic pixie dust I’d wave it over our heads, and we’d do it,” Carey said. “But, we keep working to improve, that’s what it is. It’s not a mystery. It’s details, it’s little things, it’s fundamentals that you have to keep working at and improve. You’re not ever done with yourself as a football team … .”