Football (2-0) discovered its offense in the second half against the Northwestern Wildcats (0-2) during Saturday’s 23-15 win at Ryan Field in Evanston; however, questions remain about who will be NIU’s leader under center for the remainder of the season.

The Huskies totaled just 142 yards of total offense during the first two quarters following outings from redshirt junior quarterback Matt McIntosh and redshirt sophomore quarterback Anthony Maddie. After a scoreless first half, head coach Rod Carey turned to redshirt sophomore quartreback Drew Hare, who led four scoring drives in the second half.

Hare went 6-for-10 for 109 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He rushed for 31 yards on 11 carries and punched in a 4-yard dive to put NIU up 23-7 with 3:27 to play.

“He came in that first drive and completed a couple balls and got us down there,” Carey said. “It’s not a ‘All [of] the sudden there’s a stake in the ground’ moment; it’s a ‘You see the flow of the game and all [of] the sudden: Drew, you’re staying in.’”

Carey’s game plan was to use all three quarterbacks during Saturday’s matchup.

“We knew and Drew knew and Maddie knew,” Carey said. “We told Drew be on the ready [because] we didn’t know exactly when it was going to come. Maddie, we knew we were going to get him in there. We hadn’t had him in with the ones yet, and so we knew we were going to get him in with the ones in the first half. [The] plan went well, and then Drew came in and played great. We’ve got three good quarterbacks; I’ve been telling you that. It’s a good problem to have. Nonetheless, it’s a problem.”

Hare’s first series under center led to a 32-yard field goal from kicker Tyler Wedel. The Wildcats’ lone lead of the day came on a 19-yard dart from Trevor Siemian to Kyle Prater, giving the Wildcats a 7-3 lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter.

NIU’s offensive unit responded in a big way with a lengthy 13-play, 82-yard drive capped by an 18-yard scoring pass from Hare to senior wide receiver Da’Ron Brown, giving the Huskies a 10-7 lead with 0:52 to play in the third quarter. Senior running Cameron Stingily, who Carey said would be out with an undisclosed injury for the first four games, picked up 17 yards on a fourth-and-one to keep the drive alive. Carey said he had known “for a while” that Stingily would play.

The Huskies extended the lead to 16-7 when Hare and Brown hooked up once again, this time on a 59-yard scoring pass with 7:00 left.

“Our line, they did a heck of a job all day,” Hare said. “I dropped back, I saw the coverage I liked to throw it to Da’Ron. He ran by the safety and made a play.”

After forcing a three-and-out and a punt, a 36-yard punt return by Chad Beebe placed the Huskies on the Northwestern 22-yard line. Hare ran it in from 4 yards out with 3:27 to play, putting the Huskies up 23-7.

Northwestern scored a late passing touchdown and converted a two-point attempt, but its ensuing onside kick attempt was unsuccessful as Brown secured the ball and dropped to the ground. NIU recovered and ran out the clock for a 23-15 win.

After naming McIntosh the starting quarterback for the Northwestern game, Carey is unsure what the plan is going forward.

“I don’t know,” Carey said. “We’ve got 24 hours to enjoy a victory. We’ll get back, we’ll watch the film. We’ll dissect, do what we do and then we’ll go forward from there.”

Sports Editor Frank Gogola contributed to this article.