Part one of the Saturday showdowns in DeKalb went to the NIU football team, defeating Temple 31-17 at Huskie Stadium.

Billed as a battle between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference, NIU (4-2 overall, 2-0 MAC) went down early after a Chad Spann fumble led to a 25-yard touchdown run by Temple’s Matt Brown. The fumble was Spann’s first of the season.

“We stressed all week that they were going to strip the ball,” Spann said. “That first play they came out and Coach Kill brought me out to the sidelines and said ‘just forget about it and go on to the next play.'”

Akeem Daniels helped Spann move on eight minutes later when he scored from nine yards out, capping off a 15-play, 80-yard drive to tie things up 7-7.

Both teams would trade field goals in the second before Temple (4-2, 1-1) took a late lead in the half with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Evan Rodriguez. NIU again responded 3:29 later when Landon Cox went up top to catch a Chandler Harnish touchdown pass; tying the game 17-17 at halftime.

“When we left the locker room, I said, ‘defense has to step up and get some stops,'” said NIU head coach Jerry Kill. “And offensively, I’ve said all along, you have to score 30 and we’ll win. We got 31, and the defense got some stops.”

Both defenses came up clutch in the second half, stopping the opposing offenses until Harnish struck again, finding receiver Nathan Palmer to take a 24-17 lead.

The Huskies would put the game away in the fourth with Spann’s only touchdown of the game.

“They were better than us, they were tougher,” said Temple head coach Al Golden. “They made plays when they had to, they played with more discipline, and they played smarter.”

Harnish continued to put on a display of accuracy, going 20-of-25 for 211 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also gained 79 yards on 14 carries.

Brown finished with 13 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown for the Owls, while quarterback Chester Stewart was 13-of-27 for 148 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

As a team the Huskies outgained Temple 420-272, going 5-for-5 in the red zone compared to a 1-for-3 effort by the Owls.

“It was just a great game,” Kill said. “Two good football teams slugging it out – can’t get any better than that.”