It’s unusual to lead a game-winning drive without throwing a pass.

But it happened for NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish in NIU’s 17-13 win over Miami (Ohio), thanks to Me’co Brown and Chad Spann.

After Miami scored 13 unanswered points to take a 13-10 lead with 4:53 left in the fourth quarter, Harnish, seeing his first action in over a month, and the NIU offense took the ball at their own 32-yard line.

Brown carried the ball three times for 46 yards, including a 36-yard run, and Spann two times for 17 including a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Huskies a 17-13 lead, a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

“A lot of guys when I came to the sideline said ‘good job handing the ball off,'” Harnish said.

Brown ran 16 times for 125 yards on the day, his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.

“It was huge,” Harnish said of Brown’s performance. “We really couldn’t have asked for anything more out of the guy. He made some great plays when we needed it.”

Miami had a chance to win at the end of the game, driving 54 yards to the NIU 15, facing a fourth-and-13 with 1:26 left in regulation.

After three straight incomplete passes, RedHawks quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh’s final attempt was broken up by linebacker Josh Allen.

All the Huskies needed to do was take two kneel downs while the student section chanted “Na na na na hey hey goodbye.”

Harnish thought he had led a game-winning drive at Minnesota in NIU’s opening game, throwing a 52-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Palmer to give NIU a 27-24 lead, but the NIU defense couldn’t hold the Gophers as they scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.

This time however, the defense got the job done.

“The ball was there and I just wanted to deflect it so our offense could take a couple knees and we could get out of here with a win,” Allen said. “I think it proves a point to us and lets them know that [the defense] can make a play when it’s time.”

DeMarcus Grady started the game at quarterback for NIU, the third starting quarterback for the Huskies this season, but suffered an ankle injury late in the second quarter.

In came Harnish, who started the first two games of the season, but sprained his foot against Western Michigan. Harnish didn’t take a lot of reps at practice this week and was listed as the team’s backup for the game.

“It took me a couple series to get worked in” Harnish said. “It felt really good to be out there.”

Harnish finished the game four-for-9 for 48 yards. He also carried the ball five times for 15 yards.

NIU head coach Jerry Kill summed up Harnish’s performance, “What he did, he gave us a chance to win the game.”