As a victorious NIU football team walked off the field toward the locker room, strong safety Ray Smith slapped the hands of a group of orange-clad Bowling Green fans.

“Go Bowling Green! We’re BG fans now,” an excited Smith cried out.

The Falcons fans responded by pointing at the Huskies players and cheering, “MAC champs, right here.”

After a 34-16 Saturday win over Eastern Michigan in front of 4,251 fans, the Huskies’ hopes for a MAC championship now lie in the hands of Bowling Green.

The Falcons need to win Tuesday at Toledo to break the three-way tie in the MAC West in the Huskies’ favor.

“It was great to get that win, but I was really nervous coming off Toledo,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done. We’ve done our part to this point; now all we can do is put our faith in Bowling Green.”

The Huskies rode the momentum of an NIU-record 325 rushing yards by Garrett Wolfe and a 41-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass play that ended the second half.

The 40-yard pass from NIU quarterback Josh Haldi to Shatone Powers gave the Huskies a 20-13 lead at halftime.

NIU began the second half by scoring 14 points in the first 3:08 of play.

For the rest of the day, the Eagles watched the NIU defense add to its turnover count and Wolfe to his records.

The Huskies defense forced six turnovers on the day and held the Eagles’ offense scoreless in the second half until EMU senior Brian Klaban kicked a 28-yard field goal to end the game.

Wolfe missed NIU’s last game with an eye injury from being punched Nov. 7 while trying to break up a fight outside a bar. In his return, the sophomore had 325 yards, breaking LeShon Johnson’s previous record of 322 yards, set in 1993.

Wolfe added two touchdowns to his season total of 20, which tied the NIU record, set by Michael Turner in 2002, and also tied the national lead, shared with Memphis’ DeAngelo Williams.

“I couldn’t imagine having the type of game I had,” Wolfe said. “It’s been a roller coaster ride. My life’s been a roller coaster ride, but I was just glad to be back.”

Wolfe said his job of running the ball was the easiest on offense and attributed much of his performance to the offensive line.

“I know he’s a great back,” NIU offensive guard Matt McGhghy said. “He’s capable of big numbers at any time. He’s just like poetry in motion. I love blocking for him. The sky’s the limit for Garrett; it’s up to him.”

Wolfe and the Huskies now will have to wait to find if their limit will include a bowl game or MAC championship game.