Oxford, Ohio – This time, Dan Sheldon made sure to score on the offensive side of the ball.

After returning punts for touchdowns in the two prior weeks, sophomore wide receiver Dan Sheldon caught six passes for 163 yards and two scores in NIU’s 48-41 come from behind win over host Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Sheldon had a quiet first half, catching one pass for 12 yards. But the Elgin native saved the best for last, hauling in three Josh Haldi passes for 101 yards and his two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“Josh threw some great passes today,” Sheldon said. “I ran the routes like I was supposed to and great things happened.”

With NIU down 27-21 early in the final frame, Sheldon’s diving catch down the right sideline went for 34 yards and set up Michael Turner’s 15-yard touchdown that tied the game at 27.

Sheldon added 25-yard- and 40-yard-touchdown grabs later as the NIU offense put up a school-record 34 points in the fourth quarter.

“Right now, he’s our playmaker,” offensive lineman Tim Vincent said. “He’s the guy that we kind of look to make the big play. He’s a little guy, but he’s really not afraid of anything.”

The success of the passing game helped open up some running lanes for Turner, who early in the game was stuffed by Miami. He burned off runs of 75 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter.

“Michael’s going to be there every week, so we had to back him up with something,” Sheldon said. “We feel that if our passing game opens up, that helps him out even more, because teams won’t stack the box as much.”

After catching just four passes for 61 yards last season, Sheldon has 20 receptions for 402 yards this season through seven games.

His improved route running helped Sheldon to break free of the RedHawk secondary.

“The beginning of the year, I was rushing into my routes, and that gives the defense time to react,” Sheldon said. “I’ve really been working on expressing my routes, and it helped out a lot today.”

“The kid runs well. He’s got good speed,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “He’s really becoming a polished receiver. There were two or three times there he ran some great routes to get open and Josh got the ball to him.”