A Jordan Lynch pass was tipped and intercepted by CMU late in the first half enabling the Chippewas to escape with a 14-14 tie score at the half.
CMU struck first with a nifty 9 yard touchdown pass completion from Cooper Rush to star receiver Titus Davis. The scoring drive tool only four plays.
NIU struck back on a 9 yard completion from Lynch to Tommylee Lewis late in the first quarter. The drive was aided by a key offsides penalty on CMU defender Blake Serpa which negated a CMU stop on third down deep in CMU territory.
Cooper Rush hooked up with Andrew Flory on a 36 yard touch down late in the first quarter giving CMU the lead 14-7. Then the CMU bugaboo hit. Cooper Rush was intercepted deep in CMU territory.
NIU capitalized on the gift from CMU when Jordan Lynch scored on a five yard run with 08:11 left in the first half to kinot the score at 14-14.