Hustle Belt - A MAC Classic: NIU Tops Kent State In Double OvertimeMAC Football, MAC Basketball, MAC Recruiting, MAC Baseball and all of the other #MACtion hijinks in between - hustlebeltblog@gmail.comhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50387/hustle-fav.png2012-12-01T02:10:06-05:00http://www.hustlebelt.com/rss/stream/34765072012-12-01T02:10:06-05:002012-12-01T02:10:06-05:00With endings like this, who needs the BCS?
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<p>The wait was entirely worth it. The first overtime game in MAC Football Championship history showed the country exactly what the conference was about.</p> <p>I don't go in the press box very much. It is very far away from my television and couch and favorite cup which I fill routinely with homemade SodaStream diet pop. What I know about the tension in my living room during an intense game is that I'm pacing around, the dog wonders what is happening, and my wife just shakes her head.</p>
<p>So when a game that intense is happening in front of my very eyes, I'm not entirely certain if that game sank into the heart of men and women who are paid to watch and write about sports for their job. I'd like to think a double-overtime game got to them. And I was certainly tense, keeping in my desire to yell wacky epithets at every turn.</p>
<p>Because what other emotion is there in this game? This championship game is not always close, but it's starting to be the theme. Greatness either manifests itself in a dominant team, which NIU looked like for about 45 minutes, or a teetering competitive stalemate, which brought us back to double-overtime — as previously stated, the first time the MACCG ever needed overtime. Don't ever put the narrative before the horse.</p>
<p>It also marks the 10th time in the championship game's 16-year history — and third straight year — that the margin of victory was within one touchdown. The game was made close because NIU made gaffes to give Kent State life, yes, but turnovers are nothing but opportunities if the other team doesn't cash in on them. Kent State scored 17 points directly after an NIU giveaway.</p>
<p>And while his numbers weren't astounding, the play that brought it all back together was <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/84434/dri-archer">Dri Archer</a>, who was getting adjacent to nothing in the backfield, his team in emergency-mode down 14 points with six minutes to play, streaking for a 60-yard reception. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/84428/spencer-keith">Spencer Keith</a> aired it out and Archer was able to catch up to it, covered aptly by two NIU defenders. It sparked the crowd. It even woke a couple writers up from their compilation of a story about <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116594/jordan-lynch">Jordan Lynch</a> just playing a stupidly mean game of "keep away" from KSU. Even though that's exactly what he did, that fact became paragraph number nine.</p>
<p>As for overtime, well, the darn thing happens so fast it's hard to tell or remember what happened, but if there was any proof <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116627/mathew-sims">Mathew Sims</a> can handle the pressure unlike other "college kickers," his 40-yarder to advance the game into Overtime No. 2 was Exhibit B, adding onto his game-winning field goal in last year's championship game. On a night when Lynch almost willed his team to victory, he needed help from Sims, he needed help from running back (yes, they use running backs too!) <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116605/akeem-daniels">Akeem Daniels</a>, and they needed help from the defense. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/159925/ken-bishop">Ken Bishop</a> helped NIU stop the run with his three tackles for loss, a sack and a QB hurry. That hurry happened on the final play, forcing Spencer Keith to roll out of the pocket and throw an interception to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116600/demetrius-stone">Demetrius Stone</a> who jutted out in front of Archer. <a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1817091/Kent_state_presser.JPG"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1817091/Kent_state_presser_medium.JPG" class="photo" alt="Kent_state_presser_medium"></a></p>
<p><i>Darrell Hazell, Spencer Keith and Dri Archer</i></p>
<p>It leaves Kent State with a really nasty feeling. You don't win 10 games then lose the championship and be OK with it, even though as dawn breaks on the weekend, most Golden Flashes fans are going to be overwrought with sports ennui (and/or a hangover) but gradually be able to appreciate what was accomplished in 2012, just hoping that maybe Darrel Hazell comes back for another year, and that Archer keeps NFL Draft aspirations on the backburner while he improves his overall game for the benefit of that sweet, sweet field position.</p>
<p>But the focus is now on Northern Illinois, simultaneously the favored team and the "other" team, a Schrödinger's contender. They won (and "covered," if you're into such frivolities) but are not perceived to climb into a mysterious group known as the Top Sixteen Of The BCS, and whether that's going to happen is an outcome that I couldn't tell you. I don't predict stuff, I just tell you what happened and try to figure out why. But we can all agree that this formula is a dumb process and there's a reason it's going away in two years.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1817101/NIU_presser.JPG"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1817101/NIU_presser_medium.JPG" class="photo" alt="Niu_presser_medium"></a></p>
<p><i>Dave Doeren, Jordan Lynch, Akeem Daniels and Ken Bishop</i></p>
<p>If Northern Illinois goes to Miami, then it'll be incredible. They will have earned it. They won as a team in Ford Field with the quarterback, running back, defensive line, kicker and coaches all executing signature moments. But they may also be relegated to the GoDaddy.com Bowl and play the Sun Belt champion. Or maybe even another bowl. If I'm an Orange Bowl representative — some of whom were in attendance this night — I don't know how I look at that game, and say, "nah, we don't want this in our game."</p>
<p>Who the heck knows.</p>
<p>What we know is that the two teams played in a game that won't soon be forgotten, both in splendor and sensation, to bookend the most incredible MAC season since dinosaurs ruled the land and routinely scheduled Miami (OH) before facing eight straight T-Rexes.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/12/1/3713524/mac-championship-game-overtime-northern-illinoisMatt Sussman2012-11-30T22:52:11-05:002012-11-30T22:52:11-05:00Your 2012 MAC Champs: NIU
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<p>Congratulations to the Northern Illinois Huskies on their 2012 football championship. Their second in as many years. </p>
<p>NIU was able to hold Kent State on a fourth and eight (from the eight and a half) to win the game. </p>
<p>What an amazing game to cap off an amazing season. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713220/the-2012-mid-american-conference-champions-the-northern-illinoisParker_Perry2012-11-30T22:40:40-05:002012-11-30T22:40:40-05:00Daniels Leads NIU to a Touchdown
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<p>Akeem Daniels took the ball at the thirty yard line and got down to the two on the very first play of the second overtime. </p>
<p>Jordan Lynch dived into the end zone on the second play and the pressure is now on Kent State who will have to score the touchdown and kick the extra point. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713198/daniels-leads-niu-to-a-touchdownParker_Perry2012-11-30T22:38:12-05:002012-11-30T22:38:12-05:00Round Two
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<p>Both Kickers were just able to slide their kicks into the uprights, but they did. </p>
<p>We will advance to round two in the 2012 Marathon MAC Championship overtime. </p>
<p>P.S.</p>
<p>Kent State did a really nice job not allowing Northern Illinois any success offensively. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713192/round-twoParker_Perry2012-11-30T22:34:49-05:002012-11-30T22:34:49-05:00Whoops
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<p>Kent State had a second and one on the five yard line. They were stuffed on their first go, and fumbled the football on an attempt to reverse the ball with a flip. </p>
<p>They were able to jump on the football. </p>
<p>What exactly Hazell was thinking there is beyond me. But I also have not turned the Kent State football program into something viable either. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713184/whoopsParker_Perry2012-11-30T22:26:26-05:002012-11-30T22:26:26-05:00Overtime
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<p>Well they did it.</p>
<p>Kent State came from way behind to tie the game...twice.</p>
<p>It was a stunning third and long touchdown conversion from Kent State that tied the game the second time. With his long, flowing locks, Tim Erjavec caught the touchdown while making two Northern Illinois defenders trip over each other.</p>
<p>May the best team win.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713158/overtime-northern-illinois-34-kent-state-34Parker_Perry2012-11-30T22:07:55-05:002012-11-30T22:07:55-05:00HUSKIES BACK ON TOP
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<p>That was really, really quick.</p>
<p>The Huskies used four plays to advance 75 yards. Lynch trotted into the end zone to give his team the lead back.</p>
<p>The biggest play of the drive was his pass to Akeem Daniels for 43 yards. It was just a check down that ended up being a huge play. Daniels gathered 66 yards overall on the drive (two carries and one catch)</p>
<p>Kent State will get the ball with 3:12 to go.</p>
<p>34-27 NIU </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713104/huskies-back-on-topParker_Perry2012-11-30T22:04:06-05:002012-11-30T22:04:06-05:00Kent State Ties It!
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<p>It took a little longer than thought, but this is why America loves #MACtion (no copyright infringement intended).</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">Kent State has tied the game at 27 with five minutes to play. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">It started with a Dri Archer 60 yard bomb from Spencer Keith. Keith finished the drive by just breaking the plain to get the game within a touchdown. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">Then, out of no where, the Northern Illinois Huskies screwed up a hand off and Kent State's Zack Hitchens scooped and scored. </span></p>
<p>NIU has the ball with just over four minutes to play, but Kent State is 100% in it.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2012/11/30/3713088/kent-state-ties-game-at-27Parker_Perry