DETROIT (AP) — Austin Boucher threw a touchdown pass to Armand Robinson with 33 seconds left and Miami of Ohio won the Mid–American Conference championship with a 26–21 victory over No. 24 Northern Illinois on Friday night.
The RedHawks (8–4) won the MAC for the first time since 2003 and their conference–best 15th title overall a season after they finished 1–11.
Chandler Harnish threw three touchdowns for the Huskies (10–3), who had won eight in a row.
Boucher, a freshman making his third start of the season, finished the game 29 for 46 for 333 yards. The decisive touchdown came six plays after the RedHawks forced Northern Illinois to punt from its end zone.
The Huskies drove past midfield in the closing seconds, but the RedHawks’ sideline emptied after Harnish was sacked as time expired.
Trailing 14–13 at halftime, Miami went on top early in the half when Thomas Merriweather scored the second of his two touchdowns rushing.
The Redhawks reached the Huskies’ 1–yard line after recovering a fumble but came up empty when a fake field–goal failed.
Willie Clark caught a 39–yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Northern Illinois a lead that lasted until the final minute.
The RedHawks got the game’s first touchdown when Merriweather ran in from a yard out but the kick was blocked by Mike Krause. The Huskies answered with a 69–yard TD catch by Martel Moore.
Miami retook the lead with Tracy Woods’ 7–yard touchdown late in the first but fell behind minutes later when Moore caught a 27–yard touchdown from Harnish.
Robinson tied a Miami record with 14 catches for 176 yards and Merriweather ended the night with 85 yards on 11 carries.
Northern Illinois tailback Chad Spann, the conference’s rushing leader, finished with 54 yards — barely more than half his average — on 17 tries. Moore amassed 110 yards on four catches.
Miami could by back in the Motor City soon. Organizers of the Dec. 26 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl get the first choice of the MAC’s bowl–eligible teams.
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