Nov. 19--ATHENS, Ohio -- This is how Northern Illinois can win the West: simply beat Western Michigan in the season-finale Nov. 28.
The Huskies (9-2, 6-1 MAC) retained control of their Mid-American Conference West destiny Tuesday night when they hung on for a 21-14 victory over Ohio University on a frigid (8-degree wind chill ) at Peden Stadium.
NIU is trying to fend off Toledo (6-4, 5-1), Western Michigan (7-3, 5-1) and Central Michigan (7-4, 5-2) as the regular season winds down. Toledo plays MAC East champion Bowling Green on Wednesday night. Western Michigan takes on Central Michigan on Saturday.
In the end Tuesday night, NIU cornerback Marlon Moore pounced on a Bobcats fumble to thwart their final attempt to tie the game. With two minutes to go, Ohio quarterback Derrius Vick passed to Landon Smith for a 10-yard gain to the NIU 32. Linebacker Boomer Mays forced the fumble and Moore pounced on it at the 33.
"That was the game," NIU coach Rod Carey said. "We went through a dry spell with turnovers and they come in bunches. It's being around the ball and putting your helmet on the ball."
Drew Hare's 18-yard touchdown pass to Chad Beebe with six minutes left in the game broke a tie and gave NIU a 21-14 lead.
"Chad's the man," Hare said. "He ran a great route on that play. All of the credit goes to that kid. And the line obviously did a great job."
As Beebe sprung wide open heading toward the end zone, Hare recalled thinking to himself: "Oh, man, you better make this throw. That's all I could think of. I better not mess this up."
Hare completed 15 of 23 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in tough conditions.
"I thought it was going to be a little worse than it was," Carey said. "It was actually OK. The wind, when it picked up and it snowed a little bit, that had a factor on how you were going to call plays."
Cameron Stingily gave NIU a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter with a 2-yard run, his 11th touchdown of the season.
The Bobcats (5-6, 3-4) tied the game 7-7 on a deft 12-yard run by freshman A.J. Ouellette with 10:13 left in the half.
NIU took a 14-7 lead with 9:25 left in the third quarter as Hare perfectly executed a screen pass to Akeem Daniels, who motored 32 yards for the touchdown. It was Daniels' first touchdown since 2012. He missed last season with a foot injury.
The Bobcats tied the game 14-14 when Vick passed 9 yards to Ouellette for a score with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter.
fmitchell@tribpub.com
Twitter @kicker34
Another midweek quiz for NIU
