2014 Week 8

The Chippewas were seeking revenge for the 45-14 thumping NIU handed the last season. CMU came away victorious, but it wasn't easy. CMU held an early 7-0 lead and were putting together a great drive looking for another early score. A Jesse Kroll fumble followed by turnovers on the next two drives saw a 7-0 CMU lead turn into a 21-7 lead for the Huskies. CMU was able to score before halftime to cut the lead to 21-14. "We really got after the guys at halftime" said Carlson. "We weren't playing Chippewa football and we made sure they knew that. Turnovers lead to losses and we didn't take care of the ball in the first half."

The Chippewas were able to get things going offensively and finally found an answer for NIU in the 2nd half. CMU outscored NIU 14-7 in the 3rd quarter and the teams entered the 4th quarter tied at 28. The turning point of the game came midway through the 4th quarter with the game still tied. NIU drove into CMU territory and looked like they would surely score the go ahead TD. However, NIU was called for a personal foul inside the redzone. The 15 yard penalty pushed them back to the 35 yard line and made it 1st and 25 yards to go. Defensive Coordinator Danny Bryant sent the house and sacks on the next two plays pushed NIU to midfield faced with a 4th and 40 yards to go. "That was a huge series for us" said Bryant. "Our guys will admit we hadn't played a great game up to that point, but we knew he had to get the ball back to our offense to win this game."

On the ensuing possession Cooper Rush was able to lead CMU down the field for the go ahead TD to put CMU back in front 35-28. After an NIU three and out, the Chippewas were able to chew some clock while moving the ball to midfield. NIU forced CMU to punt and took over with 50 seconds left in the game and needing to drive 90 yards. Bryant once again sent his guys after the NIU QB. A sack on first down took valuable time off the clock for NIU who had no timeouts remaining. On 4th and 20 from the 5 yard line the defensive line got to the QB for the 4th time sacking him for a safety and ensuring a CMU victory. Carlson was ecstatic after the game "Just a hard fought game by both teams. We still had a bad taste in our mouth after last year's meeting and we wanted to come in to DeKalb and get the victory. Really proud of the guys for hanging tough after we got down 21-7."

Cooper Rush continues to play better each week. The Sophomore QB finished the game 27/32 passing for 355 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT. WR Titus Davis recorded his 4th consecutive 100 yard game, catching 11 passes for 173 yards. Jesse Kroll caught 3 passes for 67 and 2 TD's. Saylor Lavallii rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries and had a rushing and receiving TD.

The Chippewas now sit at 7-0 (3-0) and are ranked #12 nationally. They will host rival Western Michigan in the Battle for the Cannon on Saturday.