Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
2-3 , 0-1
Northern Illinois
2-3 , 1-1
Chippewas' Big Plays Down Northern Illinois, 48-41
10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Watch: Highlights | Coach Enos Postgame
MOUNT PLEASANT - Senior Paris Cotton racked up 225 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns, helping Central Michigan earn a key Mid-American Conference win over Northern Illinois, 48-41, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium Saturday.
Cotton ran for 110 yards on 16 carries and caught four balls for 115 yards, scoring on plays of 43, 36 and 46 yards.
"Obviously we're happy we won," head coach Dan Enos said. "Northern Illinois is a very, very good football team. I was just really proud of the way we played. We really challenged our players to keep practicing hard and keep trying to get better, and we told them if we do that we'll just keep getting better as a football team."
The Chippewas (2-3, 1-1 MAC) led from start to finish, scoring three times in the first quarter en route to their most productive offensive performance since 2007 at Kent State.
Jahleel Addae intercepted the Huskies' (2-3, 0-1 MAC) Chandler Harnish on the third play of the game, setting up 29-yard field goal by David Harman. After the defense forced a punt, it took the Maroon & Gold just one play and 11 seconds to score again, as junior Ryan Radcliff found freshman Courtney Williams on a play-action pass down the middle for a 79 yard touchdown and 10-0 CMU lead. The catch and touchdown were the firsts of Williams' career.
Another a punt and first career touchdown extended the Chippewa lead to 17-0 when freshman Ben Brown capped a four-play, 54-yard drive with a seven yard touchdown run with 5:41 to go in the first.
Northern Illinois closed the first half with 10 consecutive points to, 17-10, but Cotton came out of the locker room in the second half and put CMU on his back.
The senior caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Radcliff 3:41 into the third quarter and later scored on a fourth-and-1 play from 36 yards out, breaking through and outsprinting the NIU defense, giving CMU a 31-13 lead. Cotton gave the Chippewas their largest lead of the day with his third touchdown of the second half, once again hauling in a screen pass from Radcliff and scampering 46 yards for a 38-16 advantage.
NIU's Jasmin Hopkins helped cut his team's deficit to 14, 38-24, with a three-yard rushing touchdown with 12:25 to go in the game, but another big play by the Chippewas helped kill any NIU momentum. Senior David Blackburn made a fingertip catch down the middle of the field, hauling in Ryan Radcliff's fourth touchdown pass of the day from 61 yards out, putting CMU back on top, 45-24.
The Chippewas were forced to hold off a frantic comeback from the Huskies, who scored twice with under a minute left on sneak by Harnish with 47 seconds remaining and a 38-yard field goal by Mathew Sims after an onside-kick recovery. The Huskies recovered their second onside kick with 28 seconds, but Addae came up with his second interception of the game as time expired, securing the 48-41 victory.
Addae finished the game with a career-high 18 tackles and two interceptions, a forced fumble and 1.5 tackles for loss. Freshman linebacker and senior defensive back John Carr each also finished with career highs in tackles, recording 14 and 10 respectively.
Radcliff finished the day 17-for-28 for 387 yards and the career-high four touchdowns. Freshman running back Anthony Garland also put together a career day, finishing with 62 yards on 10 carries. CMU finished the contest with 563 yards of total offense, it's most since putting up 580 at Kent State on Oct. 27, 2007.
The Chippewas return to action next Saturday when they travel to N.C. State for a 3:30 contest versus the Wolfpack.
Team Stats
NIU 0, CMU 3
CMU - HARMAN, David 29 yd field goal 8 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:51
NIU 0, CMU 10
CMU - WILLIAMS, C. 79 yd pass from RADCLIFF, Ryan (HARMAN, David kick) 1 plays, 79 yards, TOP 0:11
NIU 0, CMU 17
CMU - BROWN, Ben 7 yd run (HARMAN, David kick), 4 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:21
NIU 7, CMU 17
NIU - MOORE, Martel 55 yd pass from HARNISH, Chand (SIMS, Mathew kick) 1 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:09
NIU 10, CMU 17
NIU - SIMS, Mathew 35 yd field goal 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 3:21
NIU 10, CMU 24
CMU - COTTON, Paris 43 yd pass from RADCLIFF, Ryan (HARMAN, David kick) 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:41
NIU 13, CMU 24
NIU - SIMS, Mathew 35 yd field goal 8 plays, 39 yards, TOP 2:21
NIU 13, CMU 31
CMU - COTTON, Paris 36 yd run (HARMAN, David kick), 9 plays, 70 yards, TOP 5:38
NIU 16, CMU 31
NIU - SIMS, Mathew 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 34 yards, TOP 3:18
NIU 16, CMU 38
CMU - COTTON, Paris 46 yd pass from RADCLIFF, Ryan (HARMAN, David kick) 6 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:30
NIU 24, CMU 38
NIU - HOPKINS, Jasmin 3 yd run (PALMER, Nathan pass), 4 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:07
NIU 24, CMU 45
CMU - BLACKBURN, D. 61 yd pass from RADCLIFF, Ryan (HARMAN, David kick) 3 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:43
NIU 31, CMU 45
NIU - HOPKINS, Jasmin 10 yd pass from HARNISH, Chand (SIMS, Mathew kick) 14 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:23
NIU 31, CMU 48
CMU - HARMAN, David 30 yd field goal 6 plays, 31 yards, TOP 2:35
NIU 38, CMU 48
NIU - HARNISH, Chand 1 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 12 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:57
NIU 41, CMU 48
NIU - SIMS, Mathew 38 yd field goal 4 plays, 31 yards, TOP 0:28