Miami’s Javon Tracy had 79 yards receiving on six catches and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Virgil, who finished with four receptions for 107 yards.
Dylan Downing scored on a 2-yard run that gave the Redhawks a 7-0 lead with 2:31 left in the first quarter and Dom Dzioban kicked a 22-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Tracy took a jet sweep to the right and then lofted a pass down the same sideline to Virgil in the end zone to make it 17-0 with 3:50 left in the second quarter.
“It felt good because we’ve been running that play in practice and Javon is always talking about how well he can throw,” Virgil said. “I wanted to be the one to throw it, but he obviously can throw better than me.”
Kanon Woodill kicked a 47-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the first half got Northern Illinois (6-5, 3-4) on the scoreboard and Telly Johnson Jr. ran for a 2-yard TD early in the fourth quarter that made it 17-9 after a failed 2-point conversion.
Defensive end Corey Suttle, who had one sack, three tackles for loss and one forced fumble, said the long drive and score were far from what the defense wanted but didn’t affect their mindset.
“You know, we don’t like getting scored on I’ll tell you that, but we were able to bounce back,” Suttle said.
Dzioban made a 22-yard field goal to cap the scoring with 2:25 to play.
Miami coach Chuck Martin said the game was a “more impressive win than you think.”
“We started off 1-4 again, how many times we’ve done that?” Martin said. “And then just had to dig, dig, dig, and when we looked up we’re 6-1. We said we’re in a seven-week tournament and we started in the round of like 256.”
When looking forward to the final game of the season, Martin said Bowling Green (6-4, 5-1) will be a test.
“We’re either winning and going to Detroit or losing and going to a bowl game,” Martin said.
(The Associated Press contributed.)
NEXT GAME
Friday, Nov. 29
Miami at Bowling Green, Noon, ESPNU, CBS Sports Network, 980, 1450
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