The Chippewas (2-3) outscored the Huskies 23-3 and forced three turnovers during the third quarter to manage their first comeback victory of the season. CMU pulled off a 29-19 defeat of perennial MAC powerhouse Northern Illinois (2-3) on Saturday at a rain-soaked Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

Most notably, CMU moves to 3-2 in their last five games against the Huskies, the best record against NIU of any MAC school during that span. The loss to CMU this year was also NIU's first loss to a conference opponent on the road in 15 games.

The win was the second in Head Coach John Bonamego's and sets up next week's matchup with rival Western Michigan at noon on Oct. 10 in Kalamazoo. The Broncos were off this week and are 1-3.

"Down seven going into halftime, we had them right where we wanted them, I guess," Bonamego said. "Turnovers were obviously a big factor, the weather was a factor. We were able to handle that a little better than (NIU) did. You'll take those turnovers and possessions however you can get them."

CMU's offense, led by junior quarterback Cooper Rush, was sluggish to start the game, and the Chippewas fell behind early as a result.

Rush's second pass of the day was picked off by cornerback Shawun Lurry on a pass over the middle. The Huskies turned Rush's mistake into points six plays later when tailback Joel Bouagnon pounded through the line on third-and-goal to give NIU the 7-0 lead.

NIU added a field goal on its next drive to enhance the lead to 10-0.

"I just know we came up with this win here today and we're going to keep rolling toward the MAC Championship," said senior linebacker and captain Tim Hamilton. "The momentum really swung our way. We just locked in our our assignments."

Rush settled in to the CMU offense late in the first half, but two dropped passes by tight end Ben McCord and wide receiver Jesse Kroll forced the Chippewas to settle for a field goal. Walk-on junior kicker Brian Eavey drilled a 44-yard attempt—a career long—cutting NIU's lead to 10-3 late in the first quarter.

Things got out of hand for the NIU offense in the third quarter.

The Huskies fumbled away their first possession of the second half, gifting the Chippewas with the ball on the NIU 16-yard line. Rush made the opposition pay, connecting with Kroll from nine yards out for a touchdown, tying the game 10-10.

After Hamilton recovered a second fumble by Hare on NIU's next drive, Rush found Kroll from 23 yards away for the go-ahead score, making it 20-13 CMU with 5:27 remaining in the third quarter.

Rush finished the game 16-for-31 with 182 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.

The CMU defense forced one more turnover during the quarter when Huskie backup passer Ryan Graham threw a pick directly into the arms of senior Chippewa linebacker Tim Hamilton.

Rush found sophomore wide receiver Corey Willis inside the 10-yard line, setting up a four-yard touchdown run by Jahray Hayes. The junior college transfer's first career touchdown made it 26-13 CMU.

"We won ugly today, good teams do that," Rush said. "I think we learned something about our team today, to pull through. It's a big one and we're proud of it. But there's a lot of games left."

Stay with Central Michigan Life for continuing coverage of today's game.