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Akeem Daniels dives for a first quarter NIU touchdown in Northern Illinois' 31-17 win over Temple. Chandler Harnish, below, looks for running room. Chad Spann, bottom left, picked up 100 rushing yards on the day. Photos courtesy of NIU Athletics.

NIU, which led the MAC in rushing through five weeks of play with a 241.6 ypg average, got 209 yards on the ground against a tough Temple defense. The Huskies, however, earned another 211 yards (48 yards over their average) through the air. Junior quarterback Chandler Harnish provided the tying and go-ahead scores while completing a season high 20 passes (on 25 attempts).

“We’re getting tremendous quarterback play by Chandler Harnish,” Northern Illinois head coach Jerry Kill said. “It’s been unbelievable – what the kid’s doing and the team is responding to him. It’s fun to see.”

Chad Spann, who entered the contest No. 1 in the MAC with a 108.4 ypg average, again hit the century mark with an even 100 yards on 24 carries against the Owls. Northern Illinois owned 420 yards of total offense, compared to 272 yards for Temple.

Standout running back Bernard Pierce, who was second among MAC rusher but has battled injuries recently, got just three carries for six yards Saturday. Fellow sophomore Matt Brown, fresh off a 225-yard, four-touchdown performance against Army the previous week, managed 93 yards on 13 attempts (7.2 ypc) versus NIU.

The hosts picked up 24 first downs to Temple’s 15 and also owned a distinct advantage in third down conversions (NIU, 11-of-16; TU, 4-of-12).

Temple’s first trip to DeKalb as a Mid-American conference member looked promising early. Spann fumbled after a gain of 10 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Marquise Liverpool recovered at the NIU 29. Two plays later, Brown rushed 25 yards for a TD. Brandon McManus added the PAT, and TU had a quick 7-0 lead.

Northern came right back, however, driving 80 yards on 15 plays for a tying score. Akeem Daniels took a reverse in from nine yards out for the TD, and Michael Cklamovski added the extra point.

The two teams continued to slug it out with each possession of the first half.

Temple made it to the NIU 11 on the Owls next possession before Northern Illinois’ defense stiffened and forced a 33-yard Brandon McManus field goal.

Cklamovski’s 28-yard field goal capped an 18-play, 82-yard drive to tie the game at 10-all.

A Brown kickoff return of 55 yards set Temple up at Northern Illinois’ 45-yard line, and TU quarterback Chester Stewart completed two big passes to give the visitors another lead. His first completion of the drive went 17 yards to Michael Campbell. After a seven-yard run by Brown, Stewart found Evan Rodriguez for 31 yards and the TD.

On the day, Stewart completed 13-of-27 for 148 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Harnish answered NIU’s tally with a 10-yard scoring strike, and Cklamovski’s PAT with 30 seconds left tied the contest at 17-17 entering halftime.

“The guy was spectacular today, and the credit goes to him,” Temple head coach Al Golden said of Harnish. “He ran the ball and threw the ball well. He made a big difference in the game.”

After dodging a Temple field goal attempt, the hosts took the lead on NIU’s first drive of the third quarter. Harnish hit Nathan Palmer on a four-yard play for the TD. Spann completed the game’s scoring with his six-yard scamper with 7:58 remaining in the contest.

“It was a great day for these kids; they played hard,” Kill said. “They’re doing what we ask them to do. We made some mental errors and some things we overcame. I think that had a lot to do with the kids’ mental toughness, and (their ability to come) back off adversity has gotten better.”

Northern Illinois (4-2, 2-0) has now won three straight and will continue its three-game home stand next Saturday when Buffalo comes to DeKalb.

Temple (4-2, 1-1) returns home after three straight road games and will face Bowling Green Saturday.