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Talk about a MAC Player of the Week candidate!! Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish joined an elite Football Bowl Subdivision group with his spectactular performance Saturday as the Huskies blasted Western Michigan, 55-21.  Harnish, in fact, accomplished his 200-200 feat despite sitting out nearly all of the fourth quarter and getting occasional “breaks” during the rest of the game.

A 200-200 is at least 200 yards rushing and at least 200 yards passing in the same game by one player. That feat has been accomplished only 11 times before in NCAA FBS history.  Harnish joins players like Indiana’s Antwaan Randel El, Texas’ Vince Young, Missouri’s Brad Smith and Denard Robinson of Michigan on the select list. 
 
Harnish, a senior, rushed for a career-high 229 yards on 14 carries Saturday.  He averaged 16.4 yards per rush and had runs of 51, 29, 45, 40 on the day.   Harnish also passed for 203 yards on 14-of-27 passing. He totaled 432 yards of total offense on 41 plays to lead NIU, which totaled 494 rushing and 697 total yards on the day. He rushed for 163 yards in the third quarter alone.
 
According to the NCAA Record Book, Harnish is only the 10th player in the history of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision play to record a 200-200 day and the milestones in both rushing and passing have been reached in the same game by the same person only 11 times.

Harnish led the Huskies back from a 15-7 deficit with 8:02 left in the second quarter, to a 44-15 lead when he left the game early in the fourth period.  NIU scored 44 unanswered points.
 
With 163 rushing yards in the third quarter, Harnish recorded the second-highest rushing total for a quarter in school history (behind only 173 by Stacey Robinson in the second quarter versus UNLV).

Harnish is the first PLAYER (any position) in the MAC this season to rush for more than 200 yards. His  229 rushing yards are the most by an FBS quarterback in 2011 (entering this weekend).

Throughout the game, Harnish was spelled at different times, and for the entire fourth quarter (minus two plays), by back-up quarterback Jordan Lynch, who ran for 113 yards on 10 carries. 
 
With 2,275 career rushing yards, Harnish ranks 11th on the Huskies’ all-time rushing chart.

 
Here is the complete list (from the NCAA Record Book): 
 
A QUARTERBACK GAINING 200 YARDS RUSHING AND 200 YARDS PASSING – Single Game

-- Reds Bagnell, Penn vs. Dartmouth, Oct. 14, 1950 (214 rushing, 276 passing)
-- Steve Gage, Tulsa vs. New Mexico,Nov. 8, 1986 (212 rushing, 209 passing)
-- Brian Mitchell, La.-Lafayette vs. Colorado St., Nov. 21, 1987 (271 rushing,205 passing)
-- Marques Tuiasosopo, Washington vs. Stanford, Oct. 30, 1999 (207 rushing, 302 passing)
-- Antwaan Randle El, Indiana vs. Minnesota, Oct. 21, 2000 (210 rushing, 263 passing)
-- Brad Smith, Missouri vs. Nebraska, Oct. 22, 2005 (246 rushing, 234 passing)
-- Vince Young, Texas vs. Oklahoma St., Oct. 29, 2005 (267 rushing, 239 passing)
-- Patrick White, West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh, Nov. 16, 2006 (220 rushing, 204 passing)
-- Denard Robinson, Michigan vs. Notre Dame, Sept. 11, 2010 (258 rushing, 244 passing)
-- Denard Robinson,Michigan vs. Indiana, Oct. 2, 2010 (217 rushing, 277 passing)
 
More notes on Harnish’s day:
-- Harnish recorded his seventh career 100-yard rushing day, and his second 100 yard-plus rushing game of the season.
-- Harnish’s rushing yardage total is the third-most ever for an NIU quarterback and the most since Stacey Robinson rushed for 306 yards versus Fresno State on Oct. 6, 1990.
-- His 229 yards is the most for a Huskie player since Garrett Wolfe ran for a school record 353 yards versus Ball State on Sept. 30, 2006.  

Courtesy of Northern Illinois Athletics