Cooper Rush and the Central Michigan offense scored the game-winning touchdown on Saturday to beat Northern Illinois 34-28 in triple overtime in DeKalb, but it was CMU's defensive who won the game for the Chippewas for the second consecutive week.

Central Michigan entered Saturday's matchup a week removed from a 24-21 victory over Ball State on Homecoming at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Chippewas' defense snagged two interceptions in the fourth quarter to solidify the victory — one returned for a touchdown by junior cornerback Josh Cox and another by junior cornerback Amari Coleman in CMU's end zone that prevented what would have been Ball State's go-ahead score on the final drive of the game.

Before that, the Chippewas' offense failed to run out the clock and was forced to punt the ball back to the Cardinals for the final drive.

With the score tied 21-21 and 16 seconds remaining on Saturday, CMU's offense turned to senior kicker Brian Eavey to win the game after the Chippewas couldn't punch in a game-winning touchdown in regulation. Eavey missed the 33-yard field goal attempt — his fifth miss this season — and NIU took a knee on its ensuing possession to send the game to overtime.

After the offense was once again unable to register a game-winning touchdown during the first overtime period, it put the game into the hands of its kicker, Eavey, once more. The Grand Ledge native missed again, this time from 35 yards out, and the Huskies got another chance to deliver CMU its second Mid-American Conference loss of 2016.

Tasked with making a stand, the Chippewas' defense did just that. CMU forced the Huskies to settle for a field goal on fourth down in the third overtime. That kick was denied by the outstretched hand of CMU's senior team captain and defensive linemen Kelby Latta.

On the ensuing play, Rush connected with junior tight end Tyler Conklin for the game-winning touchdown in the third overtime.

“I had my eyes closed and I didn’t see anything," said head coach John Bonamego. "Coach (Morris) Watts called that play. Cooper got a clean pocket, great pass, (Conklin) made a great athletic play on the ball out there and we scored the touchdown."

Putting it in perspective

With already one loss in the MAC West Division, the Chippewas stole a must-win game from an NIU team that is having a down year in 2016. The Huskies (1-6, 1-2 MAC) barely resemble the MAC West juggernaut they have been the previous five seasons.

CMU finished with 230 rushing yards, which is its second-highest total of the season. Junior running back Devon Spalding ran for 124 yards and senior running back Jahray Hayes had 105 and each scored a touchdown. It's the first time CMU had two 100-plus yard rushers in a game since Nov. 1, 2014 — 22 games ago.

“To have one good (running back) is important. If you’ve got two good ones that you can play, rotate through there. It just makes things that much easier," Bonamego said. "We had good success on the ground which kept us in third-and-manageable. That’s more the complementary style that we feel like we need to have going down the stretch here.”

Rush completed 19 of 35 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice in the game to become CMU's all-time leader in interceptions thrown with 46. The Huskies had only two interceptions all season coming into the game.

NIU has the MAC's second-worst rushing defense and the ninth-ranked passing defense, allowing an average of 497 total yards per game and 35 total touchdowns.

The Chippewas did what they needed to do to take advantage of the Huskies' defensive shortcomings. Despite being a typically pass-heavy offense, CMU ran the ball 50 times and got solid production from its secondary back, Hayes, for the first time this season.

CMU's offense was only able to post 28 points in regulation, however, and couldn't close out the game against one of the MAC's worst defenses.

Kicking troubles

Eavey has made three out of nine field goal attempts this season, but head coach John Bonamego is reluctant to point fingers at his senior kicker.

“I’ve been in that situation before with kickers," Bonamego said. "That’s why at the end of the game, we’re really playing for the touchdown because I don’t want it to come down to a field goal because anything can happen and that’s not us. That’s just football."

Freshman kicker Kaden Keon has taken over kickoff duties from Eavey.

What's next

Saturday's victory marks the third consecutive victory against NIU — a team that has lost just seven MAC games since 2010. CMU's record stands at 5-2 and 2-1 in MAC play heading into next weekend's road game against Toledo (5-1, 2-0 MAC).

The Rockets sit in second place in the MAC West Division — one spot above CMU. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on Saturday at Glass Bowl Stadium.