MARQUETTE, Mich. – The McKendree University football kicked off its 2022 season here Thursday evening by posting a hard-fought 31-24 overtime win following a 1-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-one play from redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) to redshirt junior receiver Jacob Bachman (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) against Northern Michigan in non-conference action at the Superior Dome.
 
With the win, the Bearcats improved to 16-11 in season openers dating to the 1996 season and is now 6-4 in season openers under 10th-year Bearcat head coach Mike Babcock. Along with being just the fourth Thursday night opener in school history, the game was also the first overtime game for the Bearcats since posting a 26-23 win at Southwest Baptist on Oct. 13, 2018.
 
"Overall, it was a fight. We came out strong to start the game as we led 14-0 and then obviously they (NMU) battled back. I thought late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, it was really hard for our defense to get off the field as they (NMU) kept driving and our offense kind of sputtered, but we were able to kick a field goal before halftime which I thought was good," Babcock said about Thursday's game. "They kept fighting, but I'm really proud of the guys in the fourth quarter and even in overtime to be able to finish strong and at the end of the day, finish with a win."
 
Following Pullen's touchdown pass, which came after the four-year Bearcat starting quarterback was stopped on three consecutive plays from the 1-yard line, the Bearcats defense stepped up and prevented the Wildcats from scoring as they forced NMU quarterback Drake Davis to throw an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-16 play from the 21-yard line. The fourth down came after NMU had a bad snap on the third-down play that pushed the ball back 15 yards.
 
"It was a bend, don't break night for the defense. You give up over 400 yards of offense, it's not good, but we only gave up 24 points. I think we showed tremendous grit and finish for what they were able to do and more importantly, going into overtime, we end up scoring and sure enough, our defense was able to hold them as we got them into a third-and-long and then fourth-and-long and ended up finishing with a win," added Babcock when asked about his team's defensive play. 
 
Despite the win, the Bearcats were outgained offensively on the night, 456-414. The Bearcats passed for 307 yards and rushed for 107 yards, while NMU recorded 245 yards rushing and added 211 yards passing.
 
Pullen had an efficient night passing the ball as he was 23-for-29 for 307 yards and had three touchdown passes and added 28 yards rushing on 15 carries for a total of 335 yards of total offense. He pushed his career total offense total to 6,193 yards. In addition, he pushed his career passing yardage total to 5,519 yards and he has now accounted for 70 touchdowns in his career and he has thrown for 50 touchdowns and had 20 rushing scores in his career. Pullen is one of two quarterbacks in school history to record 50 or more career touchdown passes.
 
"I thought overall Turner had a really good game. I thought the wide receivers stepped up their game as well. We didn't have a ton of yardage when it came to the passing game in terms of big chunk plays, but a lot of great catches, especially when it was needed and if it wasn't there, Turner was able to beat the defense with his legs," said the McKendree coach about Pullen's performance.
 
Pullen has now thrown for 300 or more yards in six games, including five times in his last eight games dating to last season.  

Bachman led the way with eight catches for 82 yards, while sophomore receiver Yogi Flager, Jr. (Belleville, Ill./Butler University) had five catches for 86 yards, including a 40-yard catch on McKendree's fourth quarter drive that gave them a 24-21 lead.
 
"Yogi is a difference maker when it comes to just his speed and showed tonight at times," Babcock added.
 
Pullen's game winning score came after NMU had forced overtime following a 42-yard field goal by Daniel Riser with 50 seconds left in the regulation. Riser's game-tying field goal capped an 11-play, 44-yard drive for the Wildcats.
 
It appeared early in the game that the Bearcats wouldn't need overtime as the Bearcats gained 130 yards on its first 12 offensive plays and scored touchdowns on those two possessions to jump out to 14-0 lead just seven-plus minutes into the game.
 
The Bearcats took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in 10 plays and capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run from redshirt sophomore running back Jayden Mitchell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central) with 10:19 left in the opening quarter. On the drive, Pullen was 4-for-5 passing for 51 yards, including a 20-yard completion to Bachman.
 
After the Wildcats went three-and-out on their first possession of the game, the Bearcats got the ball back at around midfield following a 29-yard punt return from sophomore receiver Timothy Middleton II (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah). Two plays later, Pullen hooked up with sophomore running back Narkel Leflore (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood) for a 53-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field.
 
"We thought we had a good game plan against them and sure enough they gave us what we thought they would with Narkel going down the center for a long touchdown," the McKendree coach said.
 
Leflore finished the game with 182 all-purpose yards as he rushed 14 times for 62 yards, caught four passes for 76 yards and returned two kickoffs for 44 yards.
 
On the ensuing possession for the Wildcats, they would drive 57 yards in nine plays, but failed to score when Riser missed a 40-yard field goal that was partially tipped by Bearcat redshirt junior defensive back Darrwin Perkins (Crete, Ill./Marian Catholic).
 
NMU would finally get on the scoreboard late in the first quarter as they drove 40 yards in four plays and capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass from Drake Davis to Cameron White. The touchdown drive started following an interception by Pullen that was returned 35 yards by DJ Hutcherson.
 
After the Bearcats were forced to punt in their next possession, the Wildcats would tie the game on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Wyatt Davis just about two minutes into the second quarter. The big play on the drive for NMU was a 63-yard rush from Deandre Campbell.
 
With 4:17 left in the quarter, the Bearcats retook the lead at 17-14 thanks to a 38-yard field goal from Kast. Kastl's field goal capped a 14-play, 47-yard drive by the Bearcats that lasted nearly nine minutes.
 
NMU got within four yards of the end zone with 11 seconds left in the second quarter and looked like they would take the lead at the half, but the Bearcat defense stiffened on a first-and-five play from the 4-yard line as freshman defensive lineman Jireh Mays (Fairview Heights, Ill./East St. Louis) sacked Davis for a 3-yard loss to end the half as the Wildcats were out of timeouts.
 
NMU scored the only points in the third quarter as they took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 77 yards and eight plays and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by Tyshon King.  
 
The Bearcats would have a long drive of 63 yards and 15 plays that spanned a little over seven minutes late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, but the drive stalled and the Bearcats had to settle for 50-yard field goal attempt by Kastl that was short just 97 seconds into the fourth quarter.
 
On the ensuing possession the Wildcats would drive the ball 41 yards in 10 plays, including a 20-yard run by Caldwell, but the drive would fail to produce any points as Riser missed on a 41-yard field goal attempt.
 
Following that missed field goal by Riser, the Bearcats responded with a five-play, 74-yard drive that was capped by 20-yard touchdown pass from Pullen to Bachman. The big play on the drive was that 40-yard pass play from Pullen to Flager, Jr.  
 
Davis and Caldwell combined for 176 of NMU's 245 rushing yards in the game as Davis carried the ball 12 times for 90 yards, while Caldwell had nine carries for 86 yards. Davis also added 211 yards passing (20-for-31 with two touchdowns) as he finished with 301 yards of total offense for the game.
 
King caught nine of those passes for 94 yards to pace NMU's receivers.
 
The Bearcats held a nearly one minute advantage in time of possession, but had the games only turnover on Pullen's first quarter interception. In addition, McKendree was 6-for-12 on third downs and 2-for-2 on fourth-down conversions.
 
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Luca Gualdoni (Johnston City, Ill./Johnston City) paced the Bearcat defense with 10 tackles.

The Bearcats will look to start the season 2-0 next Saturday, Sept. 10 as they open the home portion of its 2022 schedule with a 1 p.m. contest against Delta State University at Leemon Field. Last season, the Statesmen posted a come-from-behind 45-17 win over the Bearcats in Cleveland, Miss. 
 
"It will be another tough game next weekend. When you look at our game last year against them, it was a tight game with us in the lead going towards halftime. We probably caught them off guard a little bit last time, but I think they'll be ready now, but the nice thing is we won't have a 13-and-a-half hour drive as we're playing at home and we're looking forward to that," added Babcock. "The guys are looking forward to the home opener next week."