I didnt' like the call, pesonally. Save one single pass to Greathouse that was dropped, there weren't any other throws that suggested airing it out was the right move there. I get it, 2nd and 1, best down to take a shot, you'll have two more chances to pick up the yard.
But with less than 6 minutes to play, ND should've done exactly what NIU did after the pick, and that was bleed the clock and run the football.
I know, it was NIU, we shouldn't have to play keep away, but they should've been thinking about survive and advance, not style points there. RL didn't have it all afternoon and Denbrock dialed up a play call anyways to put the game on his shoulders. We were running the ball just fine the previous drive. It was a bad call in that spot in the game, IMO. I know others will disagree.