Huskies' starter for four straight years. He led the Huskies to a bowl game in all four years that he started, an achievement that surpassed the combined total of Division I bowl appearances by all other NIU quarterbacks before him. In his first three years at NIU (2008–2010), he started 31 games and totaled 7,332 yards of total offense, including 5,728 passing yards and 1,604 rushing yards. He was selected as a first-team All-MAC player after the 2010 season, and also received the Vern Smith Leadership Award, as the best football player in the Mid-American Conference. He was voted MVP of the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl after posting 300 passing yards and a touchdown in the 40–17 victory. During the 2011 regular season, Harnish had 4,043 yards of total offense, including 1,351 rushing yards and 2,692 passing yards. Playing against Western Michigan on October 15, 2011, Harnish became only the 10th player in NCAA Division I FBS history with a 200–200 game, consisting of at least 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards. He rushed for a career-high 229 yards and passed for 203 yards in a 55–21 win over the Broncos. Harnish's average of 7.9 yards per carry during the 2011 regular season ranked third among players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with at least 100 carries. Harnish accumulated more than 11,000 yards of total offense in his four years at Northern Illinois. He averaged 336.92 yards of total offense per game in 2011, ranking 7th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. In November 2011, he was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Walter Camp Award as the best player in college football. College statistics Professional career Indianapolis Colts Harnish was selected in the seventh round (253rd overall) by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft. As the last pick in the draft, he was given the mock title of Mr. Irrelevant. On October 16, Harnish was released by Indianapolis, after being inactive for five regular season games. He was re-signed to the team's practice squad two days later, but did not participate in any games during the 2012 NFL season. He competed for the backup job against Matt Hasselbeck in the 2013 preseason, but was waived and later signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/futures contract on January 14, 2014, and was expected to be the backup to Andrew Luck. He was released by the