DETROIT ? Northwestern took away Bowling Green’s running game. So Josh Harris beat the Wildcats through the air.

Harris passed for 386 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bowling Green to a 28-24 victory over Northwestern in the Motor City Bowl Friday night.

“They were able to confuse us early and it took us awhile to adjust,” Harris said. “Luckily, our defense was able to contain them long enough for us to settle down and figure things out.”

Bowling Green (11-3) took the lead for good on Harris’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Cole Magner with 4:06 left.

“We knew going in that Josh Harris was a special player,” Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. “We wanted to make him throw the ball. … He showed why he’s such a great player by having success throwing the ball in the second half.”

Harris, who also ran for a TD, set a Motor City Bowl record for completions with 38 in 50 attempts. Magner also set a game record for catches, finishing with 12 for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Jason Wright ran for 237 yards on 21 carries and finished with 336 all-purpose yards for Northwestern (6-7).

Bowling Green quarterback Josh Harris celebrates his team's victory in the Motor City Bowl. Bowling Green defeated Northwestern, 28-24, Friday in Detroit.

He had a 77-yard TD run — the second-longest run in Motor City Bowl history — to give the Wildcats a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter and an 88-yard kickoff return early in the fourth to set up Noah Herron’s 2-yard touchdown run that made it 24-21.

Wright said he took offense to being called slow by one of the announcers during ESPN’s Hawaii Bowl broadcast Thursday night.

“I wanted to show how fast I was. Those long runs were ideal,” Wright said. “I just didn’t want anyone to catch me from behind.”

Bowling Green used two 80-yard scoring drives to take a 21-17 lead early in the fourth. Harris threw a 7-yard TD pass to Magner, and put the Falcons on top with an 11-yarder to Steve Sanders.

“I think our kids knew at halftime that we were still in the game,” Falcons coach Gregg Brandon said. “I could tell that they had enough resolve to get it done.”