EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Stefan Demos raised his arms as the ball fluttered between the uprights, and in a flash, the mob was surrounding him.

He had gone three seasons without kicking a field goal. It didn't take him long to boot a game-winner.

Demos kicked a 49-yarder in the closing seconds, and Northwestern escaped with a 27-24 victory over Eastern Michigan after blowing a 21-point lead Saturday.

Eastern Michigan had just tied it on a 3-yard run by Terrence Blevins with 2:40 remaining. But instead of being upset, the Wildcats (2-0) prevailed.

"I think the word is overwhelmed," Demos said. "There's a lot of emotion involved." Not to mention a big sigh of relief from the Wildcats.

Northwestern took over on the 42 and drove to the Eastern Michigan 25 before being pushed back to the 50 on a pass-interference call. Mike Kafka then hit Andrew Brewer with an 8-yard pass and a 10-yarder before overthrowing him deep along the left side on third down.

Eastern Michigan (0-2) called time with 11 seconds left but couldn't ice Demos, who drove the ball between the uprights and then got mobbed by teammates as he headed toward the sideline.

Brian Peters then intercepted a deep pass at the Northwestern 33, and with that, the Wildcats could exhale.

"To be a great team, you have to overcome adversity," said Northwestern's Brendan Smith, whose fumbled punt in the fourth quarter led to a touchdown. "This is good. We needed this. We made strides last year, but we need to know that you have to work every single day."

The Wildcats' Stephen Simmons rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns, while Jacob Schmidt ran for 61. Kafka completed 14 of 24 passes for 158 yards and had an interception, and that was just enough for Northwestern to prevail.

Eastern's Dwayne Priest ran for 127 yards and a touchdown, but the Eagles fell to 0-25 against the Big Ten.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald hoped to see a more sustained effort after a 47-14 rout of Towson last week in which the Wildcats appeared to let up after jumping to a 30-0 lead.

This was not what he had in mind.

"Poor execution on our part and them capitalizing on momentum plays," Fitzgerald said. "There were some momentum plays that they made, and obviously we didn't go out there and seize it back."

They did get some consolation, though.

"It's exciting to win, I know that," Fitzgerald said.

Northwestern led 21-0 early in the second quarter after two touchdown runs by Simmons and a 70-yard interception return by Ben Johnson, and it was 21-3 at the half.

Rather than go quietly, Eastern Michigan looked like it just might pull off its first victory under new coach Ron English while breaking its skid against the Big Ten. As dramatic as the comeback was, the result was familiar.

"We just want to get better every week," English said. "We have a fight song that we sing after we win, and I haven't sung it yet, so hopefully next week we'll sing that."

Things got interesting early in the fourth quarter, right after Demos had kicked a 20-yard field goal that made it 24-10.

Eastern Michigan's Marty Cardwell recovered Smith's fumbled punt at the Northwestern 35, and Andy Schmitt found Jacory Stone for a 25-yard TD pass that made it a seven-point game.

Northwestern then drove to the Eagles' 25 before Ryan Downard picked off Kafka. Eastern took over on its 21, and Priest immediately broke off a 35-yard run to spark a drive that culminated with that 3-yard run by Blevins, but Demos kicked away his nerves and booted the winner.

Demos, a junior, now has three field goals after redshirting his first year and spending the last two seasons solely on punts. When Northwestern got the ball back, he told Smith, "Just make sure no one talks to me."