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Northern Illinois' Second-Half Rally Falls Short at Toledo
November 15, 2003 Northern Illinois' Second-Half Rally Falls Short at Toledo College Football: Toledo 49, Northern Illinois 30 DeKalb, IL
- Northern Illinois University made a furious 17-point rally
in the third quarter, but Toledo quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was
just too good on this day as he completed 24-of-27 passes for 301
yards and three scores to lead Toledo to a 49-30 win over the Huskies
Saturday (Nov. 15) at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, OH. Trailing 28-7
at the half, the Huskies opened the final 30 minutes of play by
driving 74 yards in 10 plays to cut the Rocket lead to 28-10. Senior
Michael "The Burner" Turner rushed for 56 yards on the
drive, as he went over the century mark for the 20th time in his
career, tying fullback Mark Kellar for the most 100-yard rushing
games in NIU history. Turner accented the drive with a 50-yard run
on first and 10, to get the Huskies in a first and goal situation.
However the Northern Illinois drive would stall at the Toledo seven,
resulting in the Azar chip shot. The Huskies
saw the momentum shift on the ensuing kickoff, as Dustin Utschig
forced and recovered a Rodney Gamby kickoff return to set the Huskies
up with first down at the Toledo 22. After a Michael Turner rush
for five yards, Josh Haldi hit Keith Parry in the endzone to make
it 28-17. Haldi's throw was over the top of two Rocket defenders,
but Parry out-jumped both players to cut the deficit to 11. Momentum clearly
shifted towards the Huskies on Toledo's next drive, as Lionel Hickenbottom
recovered a Trinity Dawson fumble at the UT 40 to again set up NIU
on the Rockets' side of the field. Brian Atkinson separated Dawson
from the football, as he caught Dawson fighting for extra yards
on third and short. From the Toledo
40, it took just five plays to get the Huskies back in the endzone.
After three consecutive Turner totes got Northern Illinois to the
Toledo seven, Haldi hit P.J. Fleck nine yards deep in the endzone
to cut the lead to four following Azar's extra point. Toledo worked
its way back into Huskie territory on the next drive, but the wheels
appeared to come off for the Rockets as back-to-back holding calls,
a five-yard loss on a screen pass and a delay-of-game penalty pushed
the ball from the NIU 30 back to the Toledo 40. Facing a nearly
impossible third and 33 situation late in the third quarter, Gradkowski
came up with one of the biggest throws of his career, hitting a
streaking Andrew Clarke down the middle of the field for a 60-yard
score. Clarke, who finished with two scores and 78 yards receiving,
ran past the Northern Illinois defender on the play and sprinted
to the endzone to make it 35-24. The Rockets
made it 42-24 after Antonio Malone picked off Haldi for the second
time on the day. Haldi tried to hit Fleck on the opposite side of
the field, but Malone stepped in front of the pass and raced down
to the NIU 1. After Toledo false started on the following down,
Dawson rushed in from six yards out to push the UT lead to 18. The Huskies
did mount one final drive to get back in the endzone, as Turner
plowed in from a yard out to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive with just
5:52 remaining in the game. Turner finished the day with 177 yards
on the ground and one score to move into second all-time in Mid-American
Conference career rushing with 4,775 yards. Turner moved ahead of
Toledo's Chester Taylor (1998-2001) who finished his career with
4,659 yards. Turner also added 23 yards receiving to rack up another
day with 200 yards of total offense. Down 42-30,
the Huskies tried a late on-side kick attempt to get back in the
game, but the Rockets fell on the ball to seal their 10th straight
win over the Huskies. "We want
to win the next game," Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak
said. "We still have quite a bit to play for. A win next week
will give us the third 10-win season in school history and these
kids deserve it. This team deserves so much credit. They have fought
hard and our only two loses have come on the road to two good teams." The day started
out well for the Huskies, who emphatically got on the board with
a three-play, 65-yard scoring drive. After holding the Rockets to
three-and-out on their opening possession, Haldi hit Fleck for 39
yards on NIU's first play from scrimmage set an early tone. Haldi
then connected with Parry two plays later from 25 yards out to make
it 7-0 Huskies. After forcing
another Toledo punt, the Huskies moved the ball into UT territory,
but had their drive stall at the Rockets' 45. In punt formation
on fourth and five, Northern Illinois tried a fake punt, but the
"up-man", Brian Atkinson, had the ball ricochet off his
face mask, which gave Toledo the ball near midfield. "If that
ball doesn't bounce off his facemask, he might still be running,"
Novak said. "The play was wide open, we just didn't execute
it. You have to execute plays in big games like this and we just
didn't do that enough today." Toledo made
the most of the Northern Illinois miscue, as Gradkowski hit all
four of his passes including a big third-down conversion to set
up the tying score. Astin Martin rushed in from nine yards out to
knot the game at 7-7. Malone got his
first interception of the day on Haldi on the next NIU possession.
After the Huskies marched into Toledo territory for the third time
in as many drives, Malone picked off an errant Haldi pass and returned
it 10 yards to the UT 28. Eight plays later, Dawson found the endzone
from one-yard out to make it 14-7, Toledo. It took just
one play for the Rockets to get back in the endzone after another
NIU turnover. After Brandon Hefflin intercepted a deflected Haldi
throw midway through the second quarter, Gradkowski hit a streaking
Lance Moore for a 40-yard score to make it 21-7 Rockets. Toledo added
another score just before the half as Gradkowski hit the tightend
Clarke for a five-yard score to make it 28-7. Northern Illinois will return to action on Nov. 22 at home against Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is slated for 1:05 p.m. (CST).
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