November 23, 2002

FINAL SCORE: TOLEDO 33, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 30

DeKALB, IL---Brian Jones passed for 355 yards and three touchdowns, including a 26-yard strike to Donta Greene with 41 seconds remaining to lift Toledo past Northern Illinois 33-30 in Mid-American Conference action here Saturday (Nov. 23).

The Rockets erased a 17-0 deficit in climbing to 8-3 overall, and put themselves in position for the MAC championship game at 6-1 in the conference. Northern Illinois saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, falling to 8-4 on the season with a 7-1 league ledger.

Steve Azar (Colorado Springs, CO / Highlands Ranch) had a chance to tie the game but his 62-yard attempt---11 yards better than his previous career-best and school-record---fell short with three seconds remaining. Azar had earlier hit boots of 23 and 50 yards to give NIU a 30-26 lead with only 2:51 remaining, but the Rockets moved 80 yards in seven plays. Consecutive passes to Greene (21 yards) and Astin Martin (20 yards) preceded the winning score, with Greene diving over the pylon in the right corner of the end zone.

"A great game. That's why they're (Toledo) the defending (MAC West Division) champions," Huskie coach Joe Novak said. "They made one more play than we did. The three big plays in the first half really hurt. We sure would have liked to score another touchdown. You know things don't always work out."

"That's a tribute to our seniors who believe they will win," Toledo sideline boss Tom Amstutz added. "They fought to the end. I was proud of our players coming back. Northern Illinois had a lot of momentum and had a noisy crowd behind them."

Northern Illinois tailback Michael Turner (North Chicago) rushed for 213 yards on 41 carries, giving him 1,915 for the season. The junior broke the MAC single-season record of 1,905 yards set by Toledo's Wasean Tait in 1995, and also broke the 200-yard mark for the fifth time this year. He has reached that mark seven times in his career at Northern Illinois.

Dan Sheldon's 68-yard punt return---his third kick-return score this season---opened the scoring just 2:18 into the contest and Azar's 37-yard field goal stretched the gap to 10-0 after one period. Turner's four-yard plunge capped a seven-yard drive to give Northern Illinois a 17-0 lead but Toledo scored three times in a five-minute span to claim the lead.

Trinity Dawson opened the flurry with a seven-yard touchdown run before Lance Moore caught a 44-yard scoring strike and Carl Ford got free for an 84-yard touchdown reception. Those long plays were part of UT's 279 yards of offense in the second period, and Jason Robbins added a 37-yard field goal to send the Rockets to the locker room with a 23-17 advantage.

Freshman tailback A.J. Harris (Wheaton / North) put the Huskies ahead with a 12-yard touchdown run on his only carry of the game, giving NIU a 24-23 lead at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter. NIU stopped Toledo on third-and-three on the next possession but Patrick Body's 57-yard run on a fake punt gave the Rockets' first-and-ten at the Huskie 10, setting up a Robbins 28-yard field goal before Azar's two successful tries.

"The fake punt was a big play," Novak admitted. "Talk about some courage by Tom (Amstutz)."

After the Rockets went ahead, Haldi drove the Huskies into Rocket territory with two completions to Shatone Powers. A third-down pass to Dan Sheldon (Burlington / Central) took the ball to the UT 44, but Novak's team was forced to take its final time out. With 8.8 seconds remaining, the NIU sideline boss opted for the field-goal try---the second-longest in school history---with a 15 mile-per-hour breeze at his kicker's back.

"Steve's previous kick hit the net. He had the wind," Novak explained. "You get a sack or whatever and you don't even get a chance at a field goal. We probably shouldn't have put that on his shoulders."

Tom Wittum attempted a 65-yard field goal versus Long Beach State University on Sept. 18, 1971.

Josh Haldi (Madison, OH) was 15-of-29 through the air for 142 yards but the Huskies could not stop the Rockets' aerial attack as Jones completed 20 of 26 attempts for three touchdowns, directing a Toledo offense which rolled up 563 yards of offense. He was intercepted twice but found Greene six times for 103 yards while Ford had 124 yards on four receptions.

Turner's touchdown was his 20th of the season, breaking the NIU single-game standard he shared with wishbone quarterback Stacey Robinson. "The Wiz" had 19 touchdowns in 1989 and matched that mark the following season.

The Huskies must sit and wait for the Rockets' season-ending game versus local rival Bowling Green St. University next Saturday (Nov. 30) in UT's Glass Bowl. If Toledo wins that contest, the Rockets advance to the Dec. 7 MAC title game at the home of the East Division champion. A Bowling Green St. triumph pushes NIU into the championship showdown.

-30- -- Copy by Robert Hester

Northern Illinois University Football

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