Northern Illinois remains Toledo’s personal tormentor, winning for the sixth straight time in the series and this time inflicting even more damage than normal with stakes that went well beyond the Mid-American Conference race. In his fourth season, Toledo coach Matt Campbell has a 22-6 record in MAC games.
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For those who haven’t had a chance to witness MAC football have an opportunity tonight as two of the conference’s best tangle tonight for more than just bragging rights. Toledo’s two-headed attack of Terry Swanson and Kareem Hunt average a combined 185.5 yards per game. Northern Illinois has a workhorse in the conference’s leading rusher, tailback Joel Bouagnon, but quarterback Drew Hare is also good for 10 runs per game. Whichever defense can limit the run game gains a big advantage. Quarterback Philip Ely and the Rockets are coming off a win over UMASS by a 51-35 final score, and are looking to play their way into serious bowl contention.
The Rockets appeared at No. 24 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but Northern Illinois brought them crashing back to earth with a hard-fought, fourth-quarter comeback in a 32-27 win at the Glass Bowl. The Huskies got a pair of breaks that led to two field goals by Christian Hagan – a 9-yard punt by Toledo’s Nick Ellis gave them the ball on the Rocket 19-yard-line and an interception by Northern Illinois safety Brandon Mayes gave the Huskies the ball on the Toledo 21. Jaylen Coleman leads the Rockets with 48 tackles, Chaz Whittaker has two interceptions and Orion Jones has five sacks. Hare has seven touchdown passes in his last three games.
The Tuesday night game is one of 16 midweek MAC games to be televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and CBS Sports Network. The Rockets have been bloody scoreboard abusers the last three weeks averaging over 50 points per game.
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20 ranked Toledo Rockets will host the Northern Illinois Huskies on Thursday.
