DEKALB, Ill. – Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell intercepted four Northern Illinois University passes to lead the Rockets to a 52-32 win Saturday afternoon (Oct. 8) at Huskie Stadium. Mitchell returned two interceptions for touchdowns as the Rockets built a 35-7 halftime lead and held off the Huskies, who scored 25 fourth-quarter points.
 
"We hurt ourselves," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "You can't turn the ball over and expect to beat a good team. We threw two pick-sixes and that's hard to come back from. We had discipline penalties that hurt us and that's on me. Those things haven't been showing up and they showed up today.
 
"We have to protect the quarterback and he's got to feel comfortable in the pocket. He's got to distribute the ball to the spots. You have to know the coverage, understand who to get the ball to and get it out quickly. He's not an elusive player, but you have to pick people apart with your arm and your mind. We have to play disciplined football for 60 minutes and we didn't do that. We didn't come out in the first half and play the way we needed to."

NIU fell to 1-5, 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference with the loss, its fifth straight, while Toledo improved to 4-2, 2-0 in the MAC. 
 
Toledo scored on the opening drive of the contest. A 43-yard completion from Dequan Finn to Jerjuan Newton moved the Rockets inside the NIU 15-yard line and four plays later the pair connected again for a four-yard touchdown to give Toledo the early lead.
 
Two plays later, Mitchell had the first of his two interception returns for a touchdown off NIU quarterback Ethan Hampton (Elburn, Ill./Aurora Christian) as he stepped in front of a pass and went 25 yards to put the Rockets in front by 14.
 
NIU responded with a score as Justin Lynch (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel/Temple) went around the right side for a 15-yard touchdown. The Huskies went 69 yards in 10 plays, all but one of which were on the ground. Antario Brown (Savannah, Ga./Beach) gained 25 yards on three carries on the drive and finished the game with a team-high 84 yards on 17 carries.
 
The Rockets answered with a four-play drive that was capped by the second touchdown connection from Finn to Newton as Toledo took a 21-7 lead into the second quarter.
 
Finn was 13-of-19 passing for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the contest, Newton had five catches for 89 yards.
 
Toledo added another score early in the second quarter as Jacquez Stuart scored from a yard out.
 
With less than four minutes to play before halftime, the Rockets had their second interception return for a touchdown as Mitchell picked off a Hampton pass and returned it 20 yards to put Toledo in front, 35-7.
 
In its last drive of the half, NIU drove 74 yards in 15 plays and 3:05 to the Toledo three-yard line but Hampton's hurried throw to the end zone was collected by Mitchell to thwart the Huskies' scoring attempt. Hampton completed three passes to Harrison Waylee (Johnston, Iowa/Urbandale), two to Messiah Travis (Chicago, Ill./Solorio Academy) and one to George Gumbs (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) on the drive. Waylee finished with a game-high 10 catches for 96 yards. Travis recorded six receptions for 47 and Cole Tucker (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) posted four catches for 56 yards.
 
After the visitors added 10 more points in the third quarter, Brown scored from five yards out on the first play of the fourth to close out an eight-play, 75-yard drive.
 
Following a successful two-point conversion pass from Hampton to Liam Soraghan, NIU recovered an onside kick at midfield. The Huskies scored again as John Richardson (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice) converted a 46-yard field goal to trim the Toledo advantage to 45-18.
 
NIU then recovered another onside kick, its second of the game and fourth of the season, leading to an Hampton three-yard touchdown pass to Travis, trimming the Rocket lead to 45-24 with 6:20 remaining.
 
The Huskies were unable to complete a third successful onside kick and Toledo added another score to end any hopes of a NIU comeback.
 
In the final minute, Hampton completed his second touchdown pass of the day, connecting with Drew Cassens (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) for a four-yard score, the first of his Huskie career. Hampton finished the day 30-of-49 through the air for 284 yards.

NIU out-paced the Rockets in first downs, 29-22, passing yards, 284-190, total offense yards, 424-349 and time of possession, 37:59-22:01 while converting more third downs as the Huskies were 8-of-17 to the Rockets' 3-of-9. But the stats did not tell the story of the game. 
 
"I love the fight of the players," said Hammock. "They could have easily laid down and that could have been 60-7 or something like that but they fought back, they gave themselves a chance to at least get some momentum moving forward, but we have to figure out a way to be more effective. You turn the ball over four times, you have no chance."
 
NIU will head back on the road next Saturday, Oct. 15, as it heads to Eastern Michigan. Kickoff against the Eagles is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+.

-- NIU --