NIU rockets past Toledo

DEKALB - Depending on your viewpoint, it's either one of the charming aspects of college football, or another reason the sport needs a playoff.

Team A beat Team B, and Team B won at Team C, and since Team D upset Team C, then Team D is better than Team A and has its claim as the best team in the country.

So, since Northern Illinois pounded Toledo 38-7 on Homecoming Saturday in front of a season-high 22,092 at Huskie Stadium, a week after Toledo went to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan, then it's time for the Huskies to bring on Texas?

Maybe the argument doesn't work as well this year with Michigan at 2-5. But there's no fancy formula needed to know the Huskies (4-3, 3-1) are in the thick of the MAC West Division race, or how much beating the Rockets meant ­­- Northern's first win over Toledo in DeKalb since 1989.

All you need to know is who led the fight song in the NIU locker room: University president John G. Peters.

"The beautiful thing about it is we are winning as a team," coach Jerry Kill said. "It has nothing to do with coach Kill. It has everything to do with a bunch of good old hard-nosed kids and a lot of good people wanting to have success."

Kill's first squad continues to look better each week, the latest evidence coming in the form of just the Huskies' second victory over Toledo (2-5, 1-2) in the last 15 tries. They did it in impressive fashion, with freshman quarterback Chandler Harnish returning from a sprained foot for his first start since Sept. 6 to lead the romp.

Harnish completed 12 of 16 passes for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns. He ran 12 yards on the first play from scrimmage and hit Lake Park product Willie Clark for a first down on his first passing attempt, part of a 67-yard touchdown march on the opening drive.

"We came out right away and made our presence felt right away that our offense was ready to play," Harnish said.

Northern never looked back, scoring touchdowns on its first 3 possessions to build a 21-0 halftime lead. Other than possessions to end halves, the Huskies scored on six of their eight drives, punting once, missing a field goal and committing no turnovers.

The defense did nothing to hurt its MAC-leading averages. It was a far cry from a year ago, when Toledo lit up the Huskies for 70 points and a MAC-record 812 total yards of offense. Jake Coffman recovered 2 fumbles, and Geneva product Pat Schiller intercepted a pass.

Kill put 70-21 on the scoreboard at Tuesday's practice for motivation.

"We obviously got embarrassed and didn't play well last year," defensive end Larry English said. "We had an extra challenge on our shoulders to respond."