Northern Illinois loses to Ohio, blows chance to clinch MAC West title
Ohio played the role of spoiler on Tuesday night.
Northern Illinois had the chance to clinch its sixth straight MAC West division title, but fell at home to the Bobcats, 26-21.
Both team started the game playing with their backup quarterback and ended the game playing with their third-string quarterback. Despite this, Ohio controlled things most of the way. Once the Bobcats took the lead early in the second quarter, they would never give it back.
JD Sprague started the game at QB for the Bobcats and threw a first quarter touchdown to Jordan Reid to take an early lead. Northern Illinois responded before the quarter ended with a Jordan Huff touchdown run, but the rest of the half was all Ohio.
Sprague left the game in the second quarter with a neck injury, but junior Greg Windham filled in admirably, helping the Bobcats jump out to a 20-7 halftime lead.
Northern Illinois was able to fight back in the second half. Ryan Graham, filling in for an injured Drew Hare, found Kenny Golladay for a 27-yard score to cut the lead to 20-14, but Graham left the game later in the third with a leg injury.
After Graham’s injury, Ohio tacked on Josiah Yazdani’s third and fourth field goals of the night to extend its lead to 26-14. NIU, now playing with true freshman Tommy Fiedler (who burned his redshirt in the game), struggled to get anything going offensively.
Fiedler was able to hit his stride a bit later in the fourth, leading an 11-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to cut the lead to 26-21 with 1:45 left, but it was too little too late. NIU’s last-ditch comeback effort was thwarted when an onside drop kick (yes, drop kick) was recovered by the Bobcats.
The win ends the regular season on a high note for bowl-bound Ohio, who finished 8-4 overall and second in the MAC east behind Bowling Green.
For Northern Illinois, which had its 22-game November winning streak snapped, the loss is far more impactful. It means that Toledo now controls its own destiny in the west. With a win Friday over Western Michigan, the Rockets will face Bowling Green in the title game. If Toledo loses, NIU will head to the title game because of its win over Toledo earlier in the season.
Beyond that, the game also impacts the race to represent the Group of Five in a New Year’s Six bowl. At No. 24 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, Toledo is the second-highest ranked Group of Five team. If No. 15 Navy slips up, Toledo can slide into contention as long as it wins the MAC. If the Rockets do not win the MAC, they cannot be chosen by the CFP selection committee to play in a New Year’s Six bowl.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
