Live: Toledo @ Northern Illinois from Chicago, IL

We are live from the 1st ever football game in the 25 year history of Guaranteed Rate Field.  The Northern Illinois Huskies will take on the Toledo Rockets in a mid-week MAC battle.  All time, Toledo leads the series 29-14.  In the last contest between these two teams, NIU won 32-27.  NIU has won each of the past 6 match ups between the two schools.

Northern Illinois's Joel Bouagnon comes in as the defending MAC Player of the Week.  Bouagnon tied a MAC single-game record with 5 rushing touchdowns last week.

NIU QB Anthony Maddie was listed as QB1 on the depth chart, but is now unavailable for the game tonight.  Maddie suffered an ankle injury in last weeks game vs Bowling Green.  Ryan Graham will start at quarterback for the Huskies.  

Northern Illinois won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball in the second half. 

Not much offense early in this contest.  Five drives thus far and five punts.  With 5:17 left in the first quarter, Northern Illinois and Toledo remain scoreless.

With 0:22 left in the first quarter, Northern Illinois got on the board first.  Shane Wimann caught his 10th career touchdown pass to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead over the Rockets.  The drive initially ended with a 33 yard field goal, but a penalty off set the kick and gave NIU 1st and 10 at the 11.

Toledo responds on the following drive with a score of their own.   A 44-yard boot by Jameson Vest gives Toledo 3 points.  With 12:06 left in the 2nd quarter, Northern Illinois leads 7-3.

Ryan Graham found Kenny Golladay for a 4 yard touchdown pass to give NIU a 14-3 lead.  Golladay made an incredible catch over the defender to haul in the touchdown.  Graham had several nice quarterback keepers on the drive to move the ball down the field.  As a team, on 15 carries NIU is averaging 7.4 yards a carry.

At halftime, Northern Illinois leads Toledo 14-3.  Ryan Graham has 181 total yards for Northern Illinois so far (100 passing, 81 rushing).  Graham has also thrown 2 touchdown passes on the night so far.  Kenny Golladay leads all players with 9 receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Logan Woodside has 103 yards through the air for Toledo, but he has also been intercepted once and sacked twice.  Kareem Hunt is leading the rushing game for Toledo with 39 yards on 6 carries.

NIU is leading the first down battle 14-8, which is a large part of why they have the lead at halftime.  They are also currently outgaining Toledo 237-158 in regards to total offense.

Toledo cut the Huskies lead to 4 following a 27 yard strike from Logan Woodside to tight end Michael Roberts.  The Toledo drive was 6 plays and went for 52 yards in just 2:22.

Northern Illinois comes right back with a touchdown of their own.  This one comes via a 19 yard pass from Ryan Graham to Christian Blake.  That gives Graham, normally the backup QB, now has 3 passing touchdowns on the night.  Kenny Golladay now has 10 receptions on the night in the middle of the 3rd quarter.  Golladay currently leads the MAC this season in the single game receptions category (13, vs Ball State).  He has a chance to break his own record if he continues at this pace.

The offenses have finally shown up in Chicago!  Toledo responds with another touchdown pass by Logan Woodside.  This time, he finds Jon'Vea Johnson for a 36 yard touchdown pass up the middle.  Toledo now trails Northern Illinois 21-17.

A phenomenal play by Northern Illinois cornerback Daniel Isom broke up a sure-fire touchdown pass from Logan Woodside to Cody Thompson.  A sack by Quintin Wynne forced the Rockets to punt giving the Huskies a great defensive stop.  NIU was not able to take advantage on offense.  The following offensive possession by the Huskies ended with a punt.

Michael Roberts caught his second touchdown of the night on a 5 yard pass from Logan Woodside.  The Rockets now lead the Huskies 24-21.

A 22 yard NIU field goal ties the game at 24 with 4:31 left in the 4th quarter. 

A 39 yard pass from Woodside to Jon'Vea Johhnson brought Toledo down to 1st and Goal on the NIU 6 yard line.  A 2 yard run by Kareem Hunt gives Toledo a 31-24 lead.  NIU has just 1:15 to work with.

An interception seals the deal for Toledo.  The Rockets defeat the Huskies by a score of 31-24.