TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior quarterback Dequan Finn threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in Toledo's 35-33 win over Northern Illinois at the Glass Bowl on Saturday but it was senior Dallas Gant who saved the day on the game's final play.

With time running out and NIU trying to move down the field to attempt a potential game-winning field goal, Gant made a diving tackle on Huskie quarterback Rocky Lombardi at the UT 45-yard line to secure the victory.

"I'm really proud of our football team," said Jason Candle, who won his 58th game as Toledo's head coach, tying Tom Amstutz for second on UT's all-time list. "College football games are hard to win, especially when they're close. Some things can go either way. Obviously we have some mistakes on the tape I'd like to take off and fix, and we'll work hard this week to do that. To be able to go through this long home stretch and hold court on our field was huge. I think I was in the minority in thinking that Northern Illinois would not just come in and lay down for us. They have a quarterback and a head coach who have won a MAC Championship, and there are only a few of those in this league."

The win wrapped up a stretch of four straight home games with victories in all four. This one was the closest of the four and had the most dramatic finish.

In front of a Homecoming crowd of 23,417 at the Glass Bowl, Toledo (4-1, 2-0 MAC) withstood a late NIU surge in which the Huskies scored the final 13 points of the game. After forcing Toledo to punt with 50 seconds left, Huskies got the ball back on their own 14-yard line and drove to midfield, but the Toledo defense held strong and squashed the comeback.

Finn, who missed the second half of last week's win over Western Michigan due to injury, completed 16-of-20 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 61 yards and a TD. He threw touchdowns to senior wide receiver Jerjuan Newton and sophomore wide receiver Junior Vandeross III, the latter of whom caught four passes for a career-high 147 yards. Junior tight end Anthony Torres added three catches for 39 yards.

Junior running back Peny Boone rushed for 113 yards on 16 carries, his third straight game with 100-plus rushing yards. Junior Jacquez Stuart returned to the lineup after missing two games to injury, rushing for 79 yards and one score. Freshman running back Connor Walendzak found the end zone for the second straight game.

Defensively, a quartet of Rockets led the way with a team-best seven tackles: senior cornerback Chris McDonald, senior safety Nate Bauer, junior linebacker Daniel Bolden, and sophomore safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. Junior safety Maxen Hook saw his first action since the season opener at Illinois and immediately made his presence felt, tallying five tackles, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble.

First Quarter

• Toledo opened the scoring with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Dequan Finn to Jerjuan Newton.
• Moments later, NIU's Antario Brown bolted 80 yards down the sideline to the UT five-yard line, setting up a one-yard QB keeper by Rocky Lombardi to tie the score at 7-7.

Second Quarter

• Finn made it 14-7 on a 13-yard QB draw with 12:38 left in the half.
• Toledo's defense came up with a big play when Maxen Hook forced a fumble near the goal line that was recovered by Nate Bauer on the UT two-yard line with 2:26 left in the half.

Third Quarter

• Toledo opened the quarter with an eight-play, 66-yard drive, culminated by a seven-yard TD run by Jacquez Stuart.
• NIU cut the lead to 21-10 with a 32-yard field goal at the 8:04 mark.
• Three plays later Northern Illinois's Nate Valcarcell returned a Rocket fumble 50 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-17.

Fourth Quarter

• Toledo extended the lead to 28-17 on a two-yard TD run by Connor Walendzak that capped a 12-play, 85-yard drive.
• NIU made it a one-score game, 28-20, with a 49-yard field goal by Kanon Woodill at the 11:35 mark.
• Toledo struck back almost immediately on a 68-yard scoring strike from Finn to Junior Vandeross III to push the lead to 35-20.
• Lombardi found Jalen Johnson for a 24-yard TD with 9:14 to play, and after a failed NIU two-point conversion attempt the score sat at 35-26.
• The Huskies made it a one-score game with 2:24 to play after Lombardi's 12-yard TD toss to Chris Carter made it 35-33.
• Toledo was forced to punt on its next drive, giving NIU the ball back with 44 seconds to play. Lombardi was tackled by Dallas Gant on the UT 45-yard line on the game's final play.

• Toledo's win makes it 4-1 for the first time since 2019. It is also the first time the Rockets have won four straight since the 2019 season.
• Toledo is now 2-0 in MAC play with both wins over West Division foes.
• Toledo has won back-to-back games vs. Northern Illinois for the first time since 2016-17.
• Toledo is now 65-28 in Homecoming games, including 3-1 vs. NIU.
• The victory gives Head Coach Jason Candle his 58^th career win, tying him with Tom Amstutz (2001-08) for second on Toledo's all-time list. Gary Pinkel is the all-time leader with 73 wins from 1991-2000.
• Dequan Finn threw for 281 yards, giving him 5,377 for his career and moving him into 10^th place on UT's career list ahead of the legendary Chuck Ealey (5,275 from 1969-71).
• Finn rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts. He now has 1,518 career yards, 21 shy of the school record held by Ryan Huzjak (1,539 from 1993-96).
• Junior running back Peny Boone rushed for 113 yards, his third straight game with 100-plus rushing yards. He is the first Rocket with three straight games of 100 or more yards rushing since Bryant Koback ended the 2021 season with six straight 100-plus yard games.
• Jerjuan Newton's first quarter TD reception gives his seven for the season. He entered the game as the nation's leader with six scoring catches. Newton caught two passes for 51 yards on the day, giving him 100 catches for his career.
• Junior Vandeross III caught four passes for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown. His 147 receiving yards are the most by a Rocket since Matt Landers tallied 150 yards against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 2, 2021.
• Quinyon Mitchell had a couple tackles and a pass breakup, giving him 35 PBUs for his career. That ties him for second all-time in school history with Keon Jackson (2002-05) and puts him seven away from tying Samuel Womack (42, 2017-21) for most in school history.
• The Homecoming crowd of 23,417 is the most since 24,889 fans saw Toledo defeat BYU on Sept. 28, 2019. It is the largest Homecoming crowd since 24,685 witnessed a 56-32 shootout vs. Bowling Green in 2018.

Up Next

      The Rockets travel to UMass for a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Oct. 7.