DEKALB, Ill. - Donta Greene caught a 26-yard TD pass from Brian Jones with 41 seconds left as Toledo rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat Northern Illinois 33-30 Saturday.
Toledo (8-3, 6-1) gave Northern Illinois (8-4, 7-1) its first Mid-American Conference loss this season and denied the Huskies the Western Division title.
If Toledo defeats Bowling Green next week, the Rockets win the West. If Bowling Green wins, Northern Illinois takes the division. Northern beat Bowling Green a week ago.
Greene's TD catch was his first since Oct. 28, 2000 against Navy. It gave Toledo a 33-30 lead.
After the kickoff, NIU had one last chance in the final seconds.
Facing fourth-and-inches with 8 seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the Huskies decided to attempt a 62-yard field goal, but Steve Azar's attempt fell 7 yards short.
Northern roared to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, using an early 68-yard punt return for a TD by Dan Sheldon to build the big cushion.
Toledo then scored 23 straight second-quarter points, including an 84-yard TD pass from Jones to Carl Ford to take the lead at the half.
Northern got the lead back in the fourth as Azar kicked field goals of 23 and 50 yards to make it 30-26.
NIU's Michael Turner ran for 213 yards, posting his fifth 200-yard rushing game of the season. His 1,915 yards on the season gives him the MAC single-season rushing record. His 4-yard scoring run in the second quarter was his school-record 20th of the season.
Jones completed 20 of 26 passes for 355 yards and three TDs for Toledo. Ford (124 yards) and Greene (103 yards) both gained over 100 receiving on the day.
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