Northern Illinois quarterback Drew Hare led the Huskies to a 21-14 victory over Ohio with 178 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 67 rushing yards. He ended the day completing 15-of-23 passes.

His most important pass came with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when he connected with receiver Chad Beebe for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Huskies ahead and provided them with the one-touchdown victory.

The Bobcats still had hopes of coming back to win following Beebe’s score and drove down to the Huskies 42-yard line. But Ohio receiver Landon Smith was hit hard after catching quarterback Derrius Vick’s pass across the middle of the field and fumbled the ball, allowing Northern Illinois to recover with four minutes, three seconds remaining.

An effective running attack wasn’t enough to bring the Bobcats (5-6, 3-4 MAC) ahead of the Huskies (9-2, 6-1 MAC), who are now on a five-game winning streak. A.J. Oullette rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown for Ohio while Vick finished with 80 yards on 12 carries.          Northern Illinois will next face off against the Western Michigan Broncos at 11 a.m. on Friday in its regular season finale. The Bobcats will attempt to avenge their late-game loss Tuesday against Miami (OH) at 7 p.m.

Hunt bowls over Bowling Green

            Toledo running back Kareem Hunt had a career day Wednesday, running for 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns – including a 91-yard score – in a 27-20 win over Bowling Green.

With 13:17 left in the game, Falcons’ quarterback Cody Callaway threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Moore to tie the game at 20-20. In response, the Rockets (7-4, 6-1 MAC) scored on the ensuing drive behind a 7-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Dwight Macon with 10:45 remaining.

Even with the loss, Bowling Green receiver Ronnie Moore had an impressive day. In addition to finishing with three catches for 46 yards and a touchdown, the sophomore rushed 12 times for 64 yards and a 10-yard score.

The Falcons were stopped after a drive to Toledo’s 30-yard line ended with Callaway being sacked on fourth down by Junior Sylvestre with 3:09 left in the game.

The Rockets will next take on Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. Friday while Bowling Green (7-4, 5-2 MAC) will play Ball State at home at 1 p.m.

Jesse Korzen can be reached at [email protected].