Northern Illinois wins 6th straight, beats Toledo 38-15

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Northern Illinois returns blocked punt for TD

Sutton Smith blocks Toledo punter Bailey Flint's running punt and returns it for a 27-yard touchdown.


DEKALB, Ill. -- Marcus Childers ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score to lead Northern Illinois to a 38-15 victory over Toledo on Wednesday night for its sixth straight win.

Tre Harbison ran for 139 yards, and Marcus Jones added 101 yards rushing and a touchdown for Northern Illinois (7-3, 6-0 Mid-American Conference), which snapped a two-game skid against Toledo (5-5, 3-3).

Eli Peters threw for 264 yards and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jon'Vea Johnson for Toledo. Cody Thompson had eight catches for 110 yards.

Childers threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Corey Lersch in the first quarter and finished 13-of-19 passing for 131 yards. Sutton Smith returned a blocked punt 27 yards into the end zone late in the second quarter to give the Huskies a 17-9 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Childers bulled in for a touchdown from the 1 and broke loose with a 23-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 31-9.