A flock of flashy records and a stirring fourth-quarter rally were spoiled by Northern Illinois’ first overtime loss in Saturday’s 48-42 defeat at Akron.
Junior quarterback Phil Horvath threw for 486 yards to break George Bork’s 1963 record of 445 yards.
Horvath completed his first 13 passes and went 17 of 23 for 216 yards in the fourth quarter as the Huskies rallied from a 42-21 deficit to tie 42-42 with 13 seconds left to force overtime.
But tailback Garrett Wolfe was limited to 52 yards on 21 rushes.
Coach Joe Novak lauded Akron but cited his team’s poor blocking.
As for NIU’s defense, Novak said, “I’d guesstimate we missed about 100 tackles.”
Horvath’s passing yardage was the third-best this season in Division I-A. Sam Hurd’s 14 receptions also ranked as third-best in the nation.
