TOLEDO, Ohio -- Northern Illinois defeated Toledo for the sixth consecutive season Tuesday night at the Glass Bowl, ruining the 24th-ranked Rockets' chances for a perfect season.

The Huskies' latest victory, their fourth in a row, came behind freshman quarterback Ryan Graham, who filled in for starter Drew Hare after the junior injured his right leg midway through the second quarter and did not return.

Graham guided Northern Illinois on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives as the Huskies overcame a late eight-point deficit.

Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said Hare will miss the rest of the season.

"It's next man up," Carey said. "That's the mentality you always have as the backup QB. Ryan has done a great job since Anthony (Maddie) has been out. He has got all the second-team reps and really paid attention and dove in. He just shadowed Drew with all the film study he's been doing for the last six weeks. Once he got his blood flowing tonight, he really calmed down."

Graham, who completed nine of 12 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, found junior wide receiver Kenny Golladay for a 44-yard completion at the Rockets' 15-yard line late in the game. That set up junior running back Joel Bouagnon's 2-yard touchdown run as the Huskies (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) went up by five with 1:59 left.

On Toledo's ensuing drive, senior linebacker Boomer Mays intercepted quarterback Phillip Ely to seal the game.

"Northern Illinois played four quarters of disciplined football, and, unfortunately, we didn't," Toledo coach Matt Campbell said. "I was disappointed in our execution. We were not our best tonight, and that cost us the football game.

"We had multiple opportunities to put them away, and others times we had a chance to execute better than we did. When you don't do that against a good team, that's what gets you beat. You have to tip your hat to NIU."

The Rockets (7-1, 4-1) had their 10-game winning streak snapped despite getting big rushing performances from running backs Kareem Hunt (25 carries, 140 yards, two touchdowns) and Terry Swanson (16 carries, 133 yards).

Hunt punched it in from the 1-yard line to cap a nine-play drive as the Rockets took a 24-16 lead with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

"I thought both Terry and Kareem played well -- I wasn't disappointed with either of those two," Campbell said. "Our game plan was to run the football offensively, but our passing game wasn't where we needed to be, whether it was dropped passes or protection issues."

Huskies kicker Christian Hagan nailed a career-long 52-yard field goal to make it 24-19 with 2:39 left in the third.

Jameson Vest answered with a 39-yard field goal as Toledo took a 27-19 lead with 13:45 left in the game.

After a leverage penalty on the Toledo defense extended Northern Illinois' drive, Golladay made an acrobatic, one-handed catch for a touchdown from Graham in the corner of the end zone. However, a failed two-point conversion left the Huskies down 27-25 with 9:27 left.

The Rockets missed a chance to go up by five with 5:19 left when Vest missed a 47-yard field goal wide right with 5:19 left, opening the door for the Huskies' comeback.

"The defense was giving up some runs in the first half. and they got their pads down," Carey said. "We got downhill on them defensively in the second half, and that really changed our mindset. Once we did that, we kind of settled down and knew what was coming. We also saw what they had planned for us, and that helped keep us in the contest."

Toledo jumped out to a seven-point lead after a fast-paced first quarter, but Northern Illinois added two field goals in the second quarter to pull within 17-16 at halftime.

Ely (15-for-33, 136 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions) connected with wide receiver Alonzo Russell for an 11-yard scoring pass to give the Rockets a 7-0 lead with 8:05 left in the first quarter. The strike capped a 12-play drive.

Northern Illinois took 28 seconds to answer the score as wide receiver Tommylee Lewis, who had 125 receiving yards in the opening quarter, hauled in a 67-yard pass from Hare to tie the score 7-7 at the 7:31 mark.

Hunt then scored on a 6-yard run for a 14-7 lead with 6:04 left in the quarter. Swanson, who ran five times for 101 yards in the quarter, set up the score with a 58-yard rushing play.

Toledo added a field goal by Vest to go up 17-7 at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter.

Hagan kicked a 36-yard field goal as the Huskies pulled within seven with 39 seconds left in the first. Hagan then added two more field goals in the second quarter, including a 29-yarder as time expired.

NOTES: Toledo allowed a sack for the first time this season in the first quarter. ... Huskies K Christian Hagan's field goal was the first time the Rockets were scored on in the third quarter this season. ... Northern Illinois scored at least 40 points per game for three consecutive games before falling short of that mark Tuesday. ... The attendance was 23,089.