Nov. 9, 2010
DEKALB, Ill.-It's Time! Kickoff for the biggest Mid-American Conference football game of the year to date is set for 6:06 p.m. (Central) tonight at Huskie Stadium as Northern Illinois plays host to Toledo in a Tuesday night match-up on ESPN2.
Tickets ARE available for $20 each for adults, $15 for youth and senior citizens. Order tickets online at www.NIUHuskies.com (click on the Tickets link at top of page), through any Ticketmaster oulet, or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-752-6800. The NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center will be open until 1:30 p.m., while the ticket windows at Huskie Stadium open at 2:30 p.m. on both the East and West Sides. Remember, student tickets can be picked up FREE with an NIU OneCard and student guest tickets are $15.
Discounted tickets to Tuesday's game are also available for those individuals who participate in the NIU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Food for Families Drive. Individuals who donate a bag of non-perishable food items at the collection spots outside of Huskie Stadium will receive a voucher that will enable them to purchase a $7 reserved ticket to the Toledo game. NIU student-athletes distributed 400 grocery bags to DeKalb and Sycamore residents and those bags can be returned, filled, along with the flyer posted at www.NIUHuskies.com.
Tuesday's game is the annual "Black Out" game with all fans asked to wear BLACK to the game. Black Thunderstix will be distributed to the crowd.
Fans who arrive in time to tailgate can cheer the Huskie team as they make their way to the Yordon Center along the "Huskie Walk," which begins at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center (BAVC) at 3 p.m. The team will walk along Stadium Drive led by the Formula 1 car built by the NIU School of Engineering from the BAVC around the south (scoreboard) side of the stadium, through the parking lot adjacent to the West Side of the Stadium and into the Yordon Center.
As the Huskie team leaves the field following pregame warm-ups, Northern Illinois will honor 21 senior football players who will be playing their final game at Huskie Stadium on Tuesday. The 2010 senior group includes 10 defenders, eight offensive players and three specialists. In all, NIU has 13 senior starters with 15 of the 21 from Illinois (10) or the neighboring states of Indiana (2), Missouri (2), and Wisconsin (1) and eight from points east (Washington, D.C.), west (California and Arizona) and south (Florida). The senior day introductions begin at 5:45 p.m.
Four years ago, Garrett Wolfe was a record-setting senior tailback but on Tuesday he returns to Northern Illinois as the "Huskie Legend." Wolfe will be introduced on the field between the first and second quarters of the game. Always a fan favorite, the Chicago native and current Chicago Bear will also be judging a student poster contest during the game. He remains the Huskies' all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer.
For those fans who can't make it to DeKalb for the biggest November game in at least five years, Clay Matvick will provide the play-by for the national television broadcast on ESPN2, with analysts David Norrie and Robert Smith alongside.
