Football | October 1

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football team begins Mid-American Conference play this weekend at Huskie Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 4 at 2:30 p.m. against Miami. ESPN+ will carry the game with the radio broadcast beginning at 2 p.m. on 94-9 WDKB.
 
Tickets for all remaining NIU home football games are on sale now. Purchase tickets for the 2025 NIU Football season anytime online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets. For more information, call the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) weekdays between 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. or email huskiestickets@niu.edu.
 
The game marks NIU's 118^th Homecoming, the oldest major college alumni gathering in the state of Illinois. The annual celebration dates back to an alumni football game played on Oct. 10, 1903. The Huskies are 75-32-10 all-time in the Homecoming Game and have won 22 of the last 26.
 
NIU (1-3) walks into this weekend's game after losing to San Diego State, 6-3, on a last-second field goal. It was the fewest points allowed by the Huskies since shutting out Western Michigan on Nov. 14, 2023. It's only the third time since 2009 that NIU has lost on a go-ahead field in the final minute of regulation. The Huskies enter the week second in the MAC in total defense at 318.8 yards allowed per game and passing defense at 171.0 yards per game, and third in scoring defense at 20.3 points allowed per game.
 
Redshirt-senior linebacker Quinn Urwiler (Mooseheart, Ill./North Dakota) once again had a career day, making 16 stops, 10 of which were solo, with 2.5 tackles for loss. Redshirt-sophomore Filip Maciorowski (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard West) also posted a career-high number of tackles, recording 13  and 1.5 tackles for loss including a sack. Urwiler now ranks second in the FBS in tackles per game with 12.5 while Maciorowski ranks seventh in the MAC with 8.25.
 
Junior wide receiver DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C./Lenoir-Rhyne) had five catches for 51 yards against the Aztecs, his third game this season with at least five catches. He now has 224 receiving yards on 21 catches and ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference in receptions per game at 5.25.
 
Miami (1-3) recorded its first win of the season last week with a 38-0 victory over Lindenwood. The RedHawks have won the last four meetings against the Huskies following last year's 20-9 victory. The three previous meetings were decided by six points or less
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It's the fifth time the Mallory Cup has been on the line, a trophy created to honor Bill Mallory who won MAC Championships with both NIU (1983) and Miami (1973). Mallory coached at Miami from 1969-73 and at NIU from 1980-83.
 
Miami running back Kenny Tracy has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last two games while wide receiver Kam Perry ranks second in the MAC in receiving yards per game with 88.0. Defensively, the Redhawks have recorded an interception in three of the four games this season and are led by safety Eli Blakey, who ranks fourth in the MAC in tackles per game with 10.0.
 
Conference play continues for NIU next week as the Huskies go back on the road next week to take on Eastern Michigan, Saturday, Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--